Chapter II: Part 2

=To Make Glue Size=: Melt a pound of glue, thin with a quart of hot vinegar, then stir well through two to five gallons hot water, according to the strength required.

=Vegetable Size=: Tie a gallon of wheat bran or cornmeal bran loosely in net or cheesecloth; boil for five hours in five gallons of water, filling up as it boils away. Add a lump of alum after the bran bag is removed. Apply hot to walls or wood.

=Calcimine=: Stir sifted whiting into strong glue size until it is thicker than cream. Clear with a little blueing. Thin at need with boiling water. Tint with earth colors in powder. Red and yellow ocher mixed give a pinkish-cream tint; yellow alone true cream. Indian red makes pink; by adding burnt sienna the color is pinkish fawn. Yellow ocher with burnt umber gives various shades of brown. Always mix colors rather pale at first, try out on a board, then add what is lacking.

=Whitewashes=: Either glue or vegetable size may be the foundation. Add a big lump of salt to five gallons of size, stir well, and pour boiling hot upon half a peck of unslaked lime. Clear with Prussian blue and apply very hot. For sanitary carbolic whitewash use vegetable size, dissolving in five gallons, boiling hot, two ounces of carbolic crystals. Then pour upon the lime and mix well. Two ounces of copperas—green vitriol—dissolved instead of the carbolic acid gives a faint-yellow tinge and is a good prophylactic. To kill vermin, as in poultry houses, nest boxes, and so on, mix through a pail of hot wash five grains of corrosive sublimate dissolved in a pint of water; put on as a first coat, and after a while give a second coat of plain whitewash.

=Milk Whitewash=: Stir into a gallon of sweet milk enough unslaked lime in fine powder to make it thicker than cream. Add a teacup of turpentine, stir well, and put on at once with a paint brush. This sticks to smooth wood nearly the same as paint, and can be colored with earth paints almost any shade.

=Paste for Paper-hanging=: Wet up smooth in cold water two tablespoonfuls of flour and stir it into a gallon of water on the bubbling boil. Stir hard to prevent lumps, add a small spoonful of tallow, cook for several minutes, then add an ounce of alum dissolved in half a pint of boiling water. Take from fire and add ten drops oil of cloves.

=White Mucilage=: For mending books and making scrap books. Cover clean gum tragacanth with cold water, let stand till dissolved, then add oil of cloves to keep from molding. Keep in a glass jar tightly closed. This leaves no mark.

=Gum Arabic=: For clear starching and shirt bosoms. Get four ounces of dry gum, pick over carefully, throwing out dark pieces and blowing away dust. Pour upon it a pint of boiling water, let stand till dissolved, filter, and bottle. A tablespoonful added to a quart of starch gives a high gloss. Two spoonfuls in a quart of tepid water will stiffen fine lawn or muslin sufficiently and restore the new look.

=Paper Dough=: Crumple newspaper very soft, tear to bits, dampen, pound, and knead well, then wet with strong glue size and knead to a dough. For wall breaks, rat holes, filling yawning cracks, or rounding corners, mix in plaster of Paris at the moment of application and pound in place before the plaster sets. Mix only what can be used at once.

=White Cement=: Mix sifted whiting to a soft dough with white of egg, for filling small holes in white walls or cracks in ceilings. Press in with a blunt knife and smooth the surface with the blade dipped in cold water.

=Sand and Plaster=: Sift together fine sand and plaster, wet with hot water, and use to fill bigger breaks in a wall. Wet only a little at a time and work quickly. Lay a board over the mortar as soon as in place, and beat with a hammer to smooth.

=Putty=: Sift two pounds of whiting into a bowl, make a hole in the middle, and wet with raw linseed oil, soft or stiff according to your requirements. Knead the same as dough. To keep, pack down in glass and pour a little oil over the top. Should be always on hand, as it is about the most useful of the renovators.

=Cement for Glass=: Cover isinglass with gin in a glass jar, set in sunshine until dissolved, then filter. It should be as clear as water. For mending colored glass rub down a trifle of oil color in a spoonful of the cement.

=Sugar Cement=: Cook to candy height the purest loaf sugar. Apply hot to heated edges.

=Lime Water=: Pour a gallon of boiling water upon a lump of quicklime the size of two fists. Stir hard, let settle, pour off the clear water, bottle, and keep corked tight.

=Javelle Water=: A bleach so effectual it must not touch colors. Dissolve half a pound of washing-soda in a pint of boiling water, and add it to a quart of boiling water in which a quarter pound of chloride of lime has been dissolved. Stir, let settle, pour off clear, bottle, cork, and keep dark.

=Chloride-of-lime Water=: Pour a gallon of boiling water upon a pound of dry chloride. Stir well, let settle, pour off clear, bottle, and keep well corked, dark, and cool. Dissolve in wood or earthenware—metal corrodes.

=Oxalic Acid=: Put four ounces of crystals with half a pint cold water into a quart bottle, shake hard and often till the crystals dissolve. This makes a saturated solution. If ragged crystals remain, add a gill more cold water. Keep plainly labeled “Poison.” Take care not to let it touch a scratch or fresh cut on the hands, also to keep it away from children.

=Copperas Water=: Dissolve a heaping tablespoonful of copperas in a gallon of boiling water. Pour through drains, sinks, or into gutters. Sprinkle bad-smelling places plentifully with it and spray it over green-scummed pools. It is an ideal disinfectant—cheap, odorless, and effectual, withal safe.

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IV

CHINA, GLASS, AND FURNITURE

=Washing Fine China=: Never soak fine china, never wash it with scouring-soap, soap powder, nor yellow-resin soap. Unless very greasy clean with borax water. Wipe and scrape off as much soil as possible before washing. Have the water pleasantly warm—boiling water is ruinous. Rinse water should be a trifle hotter than the suds. Except in emergencies, never put on any sort of soap. Put only a few pieces at a time into the suds, wash, rinse, and stand to drain. Have a thick cloth on the draining-board—with very thin ware have another thick cloth over the pan bottom. Change suds as they grow dirty. Add hot water from time to time. Even temperature is the thing. Wipe with soft clean towels after draining well, but before the ware is dry. Wash things in sets; as dried lay a paper napkin between, and set away the pile upon something soft. Squares of Turkish toweling are excellent.

Use a soft thick brush for relief or incised decorations or lace edges. Dip it lightly in powdered borax or white soapsuds and rub steadily but not too hard. Set things which have held milk, creams, thick soups, sauces, or gelatine compounds in clear warm water for three minutes, and rub away as much of what sticks to them as possible before putting them into the suds. Soap combined with milk or gelatine makes the water slimy, the ware sticky. Boiling water sets either milk or gelatine. If possible, rinse and wash things soiled with them as soon as empty. In wiping do not rub gilt borders—rather pat them dry.

Burnish half yearly with a swab of sifted whiting tied in soft silk. Intricate gilding may have the whiting sifted on while damp and brushed off after drying. In storing keep sets and sizes together. Set things so they will not jostle nor clatter nor tip. Stand platters on edge in a special grooved shelf, the biggest at the back. If piled, put something between, less to save breakage than to prevent a possible chipping of glaze. Things bought in cases should be stored in them, the cases set in drawers or on low shelves. High setting invites dropping and ruinous breakage.

=Ironstone and Majolica=: Wash in warm (not hot) suds, with a clean soft cloth, rinse in hotter water, and wipe almost immediately. Beware of chipping, beware also of cracking glaze by setting in heat or boiling water. Such ware is porous enough to take up grease and other things. Cracked or chipped dishes should not be used except to hold things like raw fruit, bread, sandwiches, or dry stores.

=Gilt and Cut Glass=: Remove cream or jelly with a quick rinse, wash in suds or borax water, a little more than blood-warm, using a clean soft brush on the cuttings. Have a cloth on the pan bottom if the cutting is deep, the article of good size. Use white soap—resin soaps get into fine lines and stay there. Pass from suds into a hotter rinse water, turn over and about, lift, turn upside down, then plunge into another water a very little hotter. If the ware is very white, the third water should have salt in it—a tablespoonful to the gallon. With glass less white, put blueing in the third water, turn about, and set upside down upon a thick cloth for three minutes, then put in a box and sift over hot fine sawdust—“jeweler’s sawdust” if possible, else dust with fine whiting, set in a warm (not hot) place and leave till dry. Brush off sawdust or whiting with a stiff brush, polish lightly with soft old silk, and store when fully cool.

Glass with silver inlay or incrustation must be rubbed after washing with a chamois skin dipped in whiting. Clean decanters and claret jugs by putting inside either a few buckshot and shaking them about in a cupful of tepid water dashed with ammonia, or else lightly folded squares of stiff brown paper with barely enough ammonia water to moisten. These remove wine incrustations. If the stains are obstinate, fill the decanter with tepid water, add a pinch of borax, and let it stand. Tiny pills of whiting wet up with alcohol and ammonia, dried, dropped inside, and shaken about, then dissolved out with tepid water, leave the insides clear and bright. So do crushed egg shells.

Wash gilt and Bohemian glass—indeed, any fancy glass—with a very soft brush and tepid white suds, rinse in hotter water, drain almost dry, then polish with absorbent cotton dipped lightly in powdered whiting. Iridescent and bubble glass should not be wiped. Drain instead, and polish when ready to use with a wisp of cotton. Cameo glass, or any with patterns in relief, must be washed with a stiff brush, in weak suds, rinsed thoroughly, and dried in gentle, steady heat rather than wiped.

=Pressed Glass=: Wash and rinse in water the same temperature, drain, but not too long, and wipe. Beware of linty towels. Be sure to run cloth or mop inside water glasses, otherwise they become dull quickly. Wash pitchers the same way; water leaves sediment—accumulations of it are hard to remove. Imitation cuttings must be brushed—they had better be eschewed. Plain, clear surfaces are much handsomer. Bowls set one in the other should have paper between. Load no glass thing heavily—the rumble or jar of a passing wagon may cause breakage if you do.

=Annealing Glass=: Annealing lessens sensibly the risk of breakage. Pack the glass snugly in a boiler, fill with cold water, bring to a boil, keep simmering three to four hours, then throw over a thick cloth and let cool very slowly. Remove only when fully cold. Especially useful for thin tumblers, lamp chimneys, and finger bowls. Put a board or a handful of clean sticks in the bottom of the boiler, so the heat shall not break things set lowest.

=Knives and Forks=: Have a pitcher just tall enough to hold knives, up to the handle. Do not quite fill it with very hot borax suds, stand knives in it, and leave till other things are out of the way, then wash blades, wipe off handles, rinse very quickly in clear tepid water, wipe dry, polish with a clean chamois, and hold with a clean cloth in putting away. This to save finger marks which grow often to stains or tarnishes upon knives seldom used. All-silver knives can be treated the same as other silver or plated things—still pitcher-washing is as good for them as any other. Ivory handles or pearl ones, or those of stag-horn or composition, all are injured by either soaking or very hot water. Carving-sets are frequently defaced hopelessly by rubbing the handles with scouring-soap. Instead use only lather, washing it off instantly. If suspicious of grease in the seam, wrap a fine-pointed skewer in thin cloth and run all around, pressing hard. Wipe knife handles very dry, else lay them for ten minutes in gentle heat to expel possible moisture around the rivets.

=Restoring Antique Furniture=: Take out grease or ink spots (see section Spots and Stains), then go over with a turpentine cloth sopping wet, rub and rub and rub. Follow with an alcohol cloth and more rubbing, then a wash in strong hot suds, followed by rubbing dry. Now take stock of the surface. If there are dents, raise them by laying on very wet blotting-paper and drying it with a blazing-hot iron. Repeat if necessary—steam does the work. Sandpaper away scratches, or rub them with emery and a little oil, or scrape with broken glass. Go over again with turpentine to remove the last traces of varnish or grime. Then sandpaper to a new surface, and either oil, varnish, or give a wax finish (see section Renovators).

Before resurfacing drive up loose dowels, wedging them tight, glue afresh rickety joins, strengthening them further with slender brads driven in from the under side. Glue broken bits in place—if they are missing, make the break smooth and fit into it a new piece. Cut the old wood, slanting outward—thus it is possible to drive very short brads from underneath. A vise helps greatly in such repairs—the harder held the pieces, the firmer and less visible the join. After it is dry, sandpaper; if the new wood fails to match the old, stain and rub down before waxing or polishing. Tiny gaps can be filled with putty mixed with dry color approaching that of the wood. This will take either oil stain or a wax finish.

Tighten rickety drawers so they slide easily. Remedy bad feet by chiseling out shattered wood and putting in plugs of sound wood to hold the castors. Glue in the new plugs, also nail them fast. Grease the points of nails to save splitting the old wood. Set them invisibly and drive gently, but see that they go fully home. Remove glass or brass mounting while resurfacing. Clean and brighten them (see section Brass) before replacing. Tighten metal linings about keyholes with putty, put on inside. All padding, upholstery, or baize tops must, of course, be taken wholly away. Save them, no matter how ragged, as patterns for new stuff.

Refinish and repair frames thus stripped before recovering. Very handsome things had better be put in professional hands unless you have practised upon plainer ones. It is a waste of strength and material to put handsome new covers over musty padding or to botch and pucker hopelessly through inexperience. In the courage of her economies a clever woman learns quickly the knack of upholstery. Minute directions are impossible—each sofa or couch or easy chair is so much a law unto itself. In a general way, have all necessary things handy—as covering muslin, webbing, springs, tacks, twine, upholsterer’s needles, moss or curled hair, brads in variety, sharp shears, and stout pliers for dragging through reluctant needles. Press out old covers and use as patterns for the new. Model your work as nearly as possible on what you took away. Remember always before fastening on covers to mark the middle of them and set it accurately to the middle of the frame, tacking it thence both ways. Pad arms and backs first, then basket-weave webbing across the bottom, drawing it very taut, put on springs, fasten them with twine to the webbing, lay thin cloth over, put a thick layer of stuffing upon it, then fit the muslin cover and tack smoothly to the frame. Tuft or leave plain according to style and period. Cut the ornamental covering very accurately, sew together, following the original, fit smooth, and cover the edges with gimp. With figured material, cut so the boldest figure shall appear in the middle of back and seat or equidistant from ends of the panels of long sofas. Practise upon something cheap—here as everywhere else experience is the best teacher.

=Care of Antiques=: Old mahogany, rose-wood, ebony, cherry, or walnut differ little in their requirements. Each and several, they film over. To brighten, wash in warm (not hot) naphtha soapsuds, wetting only a little space at a time, wiping it quickly with a cloth wrung from clear hot water, and as quickly rubbing dry. Washing complete, rub hard with old silk or flannel, then apply either French polish, piano polish, or wax finish (see section Renovators). Put this on with a soft cloth and rub in until the surface burns your hand. Washing is necessary about half yearly, except in rooms where there is a great deal of gas or candlelight and much greasy vapor. Dinner tables in steady use ought to be washed and polished monthly. Rub deep carvings with chamois over the point of a blunt skewer, changing its place every little while.

=Brass Bedsteads=: Respect their lacquer. Keep water far from them, likewise alcohol, gasolene, or naphtha. Smears may be wiped off with cloths slightly damp, followed by wiping with one dry and soft. Wipe dust away with softened cheesecloth, remove finger marks by gentle rubbing with crumpled soft silk or old flannel. Have a thick soft brush to take dust from carving or curled rails. Wipe off grease with soft flannel and polish the spot with a very little sifted chalk or whiting on a clean cloth. Tarnish is a proof that lacquer has been destroyed—the remedy is relacquering, but mitigate until that is possible by oxalic acid or vinegar and salt (see section Renovators).

Brass trimmings upon enamel bedsteads, cribs, etc., need the same care. So do brass frames, trays, etc. Elaborate chasings can be brightened without injury by coating thickly with powdered starch, letting it stand a day, then brushing it away.

=Mission Furniture and Fumed Oak=: Dust real mission pieces with a soft damp cloth followed by a dry one barely sprinkled with turpentine. Use any good leather dressing on seats and backs. Neat’s-foot oil and beeswax, equal quantities, melted over hot water with twice their bulk of turpentine, is a good thing, and safe. Apply soft but not liquid, put on barely enough to rub over the leather, and rub until absorbed. For fumed and Flemish oak use a soft, thick dust brush, followed by a thick cloth slightly dampened. If greasy or grimy, wash very quickly in hot naphtha soapsuds, wipe dry, and rub until hot. Once a year rub very lightly over with sweet oil, turpentine, and alcohol, equal parts, shaken well together. Varnished pieces can have thin white varnish instead of alcohol. Put on with flannel and rub till hot.

=Gilt Furniture=: Dust well, and either sift on whiting, let stand an hour, and brush off or cover a little at a time with whiting and alcohol, as thick as cream, let stand three minutes, wipe with a damp cloth, and rub dry with old silk or flannel. Take away specks of whiting or tarnish with a swab of chalk tied in silk and wet with alcohol. Cork sawdust tied tight in chamois makes a good burnisher if high polish is desired. Garlands, bow knots, and traceries need to be rubbed out with a blunt skewer inside a clean leather and polished the same way, using silk or flannel in place of leather.

=Gilt Frames=: Cover with the cream of whiting and alcohol after wiping and brushing away all possible dust. Remove and polish as above directed. Repair breaks and chippings with plaster wet with white of egg, and paint with the finest gold paint, then burnish. Take off fly specks with a cloth dipped in alcohol, and rub away any obstinate dark specks or remnant of whiting with the same cloth.

=Upholstered Furniture=: Cover the stuffings with a bath towel, whip lightly, shaking the towel whenever it shows dust, then brush evenly with a soft bristle brush, wipe out the tuftings with a swab of cotton tied in silk on the point of a blunt skewer. Wipe quickly all over with a flannel wrung dry out of hot water, following with a cloth wet in alcohol. Change or wash the cloths as they grow dirty, especially upon delicate colors. Neither cloths nor swabs must be wet enough to leave marks. Alcohol, properly used, will leave no trace upon anything. Wash the wood in white soapsuds, about blood-warm, wipe dry, and rub with a flannel sprinkled with kerosene. This for ordinary wood; very fine things, and especially inlaid ones, had better have sweet oil and turpentine on the polishing-cloth, and not too much.

Upholstery can be dry-cleaned with starch and whiting sifted together and applied thickly all over it. Let stand a day, in sunshine if possible, then brush off, going over and over. If there are grimy spaces, wet them with alcohol before putting on the powder. Brush hard, and if flecks remain take them off with a cloth wet in alcohol.

=Wicker Furniture=: Scrub raw wicker with a stiff brush and white soapsuds, rinse, dry quickly, then brush over with turpentine, sweet oil, and alcohol, equal parts, mixed, then one-fifth their bulk of thin varnish added. Coat well. When dry, rub over with a thick soft cloth.

Dust gilt or enameled wicker very clean, wash quickly in weak tepid suds, wipe, and sift on whiting and corn starch, let stand half an hour, and brush off. Dry-cleaning alone suffices for things not much soiled. Instead of sifting, the starch and chalk or whiting may be tied tight in coarse net and used as a swab. Take out spots and stains (see section Spots and Stains) before cleaning.

=Porch Furniture=: Porch furniture, whether rattan, rustic, or bamboo, needs only to be dusted, well and quickly, washed in tepid suds, dried, and rubbed liberally all over with crude kerosene and creosoted turpentine (see section Renovators). Dry in air, but away from sun; do the work, however, if possible, upon a dry, sunny day.

=Enameled Iron=: Resurface things as they chip (see section Making Whole). Wash clean in tepid suds after dusting, wipe dry, then rub over lightly with sweet oil and alcohol, equal parts, with a teaspoonful of thin varnish added to the pint and well shaken.

=Sundry Preventions=: Crumple tissue paper thickly over upholstered furniture before putting on covers—it saves from wear, dust, and fading. Newspapers pasted into big sheets and spread over floor, bed, dresser, and couch in spare rooms likewise catch dust and stop light. They can be gathered up in a few minutes; take care, though, to lift edges first and shake dust inward, then fold. Where sunshine falls upon matting a double thickness of paper saves fading. Narrow lengths either to hang or pin about draperies will keep the draperies fresh. Paper is as nearly impervious to dust as almost anything known. Paper bags tied over gas globes, brass door knobs, and candlesticks prevent both dust and tarnish. Also there is no better summer ambush for articles of “bigotry and virtue” than a thick swathing of tissue paper inside a paper bag. Newspaper has further the merit of discouraging moths—they hate printers’ ink the same as other plunderers. Shut down windows upon newspaper, letting it fall well over the inner sill, and there will be no fading of paint there nor cakings of dust.

Glue rounds of felt to the feet of all things not furnished with castors if you would save polished floors from marking. A brad or two, driven upward, the heads well sunk, will add stability. Old soft hats will furnish the rounds. Instead, you may use a contrivance now in market, which is practically the same thing, also cheap and convenient.

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V

MAKING WHOLE

=Rickety Furniture=: Scrape or file away old glue from loosened joins, cover with fresh glue very hot (see section Renovators). Tie fast together or put in a vise, protecting the jaws of it with thick paper, and let stand two days. Reinforce then underneath with iron—a light angle iron for corners, strap iron with holes punched along each edge for straight breaks. Small light metal hinges often answer admirably. Screw everything firmly in place, then scrape away oozing of glue outside, sandpaper, and refinish.

A jagged break needs glue extra thick and hot. Brush it well into broken fibers, both ends, press them together, fasten firmly, let harden, scrape away oozings, and screw on strap iron with holes an inch apart in the edges. Put it inside or underneath, and if it shows, as on chair or table legs, paint to match the wood, and varnish when dry.

Fine brads, driven in alternately, slantwise, on the under side, will hold cracks fast, but not so fast as strap iron. Hinges set in an angle need a little wood gouged away so they may lie flat against the wood. Fill gaps in a splintered surface with putty colored to match.

=Glass and China=: No cement ever made at home or commercially will bear long soaking in hot water or suds. Hard usage is also impossible. Notwithstanding, mending is well worth while, wherefore save the pieces, and especially save tiny splinters. Otherwise your mending will be vain. Twice a year have a mending-day, saving up breakage against it. Work at a steady table set in good light but not glaring. Have a white table cover, a bowl of hot water, a cup of alcohol, plenty of clean rags, several camel’s-hair brushes of varying size, a tumbler of water to hold them when not in use, plenty of twine, tying-tape, new rubber bands in variety, a pair of swinging weights, and on the floor, out of the way, a box half full of damp earth or sand. You need in addition squares of deal or cardboard for setting out of the way mended things. Also a pound of putty mixed stiff and, if mending ornaments, gold paint and colors in powder.

With a simple clean fracture, as across a platter, wash edges very clean, using a brush and suds, rinse in hot water, then coat thickly with pure white lead rubbed thicker than cream in raw linseed oil. Set the larger fragment, break up, perpendicularly in the box of sand. It must stand plumb. Fit the other piece to it, and hang evenly across it the swinging weights, which are but a strip of strong cloth doubled up into pockets at each end and filled with buckshot or pebbles, which must balance accurately. Their use is to make the join firm and fine—in fact, barely visible. Leave standing several days, then file or sandpaper off surplus lead. Lead-mending is the most durable of all.

Mend thin china with white of egg and quicklime. Beat the egg stiff, coat clean edges thickly with it, dust with powdered unslaked lime, press hard together at once, and fasten firmly. The lime sets as in mortar. Sandpaper the break after a week. This is a good cement for opaque glass as well.

Hollow things, as cups, bowls, etc., should be set over crumpled paper upon a round of cloth, with a drawstring in the edge just big enough to cover them halfway. Draw up the string very carefully after mending, and fasten. The secret of good mending is to have things held fast.

Rubber bands help mightily. String half a dozen strong ones on a tape and tie about the neck or base of anything so rounding strings slip. Join the broken part, then put another tape through the bands, and lift it steadily until you can fasten it about the neck or over the top. The bands must be the same size, and draw equally. After tying the tapes set a weight on top of the broken thing. Loop rubber bands around broken-off handles, set them in place, then string a tape through the bands, draw them together, and pass the tape twice around the body of the vessel.

Build up shattered things bit by bit about cores of putty covered with wax paper. This if shape admits taking out the putty. Narrow-mouthed things had better have cores of absorbent cotton wound with wax paper. It can be picked out bit by bit, using a hook. Putty likewise can be dug or rasped out, but not so easily. Things very badly broken need to be mended in sections, joining scraps and fitting in splinters. Fill cavities outside and in with either soft putty or plaster mixed with white of egg. A backing of putty inside seams makes them secure. Keep clean fingers while mending. Also keep broken bits clean. If a mend fails, soak off cement and begin over. White lead must be taken off with turpentine. But failure with it is rare.

If a handle-break goes through in a vase or ewer fit inside the hole a lump of putty, then cement edges, and press together, holding something against the putty and spreading it all over the break. Hard, it makes an indestructible join. Water will not affect it; still, such a vessel had better be kept for show.

=Glass=: Mend glass as directed for china, but use white cement, gum arabic, or sugar syrup (see section Renovators). Press breaks hard together and fasten firmly. If it is possible to expel every bit of air, the break will be scarcely visible. For colored glass rub dry color smooth in a little white cement and apply with a very fine brush. Repair breaks in gilt glass, after mending, with gold paint. Do the same for gilt china, and touch up with matching colors any flaws in the pattern.

=Mending Bric-à-brac=: Mend broken ivory with a few drops of fish glue such as shoe-makers use. Press very hard together, wipe off oozings clean, fasten, wrap in cotton, then in paper, put in a vise and screw firmly but not too hard. Metal ornaments can be either soldered or repaired with sealing-wax and resin, melted together over boiling water and applied very hot. Join broken bisque and clay figures with white of egg and powdered unslaked lime unless it is possible to get from a potter a little regular luting. Mend torn or loosened leather with fish glue, and put under heavy weight.

=Mending Books=: Take out of the covers, press square and solid, then paste over the back a strip of stout thin muslin, letting the edges project unpasted an inch either side. Dry under pressure, so the muslin will be fully rounded. Turn back the loose muslin accurately along the edge, paste it plentifully on the outer sides, then lay on the cover, press firmly in place, and dry under weight. When dry, paste in new fly leaves double fold. Paste the outer one to the cover, the inner one only lightly to the book. Removing old fly leaves spotted or defaced makes a better job of it.

=Mending Lamps and Candlesticks=: Fasten loose lamp collars with white of egg and plaster; make as thick as putty and use quickly. Solder broken metal parts. Dust with powdered resin, lay on the stick of solder, and apply the hot iron. Tinkering thus needs only a little knack. It enables you to stop leaks in zinc or tin—as pipes, shields, and so on. Cooking-vessels are quite another story.

=Mending Rubber=: This is a parlous business at best, still can be done. Get the best rubber cement, have the break very clean, apply, and let harden for a day at least. Breaks in hose, tubes, and so on had better be cloth-covered—after mending, of course. Indeed, the life of such things is trebled by covering them neatly before they break. Cut strips of cloth wide enough to go round, allow half an inch for turned edges, fold down, and whip together around the hose or tube. A big pipe can have a cover of canvas stitched up. Covering protects the surface and takes up a large part of the water strain. Fill breaks in rubber footgear with rubber cement, let harden, then put inside over the break a piece of strong, thin cloth, shaped to fit and coated upon one side with fish glue. The glue goes next the rubber; after it has hardened it takes the strain.

=Darning=: Darning is an art, so much so one may well say there are torn things not worth a darn. If they are woolen things, mend with rubber tissue, smoothing the tear with a warm iron, then laying on the tissue and fixing it with a hotter one. Press again on the right side, and clip close any loose fibers.

=Linen, Silk, and Stuff=: Lay under the break stiff paper spread with net matching in color, press with a warm iron, baste before lifting lightly, take up and baste again about the edges. Match thread to fabric; use a fine needle, go back and forth with very short running stitches, catching the net below, but taking only as deep hold in the outside as will make a firm mend. Beware puckers. When finished, cut away surplus net and press on the wrong side, then under a cloth on the right. If a tiny hole is to be filled in, tack it smooth over stiff paper, then with ravelings of the stuff or thread exactly matching go over the warp way, setting thread for thread, barely catching at the ends, then weave in cross threads, same as the original fabric, and press. Or the hole can be cut to a tiny square after basting on paper and a matched square inserted and darned in all round. This had better have net under it so the join may not pull apart.

Machine-darn table linen as soon as it shows threadbare spots, putting them in an embroidery hoop and stitching back and forth the way of the missing threads. White net underneath strengthens, but with napkins and tea cloths it is better left off. A cloth broken along the middle fold can be darned thus over net. But it is easier and better to split it evenly, hem the split edges, and trim them with lace, then join the selvages with a row of coarse insertion, herringboned in with coarse linen thread.

=Darning Stockings=: Children’s stockings last much longer for ripping to the calf when new and machine-darning inside them, over the knees, sound old tops. Sew up loosely. Darn strong net or thin stockinet loosely inside heels and toes; when the stockings come in holes, rip out this first application, cover your darning-egg with fresh net, set the hole over it, taking care not to stretch it, whip down all round loosely, then darn as usual, running threads through the net and cutting away surplusage when finished.

Silk stockings should always be darned on net, matching colors of net and darning-floss. Tack lace insets or embroidery smooth upon white stiff paper and fill in breaks with lace stitches or new embroidery. Mend a running break—colloquially, a ladder—by catching the errant stitch, sewing it fast, then filling the raveled space with very fine herringbone. Fill holes in the instep, or heel, above slipper height, with loose buttonhole stitches in matching silk, going across and back, catching each stitch after the first row in the top of the one below it. Make neither tight nor slack. Infinite patience and a very fine crochet hook enable one to fill such breaks with real stocking-weaving. Ravel the break to a line, take up the stitches on a very fine thread, then fasten on silk and draw up in loops, keeping them on the needle. Fasten to the side and work back, drawing a new stitch through each one already on the needle. Repeat till the hole is full, then draw stitches through those in the upper edge, which has been likewise raveled straight. Only very costly stockings are worth such pains.

=Coarse Mending=: Boys and men wear holes at knees, elbows, and on seats. Rip seams, cut the holes square, match new squares, and stitch, press, and sew up. Seat holes need not be cut clear across-only as far as the break. Cut corners diagonally the depth of a seam, but not too deep. Lacking cloth for such repairs, take note when clothes show threadbare in such spots, lay other cloth under, and machine-darn thickly with matching thread, fine rather than coarse. Such prevention often outlasts the patch cure besides being more presentable.

=Mending Bed Clothes=: Fine threadbare blankets are worth darning. Wash well and darn with soft wool, using a large-eyed needle. Avoid puckering. Darn warp way first, then go across. Cut ragged edges smooth, and overcast loosely with colored wool rather than bind. Darn tears on net, using silk or flax, rather fine. Beware making mends hard and lumpy. Comforts should be untacked, the stuffing, whether cotton, wool, or down, aired and washed at need, the outsides made into rags, and new covers provided for the padding. Cheesecloth unbleached lasts and launders well. Make pocket covers of it, half a yard deep, for the tops of comforts breaking there and nowhere else.

Old muslin rarely pays for mending more elaborate than running together slits. Wide sheets can have the thin centers torn out, the selvages joined, and raw edges hemmed, thus turning them into single-bed size. Handsome linen sheets, when they break along the hem-stitching, should be cut there, hemmed neatly each side, and joined with strong narrow linen insertion, or beading, or linen braid crocheted in a straight line down either side. Embroidered pillow and bolster cases, when the body wears, should have the embroidery cut off and joined thus with insertion or crochet work to new bodies—it will last as long. Handsome monograms and _motifs_ should be transferred from old linen to new. Cut out, neatly baste on new stuff, and sew down all round with fine needle, thread, and stitches. If there are holes in the pattern, pierce them and sew over well, using slightly coarser thread. Press before sewing, and be careful not to draw the work.

=Mending Lace=: Transfer figures from heavy laces, such as hand-run Spanish, to new net grounds, first cleaning them carefully, and dipping, if rusty, in stale beer or water in which a raw Irish potato has been grated. Drain without squeezing, press while damp, then cut out and arrange upon the new ground, which has been stretched smooth over paper.

Point lace, being needle-made, can be needle-mended as good as new. Tack smooth upon waxed linen or stiff paper, study the breaks, and fill them with the same stitch, using the same thread. If the ground is badly broken, expedite work by laying under a bit of fine net, matching the mesh, and sewing the figures to it. Lace stitches can be learned from any book on needlework, and are none of them difficult. Irish crochet wears out all over commonly—tears or breaks, though, can be filled with a crochet hook, matching stitch and thread.

Mend lace curtains by laying new net under breaks and either sewing figures to it or, in case of tender old fabrics, wetting with starch and pressing with a hot iron. The starch mend will last as long as the curtain. Tiny tears can be thus starch-mended to advantage at any stage.

=Furniture=: Threadbare coverings, as damask, brocatelle, and tapestry, require deft darning with a fine needle—several fine needles, indeed, and matched silks. Follow the pattern as nearly as possible in putting in stitches. Put worn hangings into an embroidery frame and work boldly in coarse silks or wool, keeping to the color scheme and using as far as possible the woven pattern, but making the new figures hide blemishes. Remove linings before embroidering, press on the wrong side, and, if too limp, stiffen slightly with gum water (see section Renovators).

=Fur Sewing and Mending=: Fur sewing takes courage as much as skill. All fur is mended before making up. Art lies in cutting patches accurately and setting them in so the fur lies with that around it. To fill in a moth-eaten spot rip out linings and enough seams to let the fur lie flat, then chalk-mark the smallest space that will remove the moth patch. Cut through along the mark with a sharp-pointed knife, then lay the hole upon the patch fur and shift until it matches in color and growth. Mark all round, take off the garment, cut the patch with your sharp knife just outside the marking. Fit into the hole, tack lightly in four places, turn, sew the cut edges together, taking stitches close and barely deep enough to hold. Turn every little while, smooth seam, and look for puckers; if any rip, sew over. Sewing done, press seam hard with the thimble on something flat, then turn and press on right side with the end of the thumb. Manipulate until the skin edges lie one against the other. Fur garments can be remodeled at home with just such sewing. Shape, piece, or mend, sew together, and reline. Very tiny bits can be used many ways, wherefore save them religiously. Tails that have been partly moth-eaten or lost hair should have the bare lengths cut out, the remnants neatly joined. Long furs, such as marten, mink, skunk, and fox, are not easier than seal, beaver, and so on, but less apt to show bungling work. Astrakan is so soft and crinkly it sews almost like cloth.

=Carpets, Matting, and Rugs=: Make carpets as clean as possible before mending. Darn with wool and upholsterer’s needles as they lie on the floor, matching thread to pattern, unless the pattern is worn away. Cut bad spots square, or to straight edges, snip corners, turn under edges, fit in a square, turn down its edges, trimming at corners to avoid lumps, safety-pin at each corner, turn over and whip turned edges fast, then cover with damp cloth and press. Shift stair carpets often enough to get equal wear all over. Have an extra step length and turn it under at top or bottom to make shifting easy.

Dyeing helps a faded carpet mightily. Put it down clean with thick paper under, wipe over with clarified ox gall in tepid water, then with clear water, wringing the cloth dry, then paint with a thick soft brush dipped lightly in hot dye. Use the color predominant in the room, no matter about the pattern. Rub the dye in well, but do not slop nor sop it. Treat fine matting, especially in rug form, the same way. Figures will show through, but not unpleasantly. Even a grass rug takes color readily. Hang smooth and wet thoroughly, let stand to set, then wash with weak suds. Dye on both sides. Carpets and mattings must be dyed on one side only and washed lightly, after the color sets, with suds, then wiped over with either vinegar and water or weak alum water.

Rug-mending needs a volume; here it gets only a paragraph. For breaks, tears, moth-eaten or worn spots lay smooth upon something soft and sleazy—wool crash is excellent, so is basket-woven serge. Flannel will answer; at a pinch so will burlap. Fasten so thread runs true with those of the rug. If the original fabric shows appreciably, darn it down on the patch, matching the darning-wool to the colors. If there is a yawning hole, put the wool double in a very big needle, stick through from the top, bring up again in almost the same place. Tie to the end above, stick back, stick up again, repeat, varying thread, until the whole space is covered with woolly loops. Cut them through, then trim smooth with very sharp shears, comb with a coarse comb, and trim again. Moth-eaten moquette carpet can be treated the same way, using as many needles as there are colors in the pattern.

=Care of Gloves=: Pull off gloves over the hand, not by tugging at finger tips; this is the first commandment. The second is, Never crumple them. Let lie open from the hand until dry, then smooth, wrap in tissue paper, and put away. Sew fastenings the minute they show loose. Mend at the first ripped stitch. Glove powder shaken inside before putting away after wearing keeps them fresher. Either patch holes in thumb and fingers with very thin kid, else cut off the worn sections almost to the palm, shape new sections from old kid, sew on, then sew in. Color gray spots on the fingers of black kid gloves with a few drops of ink rubbed well through other drops of sweet oil. In cleaning with gasolene put on gloves, fasten smooth, and begin work at the top of the wrist—there will be circles otherwise, especially in long gloves. Wash as though washing hands, using a very soft cloth or wisp of cotton. Change gasolene as soon as dirty. Rub afterward well with starch and whiting, powdered.

=Cleaning Furs=: Brush well, comb twice—against grain and with it—wipe over with soft flannel, then with a wisp of cotton tied in old silk and dipped lightly in gasolene or benzine or ether. Ether is best for white furs. Work quickly, changing the cloth if it grows dirty. Comb up again, and sift over hot cornmeal or sifted sawdust, rub it well through the fur, up, down, crosswise, shake out, and hang to air. White furs after shaking out should be covered thick with starch and whiting in fine powder, mixed with enough powder blue to clear. Let lie several days, then shake out, brush hard, and wipe over very quickly with a soft damp cloth. Dry-clean light and fancy linings by gentle, steady rubbing with a swab of starch and whiting tied in soft silk or cheesecloth. Put a few drops of ether or gasolene on soiled spots, rub hard with the swab, then with a clean cloth, dipped in powdered chalk.

Furs worn in dusty wind or a foul atmosphere need to be well combed, brushed against the grain, and aired quickly. Dry wet furs in air, but away from heat. Stretch and knead them several times while drying to keep the skin pliable. Shake hard at first, hang smooth, and let drain. Unless very wet, only dampness will reach the skin if they are so treated. Snow shaken off before melting is a help rather than a hurt. Indeed, a good way to clean fur rugs is to drag them, hair down, over dry snow. Clean on the floor by sprinkling thickly with hot meal or sawdust, rubbing in well and brushing out, then combing.

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VI

MAKING AND MAKING OVER

Wherewithal to make of is the first requisite. Here follow some simple tests easily applicable and well worth while. Use upon samples, and buy accordingly. Things over-cheap, it may be said in passing, carry their condemnation in their price. Buying them is extravagance, since they cost as much in time, trouble, and often in money for making up as sound stuffs and make no adequate return in wear.

=Silk=: Test silk three ways—by tearing, scraping with the thumb nail, and burning. Try to tear a raw edge across the filling. If it is easily done the filling is either artificial or so loaded it will give no wear. Weak warp is even worse—with warp and filling both easily rent, the stuff is wholly bad. Pull out a few threads both ways and test their strength separately. Easy breaking means that they are loaded with earthy or metal salts to give weight and firmness without wear. Scrape the surface diagonally with the thumb nail. If threads slip under the scraping, let that particular silk alone. Rub well between the fingers—pure silk feels smooth and soft; that which is loaded, crisp, even harsh. Some silks have the face pure, the back loaded—wherefore test both sides. End by burning a bit. Real silk does not burn readily, and leaves a black ash. Weighted or loaded silk flashes up, burns swiftly, and leaves behind a dull-red ash.

=Woolens=: Test by raveling out and burning. Untwist a raveled thread—fibers of even, moderate length show pure wool. If there are a few fibers with clots all along them the cloth is most shoddy—that is to say, old wool ground up and mixed before spinning with a little new. After-treatment makes it look well, but there is mighty little wear. Snap a raveling between the hands—the harder the breaking the better the goods. Soak a few threads in a little alcohol. This to test the color. A tinge in the alcohol is to be expected, but if it becomes deep-colored, and especially if it becomes muddy, the dyeing is bad. Cotton mixture before spinning betrays itself in burning. Light a few threads or a snippet—the smell will tell the truth.

=Linen=: Test linen in much the same fashion: ravel, untwist a thread, and draw gently till resolved into original fibers. Cotton will show soft, even a little fuzzy, in spite of mercerizing. Linen is woven from flax fibers, which are always straight and thready, no matter how fine. Burning gives out the smell of cotton where there is an appreciable mixture. Test for fading by wetting in white soapsuds and drying in sunshine or in front of a fire.

=Cottons=: Prints, muslin, lawns, sheeting, and so on, should be torn across and lengthwise to test strength, nail-scraped, and rubbed betwixt the fingers to discover if they are dressed too much, and dried in sunshine for fading. Use will soften the fastest colors. In buying for children get extra stuff and send it to wash each time with the frocks, so when needed for re-making there shall be no glaring contrast.

=Forethought:= Begin before the beginning if you would sew easily. Set a machine, well cleaned and oiled, where the light will fall over the operator’s shoulder. For dressmaking, cover the floor with a sheet of unbleached muslin tacked down smooth. Have a form for fitting, a tall mirror, a table, with drop leaves if possible, and two bentwood chairs, with a low rocker for basting and pressing in. At the right hand of it hang on the wall a thin board with wire nails driven from the back in treble row. Upon one row stick basting-spools, upon others spools of silk, cotton, and twist. Upon a shorter upper row put cheap thimbles. Have screw hooks at bottom for hanging shears, small scissors, tape measure, pencil, and needle book. A screw eye in each upper corner of the board slipped over nails or screw-hooks will hold it fast.

Hang a similar board on the wall back of the machine, and furnish the nails in it with spools of thread—all sorts the machine may require. Put a hook at bottom for special machine scissors, and hang upon another hook a small, flat, open pocket to hold wisps of absorbent cotton for wiping off oil, a tiny bottle of alcohol for removing spots of it, and a couple of finger stalls and two short bandages to save pricked fingers from making blood spots. A starch bag, very porous, for covering such spots instantly, is also advisable with fine light-colored work.

Tack against the wall over the table a square of denim holding three long pockets, set crosswise, for patterns. Keep patterns folded flat, not rolled. Press smooth before using, and let lie till cool, so they will not curl. Hang a small well-filled pincushion below the pattern pockets, also leaves of flannel filled with basting-needles. Set close by a firm-standing waste basket with a wide mouth. Throw into it all useless clippings as fast as made.

=Cutting Out:= Spread plain-surfaced things, as silk, linen, serge, and lighter woolens, double upon the table, which must be at full length. Lay on patterns, having regard to warp and woof threads. Let warp run up and down, woof around. In cutting a bodice the woof threads should make a sort of belt. Thus they pull true, and the seams are an easy bias. Lay on the whole pattern as nearly as space allows, and study economy of material in arranging the pieces, but not at the cost of getting threads wrong. Cut with sharp shears, taking care to allow for seams when requisite. Lay off pieces as cut out, but keep the cloth steady by means of light weights. Patterns are best pinned in place, but with long lines, as skirts or draperies, books laid on as weights are better, besides being easier.