See also Household Formulas.

To Renovate Brick Walls

Dissolve glue in water in the proportion of 1 ounce of glue to every gallon of water; add, while hot, a piece of alum the size of a hen's egg, 0.5 pound Venetian red, and 1 pound Spanish brown. Add more water if too dark; more red and brown if too light.

Cleaning Painted Doors, Walls, etc

The following recipe is designed for painted objects that are much soiled. Simmer gently on the fire, stirring constantly, 30 parts, by weight, of pulverized borax, and 450 parts of brown soap of good quality, cut in small pieces, in 3,000 parts of water. The liquid is applied by means of flannel and rinsed off at once with pure water.

To Remove Aniline Stains from Ceilings, etc

In renewing ceilings, the old aniline color stains are often very annoying, as they penetrate the new coating. Painting over with shellac or oil paint will bring relief, but other drawbacks appear. A very practical remedy is to place a tin vessel on the floor of the room, and to burn a quantity of sulphur in it after the doors and windows of the room have been closed. The sulphur vapors destroy the aniline stains, which disappear entirely.

Old Ceilings

In dealing with old ceilings the distemper must be washed off down to the plaster face, all cracks raked out and stopped with putty (plaster of Paris and distemper mixed), and the whole rubbed smooth with pumice stone and water; stained parts should be painted with oil color, and the whole distempered. If old ceilings are in bad condition it is desirable that they should be lined with paper, which should have a coat of weak size before being distempered.

Oil Stains on Wall Paper

Make a medium thick paste of pipe clay and water, applying it carefully flat upon the oil stain, but avoiding all friction. The paste is allowed to remain 10 to 12 hours, after which time it is very carefully removed with a soft rag, In many cases a repeated action will be necessary until the purpose desired is fully reached. Finally, however, this will be obtained without blurring or destroying the design of the wall paper, unless it be of the cheapest variety. In the case of a light, delicate paper, the paste should be composed of magnesia and benzine.