Grease spots.

It is only necessary to dissolve a small quantity of the oxalic acid crystals in a cup, keeping them carefully out of the way of children, as oxalic acid is a dangerous poison, and make a little puddle of the solution over the black spot in the floor, leaving it, if possible, over night. In the morning the stain will have disappeared, and nothing more is required but to wash off the oxalic acid, and, after the spot is thoroughly dry, polish with a little wax. Stains of real ink can be removed in the same way, provided the ink is of the standard kind, made with gallic acid and iron; but purple ink, or any other variety made with aniline colors, will resist oxalic acid. Some aniline colors, but not all, can be removed with saleratus, or washing soda, and the same substance will take out stains of the ordinary laundry bluing, which is made with Prussian blue. Strong alkalies, such as potash or caustic soda, or even strong ammonia, should not be applied to oak, as they will stain it brown; and wet lime, or mortar, will also make a deep and indelible brown stain, which can only be removed by planing. Fortunately, with a floor finished in wax, mortar stains, spots burned by sparks, or other stains which cannot be removed by easier means, can be planed out, and the place waxed and rubbed, without disfiguring the floor. Although the fresh surface of the wood may at first be paler than that around it, exposure to air and light will soon bring it to the same shade; and it is better to wait for them to do their work than to apply a stain, which does not penetrate far into hard wood, and soon wears off, leaving unpleasant-looking spots.

As the coating of wax on a floor is dulled and whitened by the contact of water, while good varnish is not so affected, the advocates of varnished floors often claim superiority for their favorite finish on that account. As a matter of fact, however, most varnish is more injured than wax by water, the surface being rendered temporarily soft and sticky, while the whitened surface of the wax, after the water has dried away, needs nothing but rubbing with a warm woollen cloth, or a weighted brush, to bring it back to its former polish. In general, however, the washing of hard-wood floors of all kinds should be avoided. With Georgia pine floors the water hastens the deterioration and splintering up of the boards, and, with any wood, the accumulation of water and dust in the seams between the boards causes discoloration, and promotes the rotting of the floor. The latter is often a serious matter in kitchens, where decay, once started, advances rapidly in the warm, moist atmosphere; and the oil-cloth, which is frequently laid down to conceal the first stages of the malady, soon completes the ruin of the floor, by excluding the air.

Although it may sometimes be necessary to wash the kitchen floor, the other hard-wood floors of a house will rarely, if ever, need anything more than an occasional wiping with a cloth, dampened sufficiently, if necessary, to take off mud, or other adherent matters, but not so much that water will escape from it into the seams.

Washing hard-wood floors.

Standing finish of hard wood, although it may, with beautiful effect, be treated with wax in exactly the same manner as a floor, is usually varnished, and such treatment is much less objectionable for this purpose, as the varnish does not tend to wear off in spots, or to accumulate dirt, as it does on a floor. It is, however, very necessary that the varnish should be good, as a cheap varnish will show white spots where it is bruised, and soon becomes shabby, where a good varnish will retain its smooth appearance indefinitely. Shellac varnish, put on in four, five, or six coats, and rubbed down with emery-cloth and oil, or, if a higher polish is desired, with pumice-stone and water, forms the best application of the kind for doors and standing finish; but it is expensive, and two coats of some good, hard interior varnish, rubbed down in the same way, form a tolerable substitute. Whatever varnish is used should be carefully treated, and the coating renewed before it is too late, as worn spots in varnished work cannot be retouched successfully. With good varnish, a damp cloth may be used to remove spots on the surface, but it should not be too wet, and water should not be allowed to get into seams or nail holes. If the varnish is instanding finish.

When a householder finds himself obliged to deal with varnished woodwork which has been neglected, and is unwilling to go to the great expense of having it scraped down to the bare wood, and refinished, he will find a can of floor wax an invaluable resource. Unless the spots where the varnish is worn through have become stained, by atmospheric action or otherwise, a careful application of the wax, and subsequent rubbing, will bring them to a close approximation to the appearance of the surrounding varnish; and the approximation will be still closer, and the appearance of the entire varnished surface improved, by treating the whole with the wax, which will not only give a uniform lustre, but protect from wear such varnish as remains. With good floor wax there is no danger, as is often pretended, that the surface will be made sticky. Even the hand-rail of a staircase may be finished in wax, without fear of trouble from this source.

Where the interior woodwork is painted, instead of being finished in the natural color, the task of the householder in keeping it in presentable condition will be in a certain degree lightened; for, if painted woodwork shows marks more conspicuously than that treated with varnish, its covering is more easily renewed. Our ancestors had a way of painting their woodwork with a white, glossy paint, which was very hard, and could be washed with a wet cloth without injury; but, according to the modern painters, this art is lost, and those persons who desire washable white paint in their houses must incur a great expense in having the woodwork treated with "enamel," in five or six coats. It is true that the modern enamel, if well put on, so that it does not blister, or stick to persons and objects coming in contact with it, as is not unfrequently the case, is more beautiful than the ancient paint, being smoother, and less subject to netlike cracks; but it is not every householder who can afford it, and it would be very desirable to revive the colonial practice. The colonial paint was mixed with boiled oil, which gives a glossy, varnish-like surface, and was, as we know, highly esteemed by our forefathers; but the real boiled linseed oil is said to be unknown to the trade now, its place being taken by a mixture, sold under the same name, but of different properties.