Painted interior finish.

Until the glossy old paint is reinvented, those householders who cannot indulge themselves in the luxury of enamel must be content with the ordinary paint, either "flatted," or in "oil finish," or "china gloss." The flatted paint, in which the last coat is mixed with turpentine only, has a dead surface, possessing a marvellous capacity for getting marred and discolored. The touch of a finger will leave on such paint a perceptible mark, which cannot be removed, since flatted paint cannot well be washed, and is only to be cured by repainting. "Oil-finish " paint, in which the last coat has, or should have, no turpentine, has a smooth, but, in these days of adulterated oil, not a glossy surface, which, however, can be washed without injury, and is much less subject to marking than a flatted coat. In the "china-gloss" finish the last coat is mixed with varnish; which may or may not be advantageous, according to the character of the varnish. When a poor, cheap varnish is used the paint is likely to be sticky in damp weather, and to turn yellow after a time; but, with good varnish, a china-gloss finish is very serviceable, being easily washed, and so hard that it is not readily marked. Some painters, instead of putting varnish into the last coat of paint, varnish the work after painting; but this is objectionable, as the varnish is apt to turn yellow.

Most housekeepers who have woodwork painted white to take care of find that the paint is disposed to turn yellow, sometimes as a whole, and sometimes in streaks and spots. This may proceed from either of two causes, or from both combined. Where the trouble shows itself in streaks, or speckles, or in large rounded or oval spots, it is generally due to pitch in the wood. Pine wood, which is generally used for the best painted work, on account of its freedom from warping and shrinkage, contains a resinous sap, which is particularly abundant in the knots, but occurs also in streaks, and in small spots, scattered over a considerable surface. In whatever form it may be present, it will penetrate, in the course of a few months, through any number of coats of paint, producing yellow streaks and spots, unless it is covered with impervious varnish. Knots are often so full of pitch that even varnish will not keep it in, and the knot must be "killed" with lime, or cut out, and a new piece inserted, before varnishing; but ordinary streaks and specks can be satisfactorily treated by covering them with a thick coat of shellac varnish. As shellac varnish is expensive, most painters use as little of it as they can for covering the "knots, sap, and pitchy places" usually mentioned in the architect's specifications, and, in consequence, omit spots which make themselves visible later; so that the safest way is to require the pine woodwork to be varnished all over with shellac, to make sure that all the pitch is covered. Where this is demanded by the contract, it is usual to give the wood a light coat of paint, as a priming, before putting on the shellac. In this way the varnish can be put on more evenly, and its effect in preventing the pitch from coming through is the same. Where no attempt, or an unsuccessful one, has been made to cover the knots and pitch at the first painting of the house, and the householder, displeased with the yellow and brown streaks in the woodwork, has made up his mind to have the whole repainted, it is advantageous, before doing so, to varnish the whole of the old work with shellac. If this is done, the paint will remain unstained by pitch for an indefinite period; but, if no varnish is put on, the stains will make their way through the new paint in a year or two, and the painter must be called in again.

Discoloration of paint.

Stains of pitch or sap penetrate through either lead or zinc paint, but white lead, which is the pigment most commonly used, has the property of turning yellow in a dark room, whether there is anything to stain it or not. Zinc white is not subject to this change, and is therefore preferable, if it can be obtained pure, for interior work. Where woodwork painted with white lead has once turned yellow, nothing but repainting will restore it; but the yellowing can be delayed by keeping the rooms as light and sunny as possible. Tinted paint, which usually has a basis of white lead or zinc, behaves in the same manner as white, but the stains are, of course, less conspicuous.

For outside painting, white lead is the most desirable of all pigments. Being exposed to the light, it does not turn yellow, as it is likely to do inside the house, and it has the invaluable property of becoming "chalky" with age, and of clinging to the wood long after the oil with which it was originally mixed has been destroyed by the weather. The venders of inferior paints usually affect great scorn for old and chalky white lead, and often, if an opportunity offers itself, rub their hands over a bit of old white lead paint, and show, reproachfully, the white dust which it leaves on the skin; but, as a matter of fact, nearly any other pigment would have blistered off, leaving the wood bare, years before the white lead began to acquire a chalky character, the chalkiness of white lead being simply the manifestation of that persistent adherence to wood which is its most valuable quality. Yellow ochre, or "French ochre," as it is called at the paint shops, also clings tenaciously to wood, but it has, when mixed with modern linseed oil, a propensity for "mildewing," or turning black, where exposed to rain, which deprives it of much of its value for exterior painting.

White lead.

Outside painting.

Although white lead is thus the best pigment known for outside use, it is necessary, in order to take advantage of its valuable qualities, to get it pure; and this is not always an easy matter. Enormous quantities of chalk, baryta, and zinc are sold as white lead, with, and even without, an admixture of genuine lead. Two or three brands of paint, at least, are to be found in the market, in kegs, with the stencilled or printed inscription, "Warranted Strictly Pure White Lead," which do not contain even a trace of white lead; and many other brands contain little except chalk and baryta, with a certain proportion of zinc. The safest way for the householder, who has not at hand the materials for making a chemical test for pure white lead, is to buy the lead himself, and see that every keg is branded with the name of the National Lead Company. This company, although it ranks among the trusts, is entitled to the credit of having held out firmly against adulteration, and any unbroken package of white lead bearing its name is, unless its practice should change, filled with white lead only, pure and well made. As there is, naturally, a large profit in buying chalk and baryta at a few dollars a ton, and selling them as white lead at nine or ten cents a pound, the inexperienced buyer will be pursued with advice to purchase some brand "less expensive" than those controlled by the National Lead Company, but "just as good"; and, if he persists in his preference, will probably be offered something which, he will be told, is "made by the National Lead Company," and is "just the same as their regular brands," but, for some mysterious business reason, is sold without their name. The effect of a prospective profit of a hundred per cent or more in influencing a dealer's eloquence should be kept in mind in listening to these tales; and, fortunately, the truth of them is easily tested, if necessary, by analysis of a sample of the goods.