How To Clean White Marble

Mix together 1/2 pound of pearl-ash, 1/2 pound of soft soap, and 1 pound of whiting. Boil them until they become as thick as paste, and let the mixture cool. Before it is quite cold spread it over the sur-face of the mai-ble and leave it for at least a whole day. Use a soft water to wash it off, and rub it well with soft cloths. For black marble nothing is better than spirits of turpentine.

How To Polish Marble

To polish marble, such as table-tops, the following mode is followed by masons: With a piece of sandstone with a very fine grit rub the slab backward and forward, using very fine sand and water, till the marble appears equally rough, and not in scratches, next use a finer stone and finer sand, till its surface appears equally gone over, then, with fine emery powder and a piece of felt or old hat wrapped around a weight, rub till all the marks left by the former process are worked out, and it appears with a comparative gloss on its surface. Afterwards finish the polish with putty powder and fine clean rags. As soon as the face appears of a good gloss, do not put any more powder on the rag, but rub it well, and in a short time it will appear as if fresh from the mason's hands.

Removing Oil Stains From Marble Statuary

Make a paste with fullers' earth and hot water, cover the spots with it, let it dry on, and the next day scour it off with soap. Another recipe is to take 1/4 pound soft soap, 1/4 pound powdered whiting, 1 ounce soda, piece of blue the size of a walnut. Boil all together for a quarter of an hour, and rub over the marble while hot. Leave it on for twenty-four hours at least, then wash off, and polish with a coarse flannel. The above quantity is quite enough for an ordinary mantelpiece.