Cleaning Bottles

Many persons clean bottles by putting in some small shot and shaking them around. Water dissolves lead to a certain extent, and a film of this lead attaches itself to the sides of the bottle so closely that the shaking or rinsing with water does not detach it, and it remains to be dissolved by any liquid which has the least sourness in it,...Continue Reading

Wooden Toothpicks.

Every eating-house visitor of this city and other leading cities of the Union has doubtless noticed a small tumbler of wooden toothpicks upon the counter of the cashier, for the use of customers. These toothpicks are a good feature of the present day. The wooden toothpicks have to a considerable extent superseded the gold, horn, ivory, and other articles of the kind formerly in...Continue Reading

Advice in Regard to Kerosene Lamps.

Antiquated article on the dangers of Kerosene Lamps.... As at present so many parties are abolishing the use of gas and substituting kerosene lamps, a few words of warning and advice about their use may be welcome to many. Frequent accidents show that kerosene lamps are more or less dangerous from a tendency to explode, and if they do, it is always caused by...Continue Reading

Soapstone, Wash-Tubs and Sinks

AMONG the mineral productions the usefulness of which has for centuries remained unknown, and only recently has become to be appreciated, is undoubtedly soapstone, by mineralogists called steatite, and by chemists hydrated silicate of magnesia. The pure material is white, translucent, and looks like soap, while all the varieties have a. greasy feeling, whence the name soapstone. The ordinary variety has a bluish or...Continue Reading

The Making of Beeswax Candles

What a variety of candles can be found today! The types of waxes have extended beyond the tallow and beeswax of our early ancestors to include paraffin, soy, and gel. There is even another type of wax which was discovered by the American colonists and still in use today. It is called Bayberry wax, which is derived from bayberries, naturally! Many people are interested...Continue Reading

How to Plan a Convenient Dwelling.

Click on image to enlarge "WHEN we do mean to build a domicil, We first survey the plot, then draw the model; And when we see the figure of the house, We then compute the cost of the erection, Which, if we find outweighs ability, What do we then but draw again the model ?" SHAKESPEARE. WHY is our country so full of large,...Continue Reading

Interior Decoration - Management of Colors.

PAINTERS, as a general rule, acknowledge but three primary colors--blue, red, and yellow; and whatever exception ninny be taken to such a statement on scientific grounds, there is no question that such a view of the subject does afford certain practical advantages. It is further assumed, that all other tints are mere mixtures of these three colors. For instance, green is made up of...Continue Reading

Cleaning House Fronts

IN Paris, a municipal regulation requires the periodical cleaning of the house-fronts; and a due regard to the appearance of the buildings, from the street would suggest a similar practice in many cities on this side of the water. The plan most approved in Paris, where it has been in use for the past two years, is to throw against the house-front a jet...Continue Reading

The Manufacture of Cloth Buttons.

The Manufacture of Cloth Buttons. THE history of this manufacture is a subject of sufficient interest to claim a place in our pages, although we can hardly agree with the writer of the following, when he says that iron of the required character can not be manufactured in this country. We lately gave an account of sheets of iron so thin that they were used...Continue Reading

Spring House Cleaning

Now comes the season of general cleaning, when all the corners and closets are overturned and hidden things are brought to light. Early in the months before the moths-millers show themselves all the woolen sheets, blankets, etc., are to be washed, and the extra ones packed carefully away in deep chests, and cedar boughs strewn over them, or camphor gum. If you possess a...Continue Reading

Wall Papers

If a paneled effect is desired for a room that is intended to be particularly dainty, .such as a boudoir, nothing would be prettier than to use a plain paper at the top and bottom of the wall, and to separate the panels. This should be delicate in tone, buff, cream or pale blue, and used in strips from fifteen to eighteen inches wide. The...Continue Reading

Decline of the Paper Collar.

It is hardly twenty-five years since the advent of the paper collar. Prior to that time the average man wore neck-gear made from linen fabric, or was content to go without collars, except on Sundays and legal holidays. Then the collar was frequently built in with the shirt and worn with a loose, limp and decidedly comfortable manner. The mechanic going to his daily work...Continue Reading

Improved Window-Screen Frame.

The Stuart window-screen frame herewith illustrated, is manufactured by E. C. Stearns & Co., of Syracuse, N. Y., and has become an article in the leading wholesale and retail hardware trade. The unique appearance of this frame, and the ease with which it can be made or put together, are specially notable features. The moldings are furnished 36 inches long, and coped on one...Continue Reading

Stencil Designs for Ceilings, etc.

Click Image for a Larger View Until lately, it was the prevailing fashion, in all houses of any pretension to elegance of interior finish, to introduce more or less elaborate ornamentation of the ceilings with the aid of stucco, which was then finished in colors, giving a florid, but, for apartments of good size, a general attractive appearance. This fashion has to some extent...Continue Reading

Household Conveniences.

WE have received from our various correspondents quite a number of requests for us to publish something about the minor household conveniences. In compliance therewith we present the following details with explanatory illustrations, for which we are indebted to the American Agriculturist, for the particular benefit of those residing remote from cities, who are desirous of learning how such commodities are arranged. Fig. 1 gives...Continue Reading

The Rochester Lamp

Click Image for a Larger View The attention devoted to the construction of lamps, electroliers and chandeliers for gas and electric lighting, has had the effect of greatly improving the artistic merits of these fixtures, which afford so inviting a field for the exercise of the skill and good taste of the designer. The same improvement may be remarked in the production of artistic...Continue Reading

Remodelled Hallway

We offer the accompanying illustration as an example of remodelling. In the original house the stairway was narrow and enclosed. This has been removed, and a new staircase in hard wood introduced, with fireplace and settle at the foot of the same, and at the end of the settle the old hall clock. The upper portion of this fire-place has the brick-work exposed, the...Continue Reading

IMITATING Dark Woods

The appearance of walnut may be given to white woods, by painting or sponging them with a concentrated warm solution of permanganate of potassa. The effect is different on different kinds of timber, some becoming stained very rapidly, others requiring more time for this result. The permanganate is decomposed by the woody fibre; brown peroxyd of manganese is precipitated, which is afterward removed by washing...Continue Reading

To Fit a Key.

When it is not convenient to take a lock apart to fit a new key, the key blank should be smoked over a candle, inserted in the keyhole, and pressed firmly against the opposing wards of the lock. The indentations in the smoked portion made by the wards will show where to file. - Taken from Manufacturer and Builder Aug 1875...Continue Reading

Furnishing a House.

A newly-married young couple, just about taking and furnishing a house, anticipate a great deal of pleasure in the choice and selection of their furniture, carpets, paper-hangings, etc. Both being persons of good taste, they never for one moment imagine that anything but the most complete success will crown their choice; but it very often happens that the carpet which looked very handsome in the...Continue Reading