FLOOR STAINING.

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20835, 20 April 1933, Page 6

FLOOR STAINING.

HINTS FOR THE AMATEUR

KIGIIT METHOD ME AX ,3

SUCCESS

The staining of floors and stairs requires careful consideration and some patience if a pleasing and lasting effect is to be obtained. Needless to say nothing short of penetration of the stain right into the wood will withstand hard wear. In the case o£ a new floor the work is comparatively straightforward, but if the floor is an old one, there are one or two preliminary preparations. The first thing is to pull out or punch in any nails that project above the surface. It may be found necessary to use a scraper or plane in parts, to get the boards as smooth as possible, after which they should be rubbed over with glass paper, starting with very rough (No. 2) and finishing off with fine paper.

Removing Old Stain. It is difficult to generalise when it comes to the removal of a floor stain, more especially when a penetrative stain has been applied direct to the wood. For spirit stains—combined varnish and stain—spirituous paintremovers are suitable, and also for a stain coated with hard copal varnish. Care, should be taken when these are used. Windows should be open as the fumes are objectionable and there should be no light or fire near as they are also inflammable. Where, in addition to removing the varnish, it is desired to bleach the wood, caustic soda, although messy, is better. This must "be mixed with care, in a vessel holding at least twice the necessary quantity, because it boils up when warm or hot water is added. Add it gently and a little at a time. Bristle brushes are useless when applying soda. Use, instead, a mop made by nailing several thicknesses of cloth to a stick. Also wear rubber gloves as the sotla quickly blackens the nails.

Application of Soda

Use 21b to 41b of soda to one gallon of hot water. Apply and leave for half an hour or more. Give a second application if the first has dried. Remove the paint or varnish with a broad knife and follow immediately with a wire brush. Be careful not to touch the skirting or the paint will be ruined. Parquet floors must be protected as caustic soda, and iron vessels containing it, will darken oak at the least touch. After removal of the varnish and stain, wash the surface with plenty of water, followed with a wash of vinegar. The floor, when dry, should be comparatively clean, but possibly slightly rough. Rub with middle No. 2 glass paper—always the way, of the grain and not across it. The foregoing, it should be noted, applies to ordinary deal floors. In the case of oak this would require bleaching with oxalic acid or some other suitable agent.

Filling for Open Joints. If the boards are shrunken and there are open joints, these must be filled in. Small cracks can be treated with a

mixture made with fine whiting, plaster of Paris, and turpentine. Put three parts of whiting and one of plaster into a tin, and add enough turps to make a stiff paste. With thie fill all the nail holes and cracks and allow eight hours for it to set. If desired the paste can first be stained by adding powder colours, such as vandyke brown, etc. Whether the floor is newly-laid or an old one it must be absolutely cleaned before staining is attempted Paint marks can be removed with turpentine. Probably the desire will be to use a well-known proprietary stain in dark, light and medium oak. rosewood and mahogany as well as in such colours as grey, blue, red, etc. To have a good coloured floor, there must be a good white floor to commence with.

Method of Application. It is necessary to have enough stain to finish the job in hand. Apply it either with a cloth pad or a good-sized brush (not less than a three-inch one) and work the way of the grain, starting near the window and backing towards the door so that the finished work is not walked upon. A strip of tin-plate held against the skirting will protect it from marking by brush or pad. The floor should be finished with wax polish, which quickly transforms dead-looking dark brown boards into beautiful mellow tones and the soft polished texture that wax alone cah impart. When finishing the floor with wax polish it will be found most convenient to use a heavy polisher. To build up the surface it will need to be repeatedly polished. This means a good deal of energy, but the resultant surface is "-ell worth the trouble.

If a reduction in the charges for telephones was hot made, it was stated at the monthly meeting of the Makara-Hutt Valley provincial executive of the farmers' Union, many farmers would be forced to give up their telephones. The total amount remitted in charges was some £SOOO. Farmers appreciated what had been done by the department, but in their present position the charges were prohibitive, afta the maintenance of the high charges could only mean a substantial fall in telephone rentals. It was stated by the union that the financial position of the farming community, instead of improving, had, from the continued fall in the prices of primary products, gone from bad to worse, and that to-day the farmers were faced with the absolute necessity of substantial reductions in all classes of farm costs. In various localities very large numbers of members had been forced to give up their telephones, and in the MakaraHutt Valley district a large number of farmers had been waiting to see whether the department was going to do anything as regards a reduction of charges.

Tne penny, though humble, is extraordinarily useful. There -were issued in Britain between 1660, when the old and clumsy jtenny was abandoned for the more nimble one, and 1930, no fewer than. 1,760,000,000 pennies. Of this total 88,000,000 have been withdrawn. The bahks hold an average of 400,000,000, while automatic machineD and telephone boxes withdraw vast numbers from circulation. The organisation* controlling the machines which supply matches, chocolate, cigar&ttfes, and so on, confess to gathering 2000 tons of pennies a year! They claim to sell 250,000,000 boxes of matches, that weighing machines dispose of 20,000,000 tickets, and that chocolate machines hand out 60,000,000 bars, In addition, 100,000,000 pennies were collected from telephone call boxes last year in the London district alone.