FURNITURE CARE

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLII, Issue 20514, 4 September 1936, Page 12

FURNITURE CARE

DUSTING AND POLISHING In winter extra care should be taken to remove dust from furniture so that it does not get into the grain of the wood, states the “Manchester Guardian.” A good simple treatment for most woods is to wring out a washleather in warm water to which a little vinegar has been added, and wipe thoroughly; this removes dust and grease and leaves a good surface for polishing where this is necessary. It is, however, unwise to polish furniture indiscriminately. Highly-polished furniture, for instance, should be kept clean with a damp washleather only, and occasionally repolished by an experienced french polisher. Waxed and limed oak should be cleaned with a damp leather, too, as their surface has already been specially treated; but natural, unpolished oak should be polished regularly with a good furniture cream, and in time it will take on a rich, warm hue. Strong, cold sweetened tea is a good cleaner for black oak, while ebony is best cleaned with milk and polished up well with a' piece of silk. Varnished wood is improved by an occasional rub with linseed oil. A paste made of olive oil and salt will usually remove white marks left by hot dishes on polished wood. The paste should be rubbed lightly on the spot, left there for a time, then wiped off, and the wood polished as usual. If this is not successful, a little boiled linseed oil should be rubbed on with a circular motion, the mark afterwards being rubbed with spirits of wine.

The Hon. Jean Bruce, Lady-in-Wait-ing to Queen Mary, arranged a very attractive sale, when pochettes and flapjacks, exquisitely embroidered by ladies of the Viennese nobility, who are, alas! now among the new poor, were sold (says a writer In “The Queen”). These were designed for use at the Garden Party Courts in July, and one or two have already been bought by Queen Mary. Guests i ire entertained to tea by Miss Bruce in her Georgian garden in Egerton Crescent, which is flagged with stones taken from the old Devonshire House kitchens. Stone eagles placed among the flowers maintain the period atmosphere of this garden, and the drawingroom and dining-room have pale-green walls and soft caramel beige linen covers and curtains.