Rensselaer Republican, Volume 16, Number 13, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 December 1883 — Stained F[?]oofs. [ARTICLE]

Stained F[?]oofs.

The popularity of stained floors goes on increasing. Nowhere are they more appreciated than in sleeping rooms, where sweetness and freshness are the i main considerations. Just what is the best stain is a difficult question to decide. A writer in a cotemporary is of opinion that permanganate of potash is the best. It is milch used in the navj, and is verysatisfactory in sitting-rooms. As most people know, permanganate of potash not only stains, but purifies and disinfects the rooms which are stained. The mode of procedure is this: Procure a good quality of permanganate of potash, dissolve about an ounce and a half of the crystals in a gallon of boiling water—this will make quite a dark stain—use a stick to stir up the mixture ; then with a painter’s flat brush lay on the stain, working the way of the wood quickly and boldly. A small brush is useful for corners and crevices, and\a pair of heavy gloves should be worn while at work, as the permanganate stains very considerably. Salts of lemon, or the lemon juice, will, however, quickly remove the stains from the hands. When dry, the staining can be repeated if the color is not dark enough, and then, when perfectly dry, the floor should be rubbed dry with an old duster, and linseed sil should be rubbed on freely with ayiece of flannel, always applying it with the grain of the wood. Two or three layers of the oil are an improvement and firmly set the stain. The floor is then ready to be polished with beeswax and turpentine. To prepare this, spread or cut up the wax into small pieces; put it into a gallipot, and pour sufficient spirits of turpentine over it just to cover it. Set the pot in the oven or on the stove until the wax is thoroughly melted, then set it aside to get cold, when it should be of the consistency of pomatum. Put on the wax, not too much of it, with a piece of flannel, and polish with a polishing brush or a big silk duster. This mode of treating floors is quite the best and most welcome for bedrooms, which should be stained all over, under the beds and everywhere. They can be kept very clean and bright by a daily rubbing with the duster and a weekly application of beeswax and turpentine. Turpentine is cleansing, and floors so treated do not require the weekly scrubbing, which is so much labor ; but after they are once well polished the labor is not more than scrubbing floors and washing oil-cloths, and they take away two-thirds of the terrors of house-cleaning. Those who like the more common varnished floors should stain the floors as above; but instead of linseed oil a coat of size should be laid on. This can be obtained at the paint-shops, and should be dissolved in boiling water to the consistency es thin, gum, and then laid on with the brush evenly, and with the grain. When the size isjperfectly dry and hard, it can be varnished with one or two coats of copal or egg-shell flat varnish. These floors require to be dusted daily, and to have a little linseed oil rubbed in occasionally. These require less care than a waxed floor, but when they get shabby they are not so readily renovated. A flannel bag, in which the broom can be incased, in the best floor duster, and one most easily managed.— Oil and Colorman's Journal.