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House Cleaning: Paris

To mend small breaks, mix plaster of Paris with cold water and apply quickly with a case knife, smoothing the plaster as you apply it. Mix a small quantity at a time and work quickly, as the plaster hardens very fast.

Or to prevent plaster of Paris from hardening quickly, when repairing larger breaks that take more material and more time, mix 1 tablespoonful of plaster of Paris with 2 or 3 tablespoonfuls of fine sand and dilute with vinegar. The more vinegar used, the slower the plaster will set.

Or mix plaster of Paris with an equal quantity of cold flour paste.

Or to mend large cracks and breaks, soak bits of wall paper to a pulp with water, squeeze out the water, and mix to a stiff paste or jell with thin size or glue made by dissolving 1 ounce of good glue in 1 pint of hot water over a slow fire. Pour the whole on cheese cloth to remove the excess of water. Press the paper pulp into the cracks and holes in the plaster with a putty knife. But do not quite fill the crack to the surface of the plaster, as the pulp does not admit of a smooth surface. When nearly dry, smooth the surface with plaster of Paris and let dry before tinting or repapering. The paper pulp when hard is as strong as wood, and cracks filled in this manner will never reopen.