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House Cleaning: Stir

Stir in about 2 heaping tablespoonfuls of any desired pigment or mixture of pigment, or enough to bring the whole to about the consistency of ordinary lead and oil paint, and bring to a boil over a slow fire. Dissolve with gentle heat 2 or 3 ounces of yellow beeswax in a little turpentine, taking care that the turpentine does not catch fire. Stir in the wax, remove from the fire, and when about lukewarm, thin with turpentine to about the consistency of new milk. Try the stain on a piece of the same kind of wood as the floor before using, to see if the color is right. Soft wood like pine will absorb more of the color than hard wood like maple. Hence it is important to thin the stain to the right consistency to get the desired effect. Take care to apply the stain evenly with the brush, as in painting, and lay it on freely the way of the grain, rather than against it. The addition of turpentine causes the stain to strike into the wood.

Or in place of cold-drawn linseed oil with turpentine, use boiled linseed oil mixed with any desired pigment, and apply boiling hot. Keep the oil at the boiling point by means of an alcohol stove or otherwise.