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Sweeping Day: Floors

Smooth Floors. - Smooth floors of hard wood, oilcloth, linoleum, or matting should not be swept in the usual way. Make a heavy canton or outing flannel bag with a draw string, large enough to hold the head of the broom.

Or use for this purpose ticks that are becoming worn. Wring this bag out of hot water containing a little ammonia, slip the broom head into it, and draw the puckering string tight about the handle. This takes up all dust, lint, and bits of paper, and makes the room much fresher than ordinary sweeping. Cast-off flannel garments, such as nightshirts and the like, may be utilized in this manner.

Or stitch together loosely old cotton hose, crazy-quilt fashion. HARD-WOOD FLOORS Finish for Hard-wood Floors.- Rub down a new floor with sandpaper, and polish with pumice moistened with a little water. Wash clean, let dry, fill the nail holes with putty, and if the grain of the wood is open, apply a suitable filler. Avoid a cheap filler, based on plaster of Paris and the like, as these are not durable.

The best filler consists of ground quartz mixed with linseed oil about as thick as white-lead paint. The particles of quartz are angular and adhere to the grain of the wood.

When nearly dry, or as soon as it begins to "flat," go over it with a cloth or other polisher, and wipe clean all that will come off. Let stand a day or two and polish lightly with the finest grade of sandpaper. Wipe off the dust with a soft cloth and follow with two coats of the best quality of pure shellac. Avoid cheap shellac, as it is much less durable. This gives a high gloss. But if a dull finish is required, the shellac may be rubbed down by means of a piece of felt tacked over a flat surface as a block of wood, with pumice stone moistened with cold-drawn linseed oil or olive oil.

Or to refinish a hard-wood floor that has become defaced by age or wear, remove the previous finish by washing the floor with a strong solution of sal soda, or, if necessary, caustic potash or soda lye. Or if this does not remove the spots, apply turpentine. After the wood has been perfectly cleaned, proceed as above.

Wax for Hard-wood Floors. - Shellac alone makes a tough and durable finish, but on account of its high gloss it readily mars and scratches.

And these defects are very apparent. Moreover, a shellac surface cannot be touched up in spots because the brush marks will show. When defaced, it must be refinished all over. Hence it is customary to follow the shellac with a protective coat of wax.

Or wood may be oiled with colddrawn linseed or other clear fixed oil, and a coat of wax applied directly to the oiled surface without shellac.

This last is the usual custom abroad.

A suitable wax properly applied gives a hard, glossy surface, is not SWEEPING DAY sticky, and does not rub off. Scratches or mars on any part of the surface can be waxed over at any time, and the whole surface can be repolished frequently with a weighted brush.

Floor oils, unless rubbed and polished with great care, tend to stain skirts, rugs, and draperies. Hence wax is the most satisfactory of all floor dressings.

To Wax Floors. -Apply, by means of a flannel cloth, beeswax thinned with turpentine and rub down with a weighted brush. This is a hard wax and difficult to apply without turpentine. But the turpentine quickly evaporates, and the wax then forms a very durable coating.

Or as a substitute for beeswax, use paraffin wax, which is cheaper, soft and easy to apply, but less durable.

Paraffin is one of the petroleum products, and if not properly refined, tends to combine with the tannin of oak floors to form black petroleum stains, which are difficult to remove.

Or fasten together four or more common red bricks. Lay one or more thicknesses of felt over the largest surface, surround the whole with flannel or other soft cloth, sew it on and attach an old broom handle with which to push or drag it over the floor. This is equally as effective as a weighted brush and costs nothing.