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CARPETS.
Ordinary Kidderminster carpets can only be cleaned by shaking and beating; if cleaued by means of washing, they become so soft as to be speedily dirtied again, and their ap-pearanee is spoiled. Brussels carpets may be cleaned as follows:-Take them up and shake and beat them, so as to render them perfectly free from dust. Have the floor thoroughly scoured and dry, and nail the earpet firmly down upon it.Take a pailful of clean cold spring water, and put into it about three gills of oxgall. Take another pail with clean cold water only. Now, rub with a soft serubbing brush some of the oxgall water on the carpet, which will raise a lather. When a convenient sized portion is done, wash the lather off with a clean linen cloth dipped in the clean water. Let this water be changed frequently. When all the lather has disappeared, rub the part with a clean dry cloth. After all is done, open the window to allow the carpet to dry. A carpet treated in this manner will be greatly refreshed in colour, particularly the greens. In laying carpets, cover the floor beneath them with large sheets of paper, to prevent dust from rising between the boards. A carpet lasts longer by adopting this precaution.
OIL-CLOTHS.
Oil or painted cloths should be laid only on dry floors ; if the floor be damp, the cloth will soon mildew and rot. Such cloths, laid even in the driest situation, should be wetted as little as possible. When to be eleaned, they should be wiped with a wet cloth, and rubbed gently till dry.
MARBLE HEARTHS AND CHIMNEY PIECES
May be cleaned as follows:-Mix a gill of soap lees, half a gill of turpentine, and a bullock's gall, and make them into a paste with pipe-elay, which lay upon the marble, and let it remain a day or two, then rub it off, and the stains will have disappeared, unless they are of long standing, when the paste must be again applied. Polished marble requires care-ful treatment, as any acid will destroy the polish. In general, warm water and soap will be found the safest thing for clean-ing chimney pieces.
WALLS OT HOUSES.
The outer surfaces of walls, formed of brick or sandstone, sometimes imbibe moisture from the atmosphere, and this gives a dampness to the interior. If it be found unsuitable to plaster and white-wash the outside, the damp may be greatly
