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Cleaning Glass
THERE is an account, in one of Hugh Conway's novels, of two bachelor brothers whose glassware was the envy and despair of every woman who was admitted into their home. However careful and experienced a housekeeper she might be, none of their visitors had ever been able to get her servants to attain the brilliancy shown by the glass on the table of the bachelors. At last the secret was confessed by the brothers: "We always do the glass ourselves." Since it is the fashion to use a great deal of glass on the table, this secret is valuable at present. But it is by no means necessary for a housekeeper to do the glass herself; she will find that a satisfactory degree of success can be more easily secured if she will take the trouble to train her servants to clean the table glassware in the right way. A small wooden tub should be used in order to avoid scratching the glass. Make a strong suds, having the water no hotter than you can put your hand into comfortably, and wash each piece of glass carefully with a soft cloth if plain, and with a soft brush if the glass be cut or imitation of cut. Then rinse the glass in clear water of about the same temperature, drain, and while the glass is still warm, wipe with a dry linen towel, rubbing rather hard to give a polish. The naked hands should not be allowed to touch the glass. The brilliancy given to the glassware by this process will be ample repayment of the extra labor involved. The Illustrated American, October 4, 1890, Vol.IV, No.33, p.58 (Accessed: Google Books, 15 April 2012) |