KEEPPING THE LINO YOUNG

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 219, 5 December 1927, Page 5

KEEPPING THE LINO YOUNG

It is easier to keep new lino in good condition than to restore old cloth. If carefully treated, the covering will improve in quality as it is polished. By the way, when you substitute new floor cloth, do not destroy the old. From the good, big pieces you can cut mats to use in the kitchen while cooking and washing. Odd strips and cuttings, useless for anything else, make excellent firelighters and substitutes for wood. Fixing Linoleum Better than tacks for fixing lino to ♦he floor is a simple preparation made of lib of rye flour mixed with sufficient cold water to form a stiff paste. To this paste acid 1£ pints of boiling water, stirring all the time; then’ add 2oz of alum and let the paste stand for two minutes, stirring till the alum is well mixed in. When you wash lino, use a little paraffin in the water; no soap. Pattern or No Pattern

After laying lino, its treatment depends on whether it is inlaid, printed

or plain. If inlaid, never use varnisli or shellac, because the pattern goes right through the cloth and cannot therefore wear off. All it needs is sweeping and dusting daily, with a wash over (using very little water) and a good polish once a week. Printed lino means that the design is printed on the surface in heavy oil paint and will wear off if not protected. fn this case, the lino should be washed with a damp cloth to remove all dust, and then varnished with a thin coat of the best brand of clear varnish obtainable. Cheap varnishes are apt to turn white when touched with water. Plain lino should be w*iped with a damp cloth and polished. A good polish is made as follows: Take loz beeswax. £oz Castile soap, and half a pint of turpentine. Shred the beeswax, put it in a jar and leave it to melt in half the turpentine. When melted. add the remainder of the turpentine. Be careful to keep this mixture away from fire or light. Shred the soap and boil it in half a pint of water. Mix the whole together. When cool, bottle and shake well before using. Remember, by the way, that floors should be dusted with a dry mop before polish is applied.