h not
only saves the hands but enables you to have hotter water; and a full
supply of coarser towels for the heavier dishes,--the work can go on
swiftly. Let the dish-pan be half full of hot soap and water. _Wash glass
first_, paying no attention to the old saying that "hot water rots glass."
Be careful never to put glass into hot water, bottom first, as the sudden
expansion may crack it. Slip it in edgeways, and the finest and most
delicate cut-glass will be safe. _Wash silver next._ Hot suds, and instant
wiping on dry soft cloths, will retain the brightness of silver, which
treated in this way requires much less polishing, and therefore lasts
longer. If any pieces require rubbing, use a little whiting made into a
paste, and put on wet. Let it dry, and then polish with a chamois-skin.
Once a month will be sufficient for rubbing silver, if it is properly
washed. _China comes next_--all plates having been carefully scraped, and
all cups rinsed out. To fill the pan with unscraped and unrinsed dishes,
and pour half-warm water over the whole, is a method too often adopted;
and the results are found in sticky dishes and lustreless silver. Put all
china, silver, and glass in their places as soon as washed. Then take any
tin or iron pans, wash, wipe with a dry towel, and put near the fire to
dry thoroughly. A knitting-needle or skewer may be kept to dig out corners
unreachable by dishcloth or towel, and if perfectly dried they will remain
free from rust.

The cooking-dishes, saucepans, &c., come next in order; and here the wire
dish-cloth will be found useful, as it does not scratch, yet answers every
purpose of a knife. Every pot, kettle, and saucepan must be put into the
pan of hot water. If very greasy, it is well to allow them to stand partly
full of water in which a few drops of ammonia have been put. The _outside
must be washed_ as carefully as the inside. Till this is done, there will
always be complaint of the unpleasantness of handling cooking-utensils.
Properly done, they are as clean as the china or glass.

Plated knives save much work. If steel ones are used, they must be
polished after every meal. In washing them, see that the handles are never
allowed to touch the water. Ivory discolors and cracks if wet.
Bristol-brick finely powdered is the best polisher, and, mixed with a
little water, can be applied with a large cork. A regular knife-board, or
a small board on which you can nail three strips of wood in box for