Glass with silver inlay or incrustation must be rubbed after washing with a chamois skin dipped in whiting. Clean decanters and claret jugs by putting inside either a few buckshot and shaking them about in a cupful of tepid water dashed with ammonia, or else lightly folded squares of stiff brown paper with barely enough ammonia water to moisten. These remove wine incrustations. If the stains are obstinate, fill the decanter with tepid water, add a pinch of borax, and let it stand. Tiny pills of whiting wet up with alcohol and ammonia, dried, dropped inside, and shaken about, then dissolved out with tepid water, leave the insides clear and bright. So do crushed egg shells.
Wash gilt and Bohemian glass—indeed, any fancy glass—with a very soft brush and tepid white suds, rinse in hotter water, drain almost dry, then polish with absorbent cotton dipped lightly in powdered whiting. Iridescent and bubble glass should not be wiped. Drain instead, and polish when ready to use with a wisp of cotton. Cameo glass, or any with patterns in relief, must be washed with a stiff brush, in weak suds, rinsed thoroughly, and dried in gentle, steady heat rather than wiped.
=Pressed Glass=: Wash and rinse in water the same temperature, drain, but not too long, and wipe. Beware of linty towels. Be sure to run cloth or mop inside water glasses, otherwise they become dull quickly. Wash pitchers the same way; water leaves sediment—accumulations of it are hard to remove. Imitation cuttings must be brushed—they had better be eschewed. Plain, clear surfaces are much handsomer. Bowls set one in the other should have paper between. Load no glass thing heavily—the rumble or jar of a passing wagon may cause breakage if you do.
=Annealing Glass=: Annealing lessens sensibly the risk of breakage. Pack the glass snugly in a boiler, fill with cold water, bring to a boil, keep simmering three to four hours, then throw over a thick cloth and let cool very slowly. Remove only when fully cold. Especially useful for thin tumblers, lamp chimneys, and finger bowls. Put a board or a handful of clean sticks in the bottom of the boiler, so the heat shall not break things set lowest.
=Knives and Forks=: Have a pitcher just tall enough to hold knives, up to the handle. Do not quite fill it with very hot borax suds, stand knives in it, and leave till other things are out of the way, then wash blades, wipe off handles, rinse very quickly in clear tepid water, wipe dry, polish with a clean chamois, and hold with a clean cloth in putting away. This to save finger marks which grow often to stains or tarnishes upon knives seldom used. All-silver knives can be treated the same as other silver or plated things—still pitcher-washing is as good for them as any other. Ivory handles or pearl ones, or those of stag-horn or composition, all are injured by either soaking or very hot water. Carving-sets are frequently defaced hopelessly by rubbing the handles with scouring-soap. Instead use only lather, washing it off instantly. If suspicious of grease in the seam, wrap a fine-pointed skewer in thin cloth and run all around, pressing hard. Wipe knife handles very dry, else lay them for ten minutes in gentle heat to expel possible moisture around the rivets.