Rotten stone, mixed with a little spirit, is the best thing to clean
brass with: rotten stone and oil does very well. They should be polished
with dry rotten stone, and a dry cloth. Hot vinegar and milk makes brass
look nice--it should be rinsed off, wiped dry, and rubbed over with
chalk, to kill the acid, and give the brass a polish. Brass looks very
nice cleaned in this manner, and will keep clean a long time, provided
all the acid is killed--if not, they will turn very soon. When brass
utensils are not in use, they should be thoroughly cleaned with rotten
stone and oil, and wrapped up tight to exclude the air. Whiting or chalk
is good to polish silver. If the silver is spotted, wet the chalk,
(which should be powdered,) rub it on the silver, and let it remain
until dry; then rub it off with a clean dry cloth. When chalk will not
remove spots, hot ashes will. Britannia-ware should be rubbed with a
flannel rag dipped in sweet or linseed oil, if spotted, then washed in
soap-suds, and wiped dry. To give it a polish, rub it over with dry
powdered chalk or whiting, using a clean dry rag.