According to the New York _Analyst_: “There are not nearly as many
secrets in manicure as people imagine. A little ammonia or borax in the
water you wash your hands with, and that water just lukewarm, will keep
the skin clean and soft. A little oatmeal mixed with the water will
whiten the hands. Many people use glycerine on their hands when they go
to bed, wearing gloves to keep the bedding clean; but glycerine don’t
agree with every one. It makes some skins harsh and red. These people
should rub their hands with dry oatmeal and wear gloves in bed. The best
preparation for the hands at night is white of egg, with a grain of alum
dissolved in it.... The roughest and hardest hands can be made soft and
white in a month’s time by doctoring them a little at bedtime, and all
the tools you need are a nail-brush (avoid metal), a bottle of ammonia,
a box of powdered borax, and a little fine white sand to rub the stains
off, or a cut of lemon. Manicures use acids in their shops, but the
lemon is quite as good, and isn’t poisonous, while the acids are.”