Polished iron-work may be preserved from rust by a mixture not very
expensive, consisting of copal varnish intimately mixed with as much
olive oil as will give it a degree of greasiness, adding thereto
nearly as much spirit of turpentine as of varnish. The cast iron-work
is best preserved by rubbing it with black-lead.
But where rust has begun to make its appearance on grates or
fire-irons, apply a mixture of tripoli with half its quantity of
sulphur, intimately mingled on a marble slab, and laid on with a
piece of soft leather: or emery and oil may be applied with excellent
effect, laid on with a spongy piece of the fig-tree fully saturated
with the mixture. This will not only clean but polish, and render the
use of whiting unnecessary.