Wash the plate in boiling water to free it from grease, and if it
has wrought edges, brush it well before you begin to clean it. The
leathers ought to be soft and very thick, and the sponges well soaked
in water.
_Another Way._
Boil an ounce of prepared hartshorn-powder in a quart of water. While
on the fire, put as much plate into it as the vessel will hold; let
it boil a little time, then take it out, drain it over the saucepan,
dry it before the fire, and rub it bright with leather. Then put more
into the pan in the same manner until it is all boiled. Put clean
linen rags into the pan to soak up the remainder, and when dry, they
will give a beautiful polish to the plate merely by rubbing it with
them. They are likewise admirable for cleaning brass locks, and the
finger-plates of doors.—This method will only suit small articles of
plate.