KITCHEN COSMETICS
Like women, kitchens must be made up continuously to be kept up. Like
women, the fairer and even blonder they are the more attractive they
seem to be; but unlike women, they must never be applied with powder (as
a beautifier) or with oils, varnishes and paints which for any reason
disintegrate into powder.
Every Domiologist (the author’s coinage for home scientist) likes a
light, clean, glistening kitchen. Oils, paints and varnishes and their
relatives, enamels, shellacs and lacquers, do the trick.
This article is not going to teach you to be a painter, but ought to
give you the salient facts of kitchen “make up,” which every Domiologist
should have in her mental, if not actual, filing case.
Furthermore, in the maidless or maided house the basic supply of
to-be-cleaned-things must be as nearly self-supporting as possible.
Hence a smoothly varnished wood-work and un-peeling painted wall or
ceiling will go a long way to simplifying the care of the kitchen, yea
the whole house.
Briefly, paint, according to Wood, is any liquid or semi-liquid
substance applied to any metallic, wooden or other surface, to protect
it from corrosion or decay or to give color or gloss or all of these
qualities to it. Note the stress on the protective quality.
According to Heckel: Paint is a mixture of opaque or semi-opaque
substances (pigments) with liquids, capable of application to surface
by means of a brush or a painting machine, or by dipping and forming an
adherent coating thereon.
House paints are made of pigments, drying oils (volatile or thinners),
driers or “Japans” and varnishes. Pigments are divided into white bases
(like oxide of zinc, the most important), inert reinforcing pigments,
natural earth colors, chemical colors, pigment lakes, etc.
Varnish enhances the beauty of surfaces, protects them from injury,
increases the luster or hardness of other coatings, excludes moisture
and gases, vapors and other atmospheric agencies of decomposition or
decay.
PREVENTIVES OF DISEASE
Paint and varnishes in the main have been thought to be beautifiers
only, but in reality they are much more than this, for they are very
complete means for the maintenance of sanitary conditions in the kitchen
and are made for application on metals, cement, concrete, plaster, wood,
etc. Therefore, there is nothing in the kitchen that cannot be
re-surfaced if necessary.
Cracks and holes spell vermin and germ traps, which make efficient
distribution centers for disease. Here is where paints and varnishes and
the adjuncts not only fill the cracks, but fill the bill before the
physician has time to send his.
The best blanket dictum to remember is that: Cleanliness is next to
hole-iness. Fill up the holes, cracks, splits, roughnesses and
unevennesses. Render all surfaces non-porous by application of liquid
paint fillers. But before all else, scrape and pumice and wash surfaces
with good old soap and water. Benzine is very often not sufficiently
efficient in preparing for paint applications. Evenness, cleanliness,
non-porousness, these three, and, to be Irish, the greatest of these is
elbow grease--the best of all kitchen cosmetics applied in preparation
and in brushwork.
CHOOSE THE MANUFACTURER FIRST
“What criterion have we,” asks the Domiologist, “in the choice of
paints?”
The answer is, “Choose the manufacturer, then choose the paint.”
No household has a laboratory, and the widest advertised paint brands
have stood the test. Consequently, a can opener, the paint, and an
all-seeing eye to keep abreast of the advertisements are the
requirements for the pocket laboratory. But, the standard for any paint
is the overworked word “service.” If the paint you and your friends have
used does not wear, get another make. But by all means, do not use these
things blindly any more than you would use face powder without knowing
the brand. Buy the best. In no other household commodity is this advice
more important.
Sometimes the best paints and varnishes deteriorate in storage or
transit, by being kept in too cold a room, and may be explosive if
treated with too high a temperature.
PAINT RULES
In buying paint it will do no harm to bear in mind:
1. That one gallon of paint should be distributable over an area (in
two coats) of 300 square feet.
2. A good paint should produce a surface that is neither too hard nor
too soft. Surfaces that are too hard are prone to chipping and
cracking or splitting. Sometimes they remain sticky if they are too
soft, or chalk or powder or flow.
3. The average life of a good application of good paint is four years.
It ought to last fifteen years, but to-day in our apartments we are
glad if it lasts one month. Three years is the minimum, but a simple
pigment paint frequently plays out in three years.
4. That paint must be durable in color and should last at least four
years under normal conditions. Good floor paints and varnishes can
stand dragging furniture, walking, hot utensils, steam, water, even
alcohol and greases.
5. That good paints should leave surfaces suitable for repainting,
which, being interpreted, means that the old paint should be still
unbroken, making paste or liquid fillers practically unnecessary.
Paste fillers with or without color are used to fill deep cracks, etc.,
not, however, caused by broken paint surfaces, but by faulty
construction, warping, blows in plaster, wear, and such injuries.
The common ills which are met with in paint life are:
1. Peeling, cracking or powdering, due to imperfect attachment,
probably on greasy, damp or over artificially heated surfaces from
which the moisture is driven up through the paint.
2. Blistering, due to underlying vaporized moisture. An excess of
volatile oil prevents this. It often occurs on incompletely dried
lumber, and often light or some chemical agency is the cause.
3. Alligatoring, incipient cracks due to heavy coats of paint applied
to unseasoned wood especially if the paint is drier, tougher or more
elastic than the under coats.
4. Wear. This is the only legitimate ill, if it takes place after the
allotted period of its life.
The common epidemics in varnish life are bloom (opalescence),
blistering, spotting, cracking, sweating, powdering, livering, crawling
(refusal to spread), flasking, deadening (loss of luster), pitting,
silking (looks like enameled silk), seedy or specky, wrinkling, grain
showing, crumbling, all due to imperfect preparation of surfaces and the
presence of moisture, greases, poor varnishes, poor application of good
varnishes, different brands of varnishes put together, increase or
decrease of temperature in drying or storage or transportation, etc.
There are hundreds of kinds of varnishes divided into: oil varnishes,
spirit varnishes, japans, enamels and specialties.
In house finishing, oil varnishes, enamels, painter’s Japans and
sometimes spirit varnishes (shellac and dammar varnishes).
Lacquers are highly transparent varnishes used on metals to produce a
lustrous film.
Japans (decorative) are dark varnishes applied to metals and wood.
Japans (painter’s), are varnishes added to paints for luster and drying.
EMPLOY AN EXPERT
So it can readily be seen that the painting and varnishing of the
kitchen should be, if nothing else, given over to experts. The painter
should understand these requirements. “The priming coat,” says Heckel,
“being the one on which the adhesion of the entire paint film depends,
should be most carefully considered. It should be sufficiently liquid to
penetrate every pore and irregularity of the surface, carrying with it
particles of the pigment; but this fluidity must not be obtained at the
cost of the future strength of the dried film. For the priming coat it
is customary to add a quantity of oil and some turpentine or benzine
or, in the case of cypress, yellow pine and resinous woods in general,
some form of benzol. It is easy to overdo both. Only enough of the
volatile thinner should be used to avoid a high gloss, to which
subsequent coats will not readily adhere. Hard, unabsorbent woods
require a thicker priming coat than spongy woods, such as poplar, soft
pine, etc. Resinous woods, like yellow pine, again require special
treatment--a preliminary varnishing of knots and resinous spots with
shellac, and subsequent priming with a fluid priming coat containing a
benzol product.
“The second coat, which in many instances is also (improperly) the
finishing coat, should be tempered accordingly. If there are to be three
coats (as there should be), the paint should be lightly reduced with
turpentine or benzine, so as to promote amalgamation with the priming
coat, and to reduce the surface gloss. If it is to be the finishing
coat, prepared paint of the average consistency can be used without
reduction, but a very little turpentine is sometimes desirable to assist
penetration and adhesion.
“The third or finishing coat should usually be employed as it comes from
the can. In the case of all coats, thorough, hard brushing is essential,
and a round brush is always preferable to a flat brush. The failure of
paint is frequently due to insufficient ‘elbow grease’ with the brush.
“Every coat of paint should be completely dry throughout before the next
coat is applied; but it is a mistake to allow a priming coat to
‘weather’ and become weakened before painting is continued.
“Too much drier or Japan, or cheap rosin Japans, are at the bottom of
many paint failures. The manufacturer of a scientifically prepared paint
will introduce the proper kind and quantity of driers into his formula,
and none should be added in use.”
A fit condition of surface is obtained by:
(1) By delaying the application of the priming coat until the wood is
thoroughly seasoned, unless seasoning has been properly attended to in
the lumber; secondly, by seeing that the plaster on the inside of the
building is completely dry before painting is begun on the outside. A
new house should have been heated some weeks before it is painted. In an
old house, leaking spouts, etc., should be repaired and the adjacent
wood allowed to dry thoroughly before repainting. Thirdly, by avoiding
the application of paint in moist weather or when the atmospheric
moisture is high. Fourthly, by selecting a dry, mild season, as late
spring or early fall, rather than a cold or hot season, as winter or
mid-summer, for the work. Fifthly, by seeing that sappy or resinous
spots in new lumber are properly treated before painting. Sixthly, by
due care on old work that all loose paint and dust are removed by
scraping, sand-papering, wire-brushing, dusting or, if necessary,
burning, before new paint is applied.
As a rule, it should always be remembered that two thin coats thoroughly
brushed out are better in most cases than one thick coat, and that
repainting should never be delayed until the under coats begin to loosen
seriously.
Only when conditions are favorable should the householder be his own
painter. In any case he should study carefully the directions on the
can, and unless they are found to apply to his particular job, should
consult either the manufacturer or a practical painter for fuller
advice.
Ceilings and walls of the kitchen are improved by the application of
flat washes, calcimines, etc., of which there are many on the market.
These surfaces are easily kept clean and sanitary and for this reason
have been used instead of papers in the kitchen. All discolorations and
dirt, grease and dust are removable by soap and water. The best paints
are not poisonous and are a great factor in home sanitation.
The kitchen floor is a more difficult problem, as the wear and tear is
so much greater than suffered by the walls. However, paint and varnish
manufacturers have the problem well in hand and there are paints and
stains on the market and varnishes, too, which withstand wear and tear,
heat, grease, steam, gases and every other normal nuisance. Of course,
this holds good only if they are applied correctly. Floor varnishes
should dry in forty-eight hours. Dressings for revivifying linoleums are
on the market, but beware of poor ones.
Don’t be afraid to investigate! This is another mandate to the
Domiologist!
And bear in mind that floor varnishes and stains should be able to stand
dragging furniture and foot wear, should be tough, withstand shock or
abrasion, and be unaffected by normal contact with moisture. Good
surfaces will give enduring service and will permit the scrubbing and
washing of floors almost indefinitely. New coats can be added as the
wear and tear demands. In addition to paints there are varnishes and
stains combined which give effect of natural stain, and these applied to
floors are more than satisfactory. These combinations, too, are useful
on linoleums that have aged. These materials are made, it must be
understood, to stand wear. Do not ever think of applying a wall stain or
paint to the floor, as the floor compositions are made to withstand
different use. Before using a stain, etc., on linoleum it is well to get
advice from a linoleum firm or a topnotch paint firm.
ENAMELS OR PIGMENT VARNISHES
Probably nothing gives the Domiologist more delight than the effect a
fine white enamel gives the objects over which it is laid. Here is a way
to keep the kitchen a real blonde!
There are many of these enamels on the market which give the refreshing
aspect to the kitchen. Many of them have the appearance of porcelain,
and can be kept clean with little trouble. They can be bought in the
glossy finish or the flat or dull or mat finish. All the woodwork of the
kitchen can be treated with enamels if a charming kitchen is wanted.
The high cost of construction to-day demands the protecting powers of
paints. The beauty theory of paint still holds good, but the protective
power is predominant and most important.
The use of a good floor oil has been proven by Dr. Wallace Maunheimer to
reduce the quantity of dust in a room from 80% to 100%. Flying dust is
the aeroplane of disease. Oils, paint and varnish the anti-aircraft
guns!
And, finally, read the directions on the can, get the admirable books of
directions mailed gratis by the service departments of manufacturers of
paint, and _buy the best_.
And do not fail to realize that the kitchen with a good complexion
augurs well for the complexion of every one in the house.