1. – Cream of tartar………….....       8 ounces
Oxalic acid……………………...        1 ounce
Alum…………………………..…        1 ounce
Milk……………………………...         3 pints

Mix and rub on the shoes. When they are thoroughly dry, rub them with a mixture of prepared chalk and magnesium carbonate.

2. – Water……………………….     136 parts
Fine pipe clay…………………..      454 parts
Shellac, bleached………………      136 parts
Borax, powdered……………….        68 parts
Soft soap……………………..…         8 parts
Ultramarine blue…………….....         5 parts

Boil the shellac in the water, adding the borax, and keeping up the boiling until a perfect solution is obtained, then stir in the soap (5 or 6 parts of “ivory” soap, shaved up and melted with 2 or 3 parts of water, is better than common soft soap), pipe clay, and ultra marine. Finally strain through a hair-cloth sieve. This preparation, it is said, leaves absolutely nothing to be desired. A good deal of stiffness may be imparted to the leather by it. The addition of a little glycerine would remedy this. The old application should be wiped away before a new one is put on. This preparation is suitable for military shoes, gloves, belts, and uniforms requiring a white dressing.