In the toilet, besides combs and hair brushes, use is made of powder puffs, tooth brushes, and bath sponges. Powder puffs are made from swan skins, but should be used rather for the even division of the powder or paint than for its application. For the latter purpose a piece of soft glove or chamois leather is best.

The commercial tooth brushes are almost without exception objectionable owing to the stiffness of the bristles. A suitable tooth brush should be made of very soft, flexible bristles, lest it wear away the enamel.

Particular attention should be devoted to bath sponges. Their value is proportionate to the fineness of the pores, their softness and elasticity, and their spherical shape. Crude sponges are best cleansed by being placed in dilute hydrochloric acid which dissolves the calcareous particles adhering to them.

They are bleached as follows.

Free them as far as possible from sand and other foreign matters. Then wash them thoroughly with water, and press them. Next introduce them into a solution of permanganate of potassium containing one ounce of the salt in a gallon; leave them in this liquid two or three minutes; then take them out, express the liquid (which can be several times used over again), wash them with water until no more violet-tinted liquid runs from them, and then immerse them in a solution of one part of hyposulphite of sodium in twenty parts of water, to which immediately before dipping the sponges one part of hydrochloric acid has been added. When the sponge’s are white, remove them and wash them thoroughly with water.

After prolonged use, bath sponges lose their elasticity and softness. These properties can be restored by dipping the sponges into a mixture of one part by measure of glycerin and eight parts of water, pressing out the excess of the liquid and allowing them to dry. The small quantity of glycerin which they contain prevents their hardening.