HANDS AND HOUSEWORK.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 132, 10 July 1914, Page 4

HANDS AND HOUSEWORK.

DEVICES FOR SAVING- THE SKIN. Tliere are certain household jobs which are particularly ruinous to the hands. Potato peeling is one of the very worst; It stains your fingers most cruelly, as well as roughening them. Get over this difficulty by never peeling the potatoes at all. It isn't necessary.

When the potatoes are new there is no skin worth mentioning, and a rub with a rough cloth will remove what little there is. When they get older, they can quite well be boiled or baked in their jackets. The jacket preserves the goodness of the potato and keeps the flavour in. So all you need do is just wash tjiem.and then throw them into the pan of water or put them straight in the oven. If you want fried or mashed potatoes you can always cut open the jacket after part baking, scrape out the soft inside, and use it in any way you like. This "jacket cookery" saves a great deal of trouble, and is really economical, as it prevents all the waste which occurs when the potatoes are pared at all clumsily or hurriedly. Washingrup is another business which ruins the hands, unless you wash up with paper. You may think this a very funny way of setting to work, but, as a matter of fact, it is an excellent one. Wipe all the dirty knives and forks and plates with paper, and then burn the paper. The crockery is left almost clean, and it only needs just to be dipped into warm water and then dried off with a cloth.

This saves having to keep your hands in the wasliing-tub for ever so long while cleansing things. Besides, it does away with the very unpleasant job of cleaning out the sink. The sink is always sweet and clean because, you see, there are no bits to go (Town it. Wear rubber gloves when cleaning boots or scrubbing the boards. Bubber gloves are a great stand-by. Hot water does them no harm, but you must take care to slip them off when "you go near the stove, for strong heat causes them to melt and become sticky.