A Housewife's Diary

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 58, Issue 301, 1 October 1938, Page 4

A Housewife's Diary

Hints Abou%The Home

Flics. A little cobalt (obtained from chemist) in a little .sugar in a narrowmouthed bottle is -all good trap for flies. Chair Beating. If heavy chairs are covered with a damp sheet before being beaten the dust will not fly all over the place. Baby’s Bootees. Do not throw them away when too small but use them for blue-bags. Ironing. If iron is nibbed on waxed paper from time to time it will lremain clean and glide over the clothes. Palm Leaves for Hats. Materials that go into the making of women’s summer hats are as varied as women themselves. Even the different straws would make a long list, and then there are those, the practical kind, made in kid or fabric to stand hard wear. In Paris, hats are both practical and airy featherlight affairs. They are being created from palm. leaves and are proving both sunproof and rainproof. Short Stalks. Short-stalked flowers are in favour for cutting this year, especially for the table. For their arrangement, '“posy circles” of pottery, troughs and small shallow square-shaped containers are available. As the are in various lengths it is possible to use several of them together to make effective groups. A long trough filled with short-stemmed blooms and placed in the centre of a mantelpiece, otherwise left bare, looks good. Brush Jackets. Enamel or mirror-backed brushes are easy to harm and need careful treatment. Make little mackintosh jackets to slip over the backs when the brushes are washed or are being packed for a journey. Oilsilk is suitable to use for the making of these “macs.” Cut to suitable size and shape they only need hemming round the edges and elastic threaded through to draw hem up. j§) Cleaning Sports Shoes. Sports shoes that combine white with coloured leather are rather a nuisance to clean sometimes. One can now obtain a white cleaner and novel container. The container has a nozzle so pointed that the white preparation can be applied to the white part of the shoes without spreading to the coloured part. The cleaner dries quickly as well, and does not powder or rub off.