REMOVING MILDEW.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 76, 29 March 1924, Page 22

REMOVING MILDEW.

It is certainly most annoying to find some of your linen and cotton garments marked with mildew. The trouble arises, in the first instance, through having put them aside for some length of time imperfectly dried. Unless you are almost sure that you can get to your ironing at a certain time it is rather a mistake to damp down your clothes. In dampish weather mildew will appear rapidly, and, as a rule, it is most difficult to remove the unsightly marks. If the trouble is treated at once success is sure to result, but if left until the mildew has eaten into the fibre of the material removal becomes rather a task. Sometimes success results by placing the garment in the hot sunshine after sprinkling with salt, but, as a rule, something a little more severe is -wanted before any impression can be made. The best thing to be recommended is the U3e of Javelle water. This should be in every house, all ready for application. The following is an excellent recipe, which can be used for a variety of purposes. You will need 31b of washing soda, lilb of lime, loz of borax, and 6 quarts of water. Get a clean kerosene tin and put in the lime, covering it with sufficient water to slake it. Then put in the rest of the water, with the other ingredients, and boil together fpr half an hour. Leave until next day, when strain and bottle.

Some housewives may take exception to the use of the lime, claiming that it may rot the clothes. But under the circumstances one is justified in taking the risk. The writer has tried French chalk without any measure of success, and finally lias had to resort to the cleaning liquid for which the recipe has now been given. There is no occasion to splash it about unduly, or to use it where it is not necessary. The affected parts must be treated only, and a small brush is a good thing to use to paint it on with. The great thing, when the stains have vanished, is to thoroughly rinso out the

material in clean water until every particle of the lime has disappeared. There are some other stains, too, which nothing but chloride of lime or its equivalent will make the slightest impression on, more particularly the red stains caused by the liquid from the stems of arum lilies. Javelle water, too, may be used for a variety of purposes, and is excellent for cleaning enamel. If used at all strongly (that is, without dilution) it would be as ■well not to let it get near the hands, but to use a mop. It will be found invaluable for removing stains from the enamelled sink, from china, and so on. A small quantity should be in every household for use when required. For the secret of success is to be able to treat the trouble straight away by applying such remedies as are suited for the purpose.