HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 116, 17 May 1924, Page 22

HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

Crease spots on wallpaper should be rubbed with camphorated chalk. A cabbage leaf is an excellent medium for cleaning greasy tinware. Creaking boots can generally be cured by soaking the soles in salt water, then leaving them overnight in linseed oil. Clean copper kettles with a cut lemon ! dipped in salt. Rinse in clean water, and , polish with a soft cloth. I If, when washing curtains, a little milk is added to the blue water, they will look like new when they are ironed. To Keep Away Cockroaches. —Equal I parts of borax and castor sugar mixed I and sprinkled about their haunts. This will keep them away. I Boil two ordinary bunches of watercress ten minutes in one pint of water; the strained water, to be drunk in equal parts of milk, makes an excellent tonic. To each teacupful add a tablespoonful of limewater. Can be taken freely at any time. Keeping Suet Fresh.—Suet keeps best when covered with flour. It is quite safe to bury it in the flour-bin; it will not leave odour or flavour behind. Too much salt in the gravy can be remedied by putting a pinch of brown sugar in it. This does not hurt the gravy in the least. Dirty marks on paint can be removed by rubbing first with a slice of lemon and then with whitening. Afterwards wash with soap and water. To make polish for black steps put into a pickle bottle 2 tablespoonfuls of vaseline, and a small bottle of salad oil. Stand the bottle in a pot of boiling water on the fire, let it come to the boil, and boil it until it is all mixed for about a quarter of an hour. Shake the bottle well to mix thoroughly. When ironing afternoon tea-cloths keep a basin of warm water and a clean piece ! of rag by you, and after ironing the lace or embroidery, which of course should be done on the wrong side, wring the piece of cloth out of the warm water j anil rub over the linen on the right side. ! Then iron with a hot iron on the j same side, and a beautiful gloss will be I the result. Moisture is not likely to form on polished or varnished furniture if a little linseed oil is rubbed over the suiface of the wood after it has been polished. A iinal rubbing over sliould be given. Saucepans that have been burnt should never be filled with soda water. Instead fill with salt and water, leave for a few hours, then bring slowly to boiling point. The burnt particles will then come off without difficulty. If any good cloth, with the exception of silk," is scorched while being ironed, rub it immediately with coarse salt, and the scorch will disappear. Oven Tests. —Put a piece of white paper in the oven for two or three minutes. If it turns black or dark brown the oven is too hot. If it turns golden brown the oven is right for bread, small cakes and pastry. If it turns pale fawn colour the oven is right for large cakes, sponge cakes,- or gingerbread. If it does not change colour the oven is too cool. To Clean Bed Ticks.—Wash the tick, rinse in plenty of cold water, in which is dissolved a very little permanganate of potash. If there are any stains take them out with a weak solution of chloride of lime and water, or powdered starch and water made into a thin paste, laid on the stains and brushed off when dry. When ticking is thoroughly dried and aired wax the inside by nibbing with a fine piece'of beeswax, to prevent the feathers coming through.