HINTS AND IDEAS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 170, 20 July 1935, Page 3 (Supplement)

HINTS AND IDEAS.

ALL ABOUT SOAP.

MAKING AT HOME.

Soap improves with keeping, so it is economical to buy it in fairly large quantities if you are able to store it in a cool, dry place. There are often opportunities at sale times of buying good soap at greatly reduced prices. An excellent home-made toilet soap is made by melting over a gentle heat a jarful of scraps of toilet soap, and then stirring in half their weight of oatmeal; add also the juice of half a lemon and about a tablespoonful of glycerine. Blend thoroughly and stir occasionally while cooling. Keep this mixture in a covered jar in the bathroom, and another in the scullery. It will help to keep the hands soft and white. A strong household soap which will remove dirt and grease from the bath, enamel basics and very greasy kitchen utensils can also be made very cheaply at home. For this melt a two-pound tin of soft soap by standing the tin in boiling water. Turn it out of the tin into a large bowl, and stir in one pound of powdered whiting and half a pound of the finest silver sand. When thoroughly mixed put into jars. Here are a few hints about soap: Try sticking a needle into a cake of soap when you are stitching very stiff material. It makes the needle slip in and out easily. In the same way you can soap a piece of thread when you have no waxed thread handy for sewing on trouser buttons. The work will not then make sensitive fingers sore. When a stocking suddenly springs a "ladder," and you have no time to change into another pair, rub a piece of soap on it and you will prevent the ladder spreading.

WASHING-DAY WISDOM. When rinsing linen, add some readymade starch to the rinsing water. When ironed the linen will have a lovely gloss and stiffness. Moreover, the article will only take half the washing next time. A teaspoonful of borax added to the rinsing water when washing hosiery, and drying them in a cool place, will heip them to retain their original appearance almost twice as long as plain water and a quick drying. Do not rub woollens, but squeeze them in your hands. When washing babies' woollies, men's socks, etc., that have shrunk almost beyond wear, put a piece of common soda,, about the size of a walnut, into a gallon of fairly warm water, put woollies in and wash in the ordinary way, until the elasticity returns and they stretch to normal size. Now rinse in warm water and shake well before hanging out. Two tablespoonfuls of fresh lemon juice added to the rinsing water when washing handkerchiefs will help to cure them if they are a bad colour. If linen is in a very bad condition a preliminary soaking in cold water to which two tablespoonfuls of fresh lemon juice is added will help the process of bleaching, especially if the soaking is done overnight prior to washing, and you rinse in at least three changes of water, or until the water comes out quite clear.

TO CLEAN NATURAL SHEEPSKIN. Remove the lining and wash it separately. Choose a bright, breezy day and let the skin soak for an hour or two in a tub of water to which household ammonia has been added —a tablespoonful to every pail of water. Press the rug about until most of the dirt is extracted. Then put into another tub of warm water with more ammonia, and wash very thoroughly. Rinse in two or three clean waters and, if you can, put through the wringer. If not, hang the rug out to drip dry; then shake frequently during the final drying process. When perfectly dry, comb the fleece with a steel comb.

MILDEW STAINS ON LINEN. To remove mildew from linen, make a paste of 1 teaspoonful each of soft soap and powdered starch. 2 teaspoonfuls of table salt, and enough lemon juice to mix. Spread the paste thickly on the mildewed spots, and expose to the fresh air for a short time, then wash the linen.

THINGS WORTH KNOWING. If boiled potatoes be cooked a little too soon, place a clean cloth over the saucepan instead of the cover. When making pancakes be sure that the lard in which they are fried is smoking before your pour in the batter, or the pancakes will stick. To freshen a black frock, sponge it with weak tea and hang up on a coat hanger to dry. Press on the wrong side. An infusion of cloves, made with half an ounce of cloves to a pint of water, will help to relieve flatulent indigestion. The dose is a small wineglassful.

Look to the cord and rings of pictures when spring-cleaning, and renew them if necessary. If putting in new rings it may be wise to screw them in a little distance from the original position, as often a rusty screw will eat into the wood.

To clean white fur try rubbing it thoroughly with warm, dry bran, using a piece of book muslin as a rubber. Failing this, try magnesia in the same manner.

Some people find hot milk indigestible. This may be because they drink it the wrong way. Hot milk should be sipped slowly. For children, milk and water i 3 lighter and more easily digested.

Silver teapots which have become stained inside with tannin should be soaked in boiling soda water overnight and in the morning rinsed thoroughly. Repeat two or three times if necessary, and the teapot will be spotlessly clean.

Milk jugs and basins should always be rinsed in cold water before being washed in hot. Hot water used first sets the curd, and the surface is not so easily cleaned.

Lard and dripping will keep fresh longer if they are stored in earthenware jars with the tops tightly covered. If a little flour is sprinkled over the top of the dripping before covering, it will help to exclude the air.

In houses where the walls exude damp it is not advisable to hang up pictures. However, if half a cork is fixed to the lower corners, the air circulates behind the pictures and keep them dry. Old gramophone needles make nails for the corks.

To remove ink 6tains from a mahogany table, touch them with a feather dipped in a mixture of a few drops of spirits of nitre in a teaspoonful of water. When the ink has disappeared rub the place over with a rag moistened in cold water. If marks have been left by hot plates, rub them with a ra"- dipped in olive oil. Afterwards pour° on a little eau de Cologne, or alcohol, and rub it dry with a clean rag.