The Housekeeper.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXI, Issue 112, 13 May 1911, Page 11

The Housekeeper.

I THE HOUSEHOLD. To Clean Yellow Window Blinds.— Stretch the soiled blind across a table, and with a brush go carefully over with powdered bathbrick until quite clean. This will make the blind, however much soiled, look new, owing to the bathbrick being . the shade required, und also a powerful cleaner. It is far superior to washing, and cannot cause any shrinkage. For Cleaning Saucepans. — An excellent paste for cleaning ■ saucepans, _ boards, sinks, tiles, discoloured china, paint, etc., can bo made i ac follows: — 'Take equal parts of whiting, eoftsoap, white sand, and soda. Place the ingredients in a saucepan, adding enough water to form a smooth paste. Boil until quite dissolved, and pour into jars for future use. Apply with a clean flannel, wrung out in hot water, and afterwards rinse with clean warm water. Incandescent Mantles. — Much can be saved if incandescent mantles when new are treated as follows: — Soak the new mantle for five minutes in white malt vinegar, then place a thread through the loop of the head, and hang it up until perfectly dry ; then put on the fork and burn off in the 4 usual way. 'This treatment prolongs its life of usefulness considerably. For the Home Tailoress. — To press seams of cloth, 110 matter how heavy, do not use the ordinary ironing blanket, but get a thick newspaper, double it over longways, place the seam on the newspaper, aud^use a good Warm iron. When, dressmaking at home this method will be found much easier than damping, as the best of cloth often cockles or shrinks. It is also good |or pressing out creases.* For Cloansing the Hair. — An excellent medium for_ cleansing the hair when it is not washed 'is to rub a little flour into the bristles i of the hairbrush, and brush the hair with it, using a clean brush afterwards to remove all traces of the flour. Always put a cauliflower in plain water, so as to_ draw out any insects. If salt is placed in the water it kills the insects, and they are left in tho vegetable. A good and cheap polish can be made by melting all the candle ends you have in a jar. Mix with sufficient turpentine to make a soft paste, and apply to stained floors, 'inoleums, etc., in the ordinary way. A brilliant polish will be the result at the lowest cost. To Clean the Enamel on Gas_ Stoves. — When _ the _ enamel becomes discoloured ficour.it. with a damp flannel dipped in garden mould, then rinse it in plenty of water. In this way the cleaning is effected without causing scratches or other damage. Permanganate of potash dissolved in boiling water, in the proportion of one ounce to a_ quart of water, makes an excellent stain for floorboards, and also a good and very cheap disinfectant. _ To keep tinware bright wash it thoroughly \yith hot water and soda.^ Dry it with clean cloths, and scour it 4 with 6and and whiting in equal parts, mixed into a paste with water. Tea and coffee - stains on woollen blouses, etc., can be removed with the aid of glycerine. A little of this should be applied to tho stain, left for a time, j and then washed out with lukewarm water. Afterwards iron the material on the inside till it is dry. To improve shabby oilcloth dissolve a pound of glue in a quart of water on the ctove, then apply it lightly to the oilcloth with a piece of flannel, anJ leave it to dry. It is well, if possible, to do this at night, that the oilcloth may not be trodden on again till the morning. This treatment improves the appearance of oilcloth and adds to it* durability. A good paste for stair rods is made of finely-powdered rottenstone and sweet oil. Apply it with a piece of flannel, and polish with a little of the dry powder and a leather. The same treatment serves well for the cleansing of brass candlesticks, etc. Soft soap rubbed into the seams of new boots will often prevent their squeaking. Shabby oak should be scrubbed with warm beer, and, when dry, polished with beeswax and turpentine. 'Half a lemon dipped in salt will do all the work of oxalic acid in cleaning cop- | per boilers, brass teakettles, and other such utensils. Window panes are apt to orack if washed with water in frosty weather, bo it is useful to know that they may be well polished, and without danger, if rubbed over with a little paraffin, and then with clean clothe. _ • To clean greasy caketins, etc., scrub them with strong 6oda water, and then fcour them with a soapy flannel dipped in bund. A Feathei Boa — When a boa has been damped with rain or dew, rub it well ■with a, handful of common salt, and shake before a bright fire, until dry, when it will be found to be as good as new. Soft Paint Brushes — To soften a paint brush in which the paint has been allowed to dry, heat some vinegar to the boiling point, and allow the* brush to simmer in it a few minutes. Remove, and wash well in. strong soapsuds, and the brush will be like new. The Virtues of Nickel— Nickel tea. kettles, tea and coffee pots, always look well. / Nothing is so easily kept bright. To keep them clean is to keep them bright, and they will outlast any other kind. After Washing — A few drops of vinegar rubbed into the hands after washing clothes will keep them smooth and take away the spongy feeling that .they often have aftei being in water a long time. New Shoes — New walking shoes aie sometimes inclined to "slip" at the heels, and a naety blister is the result. A simple preventive is to rub the inside of the shoes with a little soap at the heel before putting them on. Use of Emory-paper— A small strip of emery-paper makes the best kind of grip for unscrewing fountain-pens of metal covers. A 6trip pasted on a pretty card makes a nice match striker. If a few drops of sewing machine oil are put on the emery-paper it makes an excellent oilstone. Holes in the Heel— Stockings very often wear mto holes at the heel while they are porfectly good elsewhere, mid this is more especially the case when walking (thoGS are worn. This can bo prevented by sowing a piece of velvet or clolh inside the shoe just at the top, so that the hard leather us kept from coming in contact with the stocking heel. Scorched Linen — When muslin or linen articles are scorched and are not actually burned by too close contact vfith the fire or by too hot an iron, soak tho brown trains with borne of tho following mixtures—Slice six large onions and Squeeze out all the juice. Add to this one pint of vinegar and lor of pearl ash. -Boil until th« uiis.iui") thickene, and apply liberally \vh4» &iUI bfit.