HOME HINTS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXVI, Issue 3447, 19 November 1932, Page 3

HOME HINTS.

If you need a lamp wick a strip of felt from an old felt hat, cut the required width, makes a good substitute. Before using it soak the felt in kerosene. * * Doors painted in a light colour should be cleaned carefully. Wash with a damp cloth and a leather, and when quite dry rub in a little wax polish thinned with turpentine. Polish lightly with a very soft duster—a piece of old silk is best. * * When painting walls the amateur usually works horizontally across the walls from the ceiling down. It is impossible to do a good job in this way. The secret of success is to paint a strip about 2ft. wide from the ceiling to the floor, and to cover this area well. The next lap can be painted before the paint of the first lap has dried, and the edges of the laps will never be noticeable. * * * To sharpen a lawnmower reverse the cogs and pinions of the mower, Turn the machine over so that the knives will rotate backwards. Adjust the screws so as to bring the knives on the bottom plate. Smear the knives and plate with emery and oil (more oil than emery). Run the machine backwards for about 20 minutes. Basement and other concrete floors that are uneven can be satisfactorily covered and made even by this method: Fill in the cracks and crevices of the floors with a special cement, and when this is dry and firm overlay the whole floor with a compressed paper—a substance nearly quarter of an inch thick treated with tar. This will resist damp, cold and all the disadvantages of rough, low flooring. Cover, if desired, with linoleum. Hard putty may be made as soft and as pliable as fresh putty in a few minutes by chopping it up fine and adding a few drops of raw linseed oil. Work it up with the fingers.

Ebon,y-baeked brushes soon show white marks if water is allowed to soak into the wood when the brushes are washed. To prevent this, spread a thin film of olive oil over the ebony and rub off afterwards with a dry duster. In addition to protecting it, this will give the wood a beautiful polish.