INFORMATION EXCHANGED

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22579, 18 November 1936, Page 6

INFORMATION EXCHANGED

QUERIES AND ANSWERS BY FKMINA To Readers. —It is advisable that questions and answers for this column should be gent in addressed to "Femina." To Cure Sheepskin "Bug" (.Grey Lynn), will bo very grateful to a reader who ran tell her how to euro a sheepskin (dried) so that it can be turned into a lloor rug. Butter Problem ''Small Farmer" asks if a correspondent can tell him what to do in regard to his butter. He states that as his cow is eating clover, the butter made from her milk lias a very strong flavour. Ho wonders how ho can prevent it. Pewter Table Top To clean a pewter table top, M.H. Sends the following directions in answer to a query from a correspondent. She writes:—Moisten some whiting with some caustic soda solution and use this on a cloth to polish the table top with till clean. A solution of some vinegar in a cupful of ammgnia could bo used to moisten the whiting with in place of the caustic soda with nearly as good a result. Strawberry Jam "Inexperienced."—The secret of success in making strawherry jam lies in using small quantities, writes W.A.L. m answer to your query. Put four cupfills of strawberries and four cupfuls of good sugar in a saucepan. Bring slowly to the boil, then boil quickly for half an hour. Add the juice of half a lemon and dish and seal while hot. Jf you have a large quantity of berries you can be topping a second lot into another saucepan while the first lot is boiling. Never make jam with berries picked after rain. Stained Marble "Worried." —To remove stains from marhle try either of the following mixtures: —1: Take 807.. of washing soda, lib. of whiting, 2oz. potash, 2oz. soap. Cut up the soap and boil it with the soda and half a cup of water. Then add the whiting and potash, and sufficient water to make a thick paste. 2: Take loz. of powdered chalk, loz. of powdered pumice stone, and 207,. of washing soda. Pound these together, pass them through a sieve, and make the mixture into a paste with boiling water. Kit her of these mixtures when cold should be spread over the stains and left for 24 hours. Then wash off with soap and water. Shrunken Woollens Housewife. —Great care must be taken when laundering knitted garments, so that they will not shrink. Wash woollen garments always in cold water, with soft soap and borax, or any reliable brand of soap flakes, and do not allow them to soak too long. Many women advocate shrinking wool in the skein before making any garment to prevent subsequent shrinking. Now that the garments have shrunken all that can be done is to launder them correctly and hang them to dry in suck a way that every part of them will be stretched. If thov are jumpers put them on hangers ami few weights to the bottom of the sleeves, also to the bottom of the jumper; a heavy coat-hanger may be sewn loosely to the bottom of the jumper. Pull and stretch the garments constantly as they dry and wash them 011 a windy, warm day, so that the drying will not be prolonged. To Whiten Panama Hat To whiten a panama hat, M.H. advises "Subscriber" to soak the hat for a short time in a solutiou of chloride of lime (about loz. to a quart of water). When white enough, rinse it well in cold water, and hang to dry in an airy place. The sune result could bo obtained by hanging the hat in a box (with all cracks closed) in which is set a pan of hot embers on which some sulphur has been sprinkled. First see that the hat has been damped over slightly with water before being put 111. Then cover the top of the box with a heavy rug or carpet and leave an hour or so. When taken out the hat should appear nicely whitened. Sponging for a little while with some peroxide of hydrogen is also effective. M rs. K.M (Henderson).—When your carpets or mats become faded, take a small stiff brush and a few packets of dye, dissolve in a cupful of boiling water and paint over the original pattern. By weakening or strengthening the dve or mixing different colours you can obtain all shades from three or four packets. If the mat is very dirty, wash first in warm, soapy, water and dry well.