Banish Bumps and Avoid Breakages

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23565, 27 January 1940, Page 6 (Supplement)

Banish Bumps and Avoid Breakages

MANY a shilling is spent every year in repairing breakages in the home, and removing signs of wear and tear. And yet you would be surprised what a difference a few minutes'* thought and the outlay of a few pence can make in this respect. Most actual breakages occur, of course, in the kitchen, and crockery is the chief victim. Yet justrthink how a section of rubber matting, of- the right size, placed. 011 the drainingboard, would reduce the number of articles cracked or chipped when washing up. A careless knock against the, hook as cups or jugs are hung up and there go the handles. Buta length of cycle valve tubing slipped over each cup hook will prevent many of these accidents.'Damp the tubing first to make it slide easily over the hook. . A rubber tap-spout slipped over the end of your tap will prevent china being cracked or broken by those accidental knocks against the metal. Then try tacking a length of rubber or felt—such as is sold to' keep out draughts—along the front edge of your shelves and see how it safeguards your crockery against knocks as you put it into place. And if it is wide enough to project about half an inch above the edge of the shelf it will prevent many articles from slipping off, or being knocked off when something else is taken down. Those articles you are using constantly should'be kept on shelves well within reach. It is so easy to knock things over when you are reaching for articles 011 high shelves that can only just be gripped with the tip 3 of the fingers. In older houses, where shelves aro high, it is a grandidea to keep, a small, solid stool, about a foot )iigh, to help you reach up to the* top Shelves. "So much handier than the smallest pair of steps. ' '■ Your wireless, of course, stands on a rubber or felt mat, or small rubber feet. Try the, same . .notion- for such things as clocks, gramophones, sewing machines, statuettes, and seo how it saves your polished surfaces. '