HOME NOTES.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1266, 4 June 1896, Page 16

HOME NOTES.

CUT THESE OUT FOR FUTURE REFERENCE. TO RENOVATE SILK. A. silk dress, if cleaned by the following method, has not the appearance of being cleaned: —First unpick every stitch, pick out the threads, and brush tho dust out with a stiff brush, paying particular attention to hems and seams. Take a quarter of a pound of honey, a quarter of a pound of soft soap, two wineglassfuls of gin, three gills of boiling water. Mix, and let stand till only lukewarm. Spread a clean cloth on the table, and lay out the silk. Dip a nail brush into tho mixture, and rub well, especially spots and stains. Then rub gently over with a wot sponge, frequently wrung out of cold water, Rinso out of hard cold water and hang, dripping wet (on no account wring), in the shade. Iron on the wrong side whilst quite damp. The above recipe applies to a black or very dark silk of fast colour. Many silks of light, delicate colour will wash. Set tho colour in embroidered goods, or silks of delicate shades, by steeping for a while in cold water to which has been added a little turpentine. In washing silks there are to avoid—rubbing, wringing, soap and heat. Have tho water lukewarm, make a lather with a little dissolved soap, if very dirty; if not, U3e bran water. Don't allow soap in a lump to como in contact with silk. Take hold of one end of tho article and '* swish" round and round till clean. Rinse in cold water to which has been added vinegar, one dessertspoonful to a quart. Place between a dry cloth and squeeze, preferably through a machine. Shako well to get rid of superfluous moisture, and iron at once through tissue paper with a warm iron.

THE CARE OF THE PIANO. There are a great many counsels given about tli9 care of the piano; but a piano expert says that it is out of the question to lay down arbitrary rules on this subject. The climate, the location of tho house,

and the position in which the piano stands have much to do with its management. It must be borne in mind that too great heat and dryness are more injurious to a piano than the moderate dampness it is likely to be subjected to in any ordinary dwelling. If tho sounding board gets too dry it is likely to crack ; then the piano is a hopeless wreck. Too much moisture I makes the keyti sMck and rusts the strings, | but this is nothing as bad as too much dryness. Some experts recommend keeping a growing plant on the piano; but this has objections, as the pot might be easily upset, with a rather disagreeable, if not dangerous, result. The best idea is to keep the piano as far away from the heater as possible in winter, and not too near a sun-exposed wall in summer. Pianos may stand by an outside wall if they are not allowed to come in contact with it, and if the circulation of air in the room is reasonably good. When it is said that a piano must not stand against an outside wall, it means that the instrument should not como in direct contact with any conductor to tho outer world.

Pianos should bo kept as much as possible from dust, and it is of all things important that small articles and scraps of all sorts be kept out of it. In many houses it is customary to lay wrap 3, work of all kinds of odds and ends on the piano. Some one comes in, down goes a bonnet, shawl, gloves, etc. When the things are taken up a pin may fall in upon the sounding board, and some day there are a clatter and a buzzing, and some one must come to see what tho matter is. Musical instruments wore never made for wardrobes or other storage purposes. To have the piano at its best, keep it covered, if it is covered at all, with a felt spiread, and do not leave it closed continuously. It should be opened every day at least, so that the keys may not turn yellow. Wipe tho dust off carefully, so that it will not be brushed down into the works. Pianos should never be banged. There i 3 a great difference between the senseless pounding that inexperienced people and children give a piano and the vigorous treatment of an expert. A skilled player rarely does any harm to a musical treatment however forcible the action may be. Keeping a piano in good condition is a comparatively simple thing, provided one remembers tho few "don'ts"that are required.

THE USES OF SULPHUR. For a sweetish or bitter pasty taste in tho mouth try a few doses of sulphur. Sulphur is good for chronic diarrhoea. For constipation, sulphur will often give speedy relief. Sulphur may bo kept in small muslin bags in drawers and cupboards, as a protection against the ravages of tho red and black ants.

For preventing vermin in bird cages, tie a little sulphur in a bag and suspend it in the cage. Sulphur is said to kill all kinds of fungus in man, beasts, or plants. To disinfect clothing, mix one toaspoonful of tho milk of sulphur to ono pint of water, sprinkle tho clothing lightly with this, then iron it with an iron hot enough to volatilise tho sulphur without burning tho clothing.

When plants, roses etc., are at all affected with mildew, sprinklo the foliage with water, then dust on flowers of sulphur quite thickly and allow it to stand for a few days, when it may bo rinsed off, but is to be renewed if necessary.— Good Housekeeping,

HOW TO CROCHET A TAM 0' SHANTER. Required, -loz. of single Berlin wool, any colour that is preferred, a No. 9 bono erocho!; needlo, and about twenty inches of one anda-half inch wide ribbon to line the band. Commence in the middle of the crown with 0 chain; do 3 chain to stand for a treble, and work 14 treble in the circle; this is 15 stitches really, for the chain counts as one; join the last treble stitch to the top of the chain. 2nd round : Do 3 chain to stand for a treble, 5 treble on the first treble stitch of preceding round, withdraw the hook from tho last treble stitch, insert it in the first of tho group of five trebles, pick up the stitch again and draw it through the first treble stitch closely to make a " tuft," and do one chain to hold the tuft tirmly. Work Ijotn 1 treble and a tuft on the next stitch; *1 treble on the next, a tuft on the next, then 1 treble and also a tuft on the next, and repeat from * to the end of tho round, which should comprise 10 treble stitches and 10 tufts ; join evenly on tho completion of the round. 3rd round : Do 3 chain to stand for a treble, work a tuft in the same place this chain springs from; * work a treble on a tuft stitch of the previous round, a tuft stitch on a treble, a treble on a tuft; then work a tuft, a treble, and another tuft all on the next treble of the previous round, and repeat from *, and finish the round by doing a tuft on the saino stitch as tho commencing chain springs from, and you will have made fivo increasiugs intermediate between tho fivo increasings of tho previous round, and you now have 15 treble stitches and 15 tufts in the round and join evenly as before. Continue working round and round, increasing as frequently as is necessary to keep the work flat, but never fulling it; and join every round neatly and invisibly until the crown measures 8 inches in diameter. Then do 2 rounds without increase. And after this, decrease in tho same proportion as you increased (as the underneath part lies flat against the crown) till it is time to commence tho band. For the bandWork a round of double crochet to the size of the head. Do 2 rounds of tho treble and tuft stitch. Then finish with a round of double crochet. Lino tho band with ribbon, as this strengthens it and prevents th.o crwhet frow stretching. For the

plume in the centre of the crown—wind some wool round a small book about 3\ inches long, and when you have wound sufficient take it off tho book, and tie it as it is, very firmly in the middle, with a piece of strong thread, which thread will also serve to sew the plume on the crown ; do not cut thej ends, but Huff them up prettily.

BITING THE FINGER-NAILS. It is simply a waste of time to apply illsmelling and nasty-tasting substances to the finger-nails of children for the purpose of breaking up the habit of biting the nails. By some means or other they rub the disagreeable stuff oil' and go on with the same process of gnawing. A physician recommends a thorough course of manicuring. Let the child's nails be examined a dozen times a day if necessary, and see that there are no little points or irregularities to annoy the little one. Everybody knows that a hang-nail or a broken bit of nail will create a tendency to scrape the nail or to bite at it. Persistent and habitual biting of the nails , is proclaimed a nervous disease, and con- ! stitutional treatment is in order in connection with the manicuring. It is a good idea to cultivate in children a good deal of pride in their appearance; this helps the treatment, and will, in a short time, breakup the most fixed habits. BLACK REVIVER. Dissolve soap in warm water until you ' have strong suds, into which plunge the garment, and souse it up and down. Rub the dirty portions, and, if necessary, put the garment through a second time ; then rinso it through several waters, and hang it out to dry. When nearly dry take it in, roll it up for an hour or two, and then press it. An old cotton cloth is laid on the outside of the garment and tho iron passed over until the wrinkles disappear. Remove the iron before the steam ceases to rise or else the cloth will have a shiny appearance. Obstinate wrinkles are removed by laying a wet cloth over them and passing the iron over all. If any shiny spots are seen, they are treated in j the same way as tho wrinkles—the iron is j lifted while the full cloud of steam rises and brings tho nap up with it. By this method the' samo garments may bo renewed from time to time, and have all the look and feel of new goods. HOW TO SWEEP A ROOM. Carefully dust all fancy articles and small pieces of furniture and movo them into an adjoining room. Then dust the larger pieces and put furniture covers over them. These covers can be made of any faded material that may have lost its beauty, but still retains its usefulness. In order to make as littlo dust as possible, it is always best to put something on tho carpet. Cornrneal moistened with water and thrown around tho iloor will be of much help. Or, if that is not convenient, salt or tea leaves will answer tho same purpose. Another way is to double a newspapor a number of times, then wet it and tear it in bits and scatter it around the lioor. Raiso tho windows and sweep your room carefully, keeping your broom near tho iloor instead of flirting it in every direction, as some careless housekeepers do. In a room which is used but little, ono thorough sweeping will answer for weeks, by using tho carpet sweeper or brushing it out occasionally. After taking up your dirt leave tho room and let the dust settle for ten or fifteen minutes; then carefully remove the furniture covers, shaking them out of doors. Wipe tho woodwork with a damp cloth. Put in place your furniture and fancy articles. If you have a stove in the room, wipo it carefully with a rag kept for that purpose, and wash the zinc beneath. Then, if you have a few fresh flowers for decaration, your room should look sweet and clean, and bo a delight to the housewifely heart, whoso industry made it so.