HOUSEHOLD HINTS

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1533, 18 July 1901, Page 21

HOUSEHOLD HINTS

"White lamb’s wool furs and white, fur ru&B or carriage rugs can be cleaned nicely by using hot flour. Dip the article in the flour and rub thoroughly. As often as the flour becomes solid throw it away and use fresh, until the furs are <dean as new. White or delicately-tinted wool fascinators can be cleaned in a similar manner with gocd success. , . , White flannels, silks, or linen, which are to be packed away for some time, should be laid in blue tissue paper, or, what is better, an old piece of blue silk and then in a sheet or muslin bag. This will keep them from turning yellow. A pretty flannel baby shirt, which was packed away lour years ago in an old blue silk handkerchief looks as fresh and new to-day as it aid then, while others which were laid away at the same time in a drawer arequite yellow.

cleaned with dry pipe clay. Use a stiff l rush for this purpose and rub thoroughly until the spots disappear. Naptha is considered excellent for cleaning white silk or lace-woven stockings. An old straw sailor hat, or, in fact, almost any other white or light straw, which has become badly soiled, can be cleaned with little trouble by scrubbing it in a solution of oxalic acid and water in the pioportion of an ounce of the acid to a quart of water. For this purpose use a. nail or other small brush, and scrub until no dirt remains, wash with clear water, then place in a room lo dry. For cleaning soiled places on wall paper or tinted walls there is nothing better than bread which is not less than twentyfour hours' old. As fast as the bread looks soiled throw it away and get fresh. Leather belts, bags, or shoes which have become stiff and hard from wetting, can be softened into their original shape by nibbing well with coal oil. Shoes which have just been soaked from a rain should be filled with oats and left to stand until the next day. The oats will then have absorbed the moisture and the shoes retain their original shape without stiffness.

To remove ink spots from marble make a paste of half an ounce of butter of antimony, an ounce of oxalic acid, a pint of rain water, and flour to make a thin mixture. Apply this paste to the ink spots and let it remain several days. At the expiration of four or five days wash it off and if anv ink still remains, make another application. Best method of cleaning knives. —Have the board properly prepared with leather, and clean the knives with equal quantities of rotten stone and iron-filings.

Gilt picture frames that have become dark and dingy may be improved by simply washing them with a small sponge moistened with alcohol or oil of turpentine. the sponge to be sufficiently wet only to take off the dirt and flymarks. They should not Be wiped afterwards, but left to dry by themselves. Aluminium is now being used instead of magnesium for "flash-light" photography. The light is said to be equally actinic, while "Aluminium" says the metal keeps better and burns away more completely. When corks are too large for a bottle, soak them- in boiling water for a few minutes, when they will become soft, and may be easijy put into the bottle.

It is said that dew will not fall on some colours. While a yellow board will be covered with dew, a red or black one beside it will be perfectlv dry. When choosing poultry for the table, always select those birds which have very small bones, plump breasts, and white skins.

Dropping or striking a steel magnet, or causing it to vibrate by any other means, diminishes its magnetism. Gl3 r cerine is derived from the lye left after making soap, which for ages was considered of no use.

To Clean Furs.—Put some bran into a pot, and heat it on the stove, utirring constantly, until it is as hot as the hands can bear. Then spread the bran over the fur, and rub well into it. After this, brush the fur with a very clean brush, or beat it gently until all the bran is- removed. The fur then resumes its natural lustre, and appears absolutely an if new. To Renovate a Black Straw Hat "or Bon-

net.—Put into a saucer one tespoonful of black ink and a saltspoonful of liquid gum; mix them well together, and brush the straw all over evenly with the mixture. When thi s dries the straw will look equal to new. Nothing else “takes "away the rusty look which a black straw hat has after much wear. m To Clean “Bird's Feathers.—Take "some plaster of Paris, and dry it in the oven if at all damp. Then place the feathers to be .cleaned on a sheet of paper. Take a firm wad of cotton wool, ‘and dab it we.l in the finely powdered plaster. Then rub the wad over the feathers briskly-press-ing moderately hard—always rubbing the same way as the feathers lie. Continue the operation till the feathers are clean. To Clean White Shawls. Shetland ©hawls, if not very dirty, may “be cleaned by rubbing them with magnesia and flour, mixed in equal proportions, changing it a* it ’gets dirty. This, plan is also excellent for woollen sbawls, provided they are not made of very heavy wool.