WOMAN’S WORLD

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12483, 26 June 1926, Page 6

WOMAN’S WORLD

: CLEANING YOUR BOOTS (By Hazel Brown.) Bookshelves i*», the ordinary course get only a grudging attention in the average household. A perfunctory flick of the duster is about all the care that is meted out to them. And dust works deadly havoc. Very rarely has one the time to dust each individual book, but at least it is possible to make up for any neglect when a general clean-up is in progress. On a sunshiny day, pile all your books in baskets and take them out of doors. As you doubtless know from sad experience, dust gathers thickly along tire cut edges of the leaves. The only way to get rid of it is to hold the book back uppermost; then, taking hold of the covers, clap them sharply together so that the leaves hang free, and then are brought together again. A . feather duster will do the rest. Meanwhile, other ills may have befallen some, if not all, of the volumes. Leather bindings are frequent sufferers, for they have a way of perishing. Give them a little special treatment, therefore. Very lightly smear a soft duster with vaseline or olive oil, and rub it over the bindings; especially near the hinge® of the covers. This will both soften and preserve the leather. Grease spots should be treated with benzine; while strong salt and water and a subsequent clean-water rinsing will remove ink. An excellent book-binding paste for bioken covers is made by mixing half a gill of flour to a smooth paste with cold water, then placing it in a saucepan on the gas, together with one ounce of powdered alum and two quarts of cold water. Stir continuously until it boils and you see it thickening