Hints and Suggestions.

Otago Witness, Issue 2812, 5 February 1908, Page 73

Hints and Suggestions.

To remove ,putty from a window sash is often a difficulty, for in course of time it becomes very hard.. If an iron rod — a, soldering iron, for preference — be heated and passed slowly over the putty, it will make the putty soft, when it can easily be scraped oft. , Door-handles, knockers, and other outside brasses may be kept bright, even in the worst of weather, if, after being cleaned and polished in the usual way, they are smeared lightly with a cloth "on which a little vaseline has been put. The brass will also be easier to clean again, when cleaning is 'once- more necessary. To remove, stains of long standing from marble, mix together one gill each of soapsuds and ox-gall and half a gill of turpentine, then add as much finelypowdered pipeclay or fuller's earth as will form a stiff paste. Apply the mixture with a brush, and let it remain on the marble for two or three days. Then wipe it off. Stains made by medicine or liniment may be successfully removed by means of liquid ammonia, a little of the spirit being poured into a saucer, the stained garment laid across it, and the spot dabbed repeatedly with the fingers until it disappears. It should then be ringed in tepid watery and washed with strong soapsuds in the usual way. How to Tell. — When baking cakes you can ascertain if they are done by pushing a clean skewer or bright knife into the centre of the cake;' if it comes out clean and bright the cake is done. It may also be known by the cake shrinking x a little from the sides of the tin atf the 'top, which it .always does when, if* is done. If the cake is greasy w.hen cooking it is because the oven was not hot enough when, it "was put into it. . After the first 30 minutes the ov.en need not be so hot. To clean the inside of flower vases, dissolve a tablespoonful of rocksalt in half a cupful of vinegar. Put this mixture into the glasses and shake well for a few minutes. Rinse in clear' water v To remove scorch-marks on plates which have been in the oven, rub with a damp cloth dipped in coarse salt. ' A tablespoonful of milk in the water in which old potatoes are boiled will prevent them from becoming black. Emery paper, if tacked upon a board, is useful for smoothing the slightly broken edges of thin tumblers. By carefully rubbing the glasses back and forth a smo^h surface is obtained. ■ If the dining room has become filled with cooking odours, a few drops of oil of lavender placed in a cupful of boiling water will readily remove all traces of the cooking.