Hints and Suggestions.

Otago Witness, Issue 3250, 28 June 1916, Page 59

Hints and Suggestions.

Oil of peppermint sprinkled around the holes and haunts of mice will soon exterminate these peats, as they dislike the odour intensely. Never dip knife-handles in hot water. It loosens them. When washing tussore silk use bran water in place of soap. Beforo scaling fish, dip it in boiling water for a minute and the scales ezn lie removed more quickly and easily. Novel Smelling Salts. —Get some common washing soda and mix v.'itii an equal quantity of sal-ammoniac. Pound together

and add a little scent. This makes splendid smelling salts- for a sick headSave the stale bits of cheese, grate them up finely, and keep in a tin for flavouring. •

When rugs curl up at the corners cut a piece of buckram in the shape of an L, and sew to the under side. Potato peelings should be dried in the oven and used for lighting fires. Less wood will be required,

To keep spoon; and forks bright, after washing them put them to stand a minute or two in a jugful of very hot, clean, soapy water with a dash of ammonia in it. To stop a hole in a bucket temporarily, make a stout knot in a double piece of string, pass both ends through the hole, and tie a big knot on the other side. Cut off the ends. To remove sediment from a kettle, put in a lump of sal-ammoniac, fill the kettle with cold water, and put it on the fire for about two hours. Then rinse thoroughly with cold water. When starching curtains, put half flour and half starch., and mix in the usual way. The curtains will lsok better and keep clean longer than if Sail starch were used. Soda should be thoroughly dissolved in the washing water before the clothes are put in. Never allow it to lie about on the clothes, as this sometimes causes ironmould. Soda should never bo added to water in which woollen things are being washed, as it causes them to shrink. She difficulty so often experienced in cutting soft, flimsy goods, such as chiffon, soft silk, muslin, etc., is easily overcome by pinning the material to paper and cutting both together. When the steel parts of a kitchen range become brown, damp a small piece of cloth in ordinary vinegar and rub the parts affect eel. The brown tinge will very quickly disappear, and then the usual polishing may be clone with a most pleasing result. Cleaning White Marble.—First prepare a bowl of hot soapsuds and well wash the marble, paying special attention to small crevices and ledges. Next take a cake of cleansing soap, and rub this lightly all over the surface. Rinse well with clean water, and dry with soft cloths. If it is a marble fireplace that you wish to clean, and there are bad smokestains, wash with the soapsuds as advised above, then prepare a thick paste of whiting and water, and spread over the marble. Leave this until the next day, and then wash off, when the smokestains will have disappeared.