Hints and Suggestions.

Otago Witness, Issue 3315, 26 September 1917, Page 50

Hints and Suggestions.

Vinegar added to the rinsing-water will revive faded red and pink cotton fabrics. Vinegar —a teacupful—in a warm bath, will take away all stiffness after cycling, etc.

To warm a steamed pudding, place it into a colander in a steamer, and the pudding will be very much and more palatable than if placed on a dish. To remove a tight stopper from a bottle, wring a cloth out in boiling water, and wrap it round the neck of the bottle. The heat will expand the glass, and allow the stopper to be removed. A black ceiling above a gas-jet will spoil the look of any room. Apply a good layer of starch and water to it with a clean piece of flannel. When quite dry,

brush lightly with a clean brush, and no marks will remain. Little enamel and glass shades save the ceilings enormously, and are very inexpensive. They are not .disfiguring to the ceiling if they are well washed regularly twice a week in. hot soapsuds. For cuts and wounds wash with boracic, putting the powder in a wine bottle, and fill with hot water. To use, pour some Into a small bowl, a/lding sufficient boiling water to make it the right heat. To fit a candle into a candlestick dip the bottom of the candle in_ hot water, then press firmly into the stick. To clean brass quickly and_ easily mix emery powder to a paste with paraffin. Then polish with a piece of old velvet. Gas stove burners should be thoroughly cleaned once a week. The holes should be pierced with a skewer or hatpin, and the ring scoured in hot water and soda. This effects a saving in gas, as the heat given off a clean ring is greater than that given off from a dirty one. Starch rots lace curtains, and should not be used when getting them up. _ They can be stiffened with gum arabic. Dissolve one ounce in half a pint of boiling water, then strain and bottle, keeping it well corked. To use, dessertspoonful to a pint of cold water.

To Pick up Broken Glass. —When glass is broken on the floor it is sometimes difficult to pick up all the little pieces. It is really quite easy if a woollen cloth is wetted and laid on the floor where the fragments of glass are. The cloth should be gently patted and pressed, and the pieces of glass will adhere to it. It should then be burnt or put at once in the dust-bin.

To Keep Rhubarb From Cooking To Pieces.—Wash the rhubarb and cut it up as usual, but leave the skin on, for it is as tender as any other part of the stalk. Pour boiling water over the prepared rhubarb 'and let it stand until the water is cold. Then turn the water off, cover it again with boiling water and let it stand for a time. You can then cook it until it is clear and red, but it will not boil up "mushy." In cooking greens, the outside leaves are usually thrown away, on the ground that they are tough. But if these leaves are wrung—as you would a cloth—and then boiled in the usual way, they will be quite tender. For a large family, this saving is a consideration. Again, do not throw away the tops of radishes, for they are quite as good as turnip-tops or spinach. Cooked in the same way as turnip-tops they make a most appetising dish.