Hints and Suggestions.

Otago Witness, Issue 3342, 3 April 1918, Page 52

Hints and Suggestions.

In packing bottles in cases for transportation, indiarubber bands slipped over them will prevent breakage. A little cornflour added to the salt in the salt-cellar will prevent it from hardening. Half a teaspoonful to two tablespoonfuls of salt is sufficient. If you put a lump of sugar in a silver or metal teapot that is not constantly in use, it will absorb the moisture and keep the teapot from becoming musty. If new tinware is rubbed over Avith fresh lard and thoroughly heated in the oven before it is used, it will never rust afterwards, no matter how much it is put in water. A little sugar added to oatmeal when it is cooking, instead of putting it all on the table, improves the flavour greatly. When baking fruit pie stand it in a baking-tin containing a little water. The juice won't boil over if this is done. Wash yonr currants by putting them into a saucepan with enough cold water to well cover, and bring quickly to the boil. Then rinse the currants in cold water, and dry in a slow oven. To remove grease spots from silk, velvet, or other delicate fabrics, rub with a little eucalyptus oil. The best way to wash lace is to squeeze it first in hot water, then in cold. To stiffen din it in milk. It should be pressed on a well-padded board, on the wrong side, with a fairly hot iron. Firm iellies are summer favourites that often- fail to set to perfection. Stand the mould in a basin of water containing a s;ood handful of salt and soda. A mild freezing mixture is the result, and on the hottest day a firm, cool jelly will be the reward. Floorboards. —Tt is not always necessary to re-stain floorboards round a room. Kerosene will freshen them and darken them. Try that. And the cheapest stain is nei'mancanate crystals dissolved in water. Thrcepennvworth would do a whole room. Any shade can be obtained, from- very light brown up to dark

mahogany, according to the dilution of the stain. When woollen stockings are quite beyond wearing, wash and thoroughly dry them, cut oil' the feet, draw one leg over the other, and then fold over, ana tack down the sides, so as to form a bag like a washing glove, that you can easily slip your hand in. You will find they make splendid polishers for shoes, stoves, or bright articles, and keep your hands clean at the same time. If stockings are split open, and tacked together, they make excellent house flannels, or if several are split, cut into square pieces, and a screw put through centre of same into a broom-handle, it makes a good mop. With Old Blankets. —If you wish to use up those old blankets in the very best way possible, turn them into pretty coverlets by putting the blankets together and covering with a dainty sateen or anything you may have at hand that will tone with the room you intend it for. There are some charming silkoline materials that can be bought very cheaply. The coverlets may be buttoned or machined, as preferred, with very successful results. Small covers for cots are very warm and cosy made in this way. If your marble mantelpieces have a stain on them, put a little salt in a saucer, squeeze over it a lemon, and stir well. Then take a small hard nailbrush, and dip it into the salt and lemon. The brush should be quite dry, and it is better to buy a new penny nailbrush for the purpose. Scrub the mantelpiece well and leave it until the morning. Then put some extract of soap in a basin, and add hot water to it; dip the nailbrush in this, and lave the mantelpiece, removing all the salt and lemon. Dry with a soft duster, and polish with an old piece of velvet. Not only will the marble come up beautifully white, but it will have a nice gloss.