HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3755, 2 March 1926, Page 70

HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS.

Lemon juice will remove ink spots from tables and furniture that is not French polished. ■The grated rind of lemon or orange added to a cake not only gives a nice flavour, but prevents it from becoming stale. If a little salt is sprinkled over the bottom of the pan, when frying anything. the fat will not splash. Grease the pudding-basin when it is perfectly dry, applying the grease thickly and evenly, and the pudding will not stick. Before washing glasses that have been used for milk, rinse them well in cold water. For sheets in general use plain hems are best, as hemstitching will not stand a great deal of wear and tear. To prevent mould forming on the top of pickles, mix some horse radish with them and they will keep well. To sweeten a musty cask or barrel, bum a little rock silver in it. Put in the bung, and leave for a couple 6f days. All fried articles must be perfectly dry before they are coated with batter or egg and breadcrumbs. To remove mud stains from an umbrella try potato water. To improve its shabby black handle, apply a coating of japan or enamel. Discolourations may easily be removed from porcelain by using a little powdered whiting. Polished floors should be wiped clean with a damp cloth; then, when dry, a good rubbing with beeswax will .give, them a good polish. A piece of bread tied up in muslin and put into the water in which vegetables are cooking will prevent an unpleasant smell. If a milk pudding gets burnt, remove the burnt skin, add some milk and a little butter, and rebake in a slow oven. YY T hen sewing on buttons that will have a great strain on them, put a piece of an old kid glove under the material to which the button is sewn. A bowl of hot water to which two or three drops of oil of lavender have been added will remove all smell of cooking and render the air in the kitchen pure and fresh. To remove the smell of onions, wash the knife that has been used to peel them, as well as the hands, in cold water. Hot or warm water makes the odour more lasting. Half-a-teaspoonful of cocoa essence added to one pound of flour will improve the colour of a plain fruit cake without imparting: any flavour. Brunswick black thinned with turpentine will give a bronze colour to kitchen tins, and house-maids’ box, and take away the shabbiness of old black paint. Cut bacon and ham is kept fresh by putting it on a dish, covering with greased paper or muslin, and setting on the cold slab of marble or tiles that should be in every pantry. A sink can be kept much tidier if there is a definite place for all the cleaning appliances and materials. A shelf will hold soda, sand, a disinfectant, and a strip of wood with hooks is handy to hang dish mops or cloths, ringe, scrubber, bottle and vegetable brushes. To clean a comb pass tissue paper or a bit of old linen to and fro between the teeth, and polish with a cloth that will not leave fluff. Washing combs in water tend? to make them rough and brittle, so that they suddenly snap without any apparent cause.