HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3833, 30 August 1927, Page 66

HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS.

Wooden washing tubs should always be left with a little water in them, to prevent shrinking.

Mix mustard with milk and add a little salt; it will then last twice as long without getting dry. To remove grease stains from wallpaper, cover them with blotting paper and press with a hot iron.

Fruit stains can usually be removed from fast-coloured silks by sponging them with cold soapy water. The disagreeable stuffiness which accompanies a cold in the head can be relieved by holding the nose and mouth over a bowl of hot water, to which a piece of rock camphor has been added. ’ If olive oil is added to the water, when washing flannels, there will be no danger of these things becoming “ felted.” Use a tablespoonful of oil to every g-allon of water.

Glassware should be washed in warm, soapy water, and afterwards rinsed in cold water, to which has been added a few drops of vinegar. This helps to give it a lustre when polished. Leave it to drain for a few minutes, and dry with a soft cloth.

Instead of arranging flowers in one of those perforated glass stands, a pretty idea would be to use moss or a little green rockery plant instead. Your flowers will stand up beautifully and the moss will make a most attractive background which will last for weeks.

Pictures are ,so often spoilt by the moisture if they are hanging on damp walls. A round of cork, about a quarter of an inch thick, nailed on to each of the lower corners of the frame, will do much to protect it. An old bottle cork can be cut up for this. When silver is not in use, put it away in newspapers, not tissue paper, and it will keep beautifully bright. Here is a simple method of cleaning a saucepan in which milk has been boiled. After pouring out the boiling milk, replace the lid before the steam has time to escape, and allow the saucepan to cool. Then put the pan in cold water to soak. Several things can be made from a discarded macintosh, such as: Apron for wearing when bathing baby. Cut a nice sized piece from the back, bind with braid, and shape should be bib and apron in one. A small sponge bag can be made from the sleeves. A square bag for carrying wet bathing dresses in can also be made. All repairs can be made with tyre repairing outfit. For cleaning purposes: Mix well together one pound of silver sand, one pound of soap powder, and three quarters of a pound of whiting, and put in a sprinkle top tin. The whole lot is cheap, and will be found very useful.

Do not throw away the empty tin from the floor polish, but on opening a new tin take out half of the polish and place it in the empty one. Melt both lots to a liquid and fill up both tins with paraffin. You will then have two tins of floor polish for the price of one, and equally as good. Old newspapers are splendid for polishing grates, polished floors, and tiles: also for wiping dishes, cooking utensils, etc., from grease. The paper can then be used for -fire lighting. Sheets of newspaper, tacked or pasted together, make splendid bags for fur coats, the ink in the paper being a protection from moths. Cinders soaked in paraffin oil make the best of all possible firelighters, and will put an instant glow into a dull fire. They should be put into an old tin and the oil poured over them. Do this out of doors.

When clothes pegs split keep them—they make good window or door wedges. To make a cake of toilet soap go twice as far, cover one side with tinfoil, and if placed foil side down after use none of it will dissolve.

To soften eggs that have been boiled too long, put them into a basin of cold water and leave for about half a minute. This will not only soften them, but improve the flavour. Cream-coloured linen blinds can be cleaned at home without much difficulty. Brush them well, without removing them from the rollers, and place on the kitchen table. Make a firm dough of flour and water, and rub crossway of the blinds, renewing the dough as it gets dirty. To clean a dirty gas oven, mix some rough potash to a paste with cold water. Paint the inside of the oven with the mixture, taking care to protect the hands. Leave all night, and wash off in the morning with warm water. To remove creases from clothing, hang the garments in the bathroom and turn on the hot water until the room is full of steam. Leave them for an, hour, dry in the air, and press on the wrong side with a rather cool iron.

Loose covers of pretty cretonne arc not difficult to make at home. . But it is just as well to choose a small pattern, for it is easier to fit. The pattern can be cut by pinning paper on the different sections of the chair, each one separate, and only shaping the material after the sizes have been got exact. An inch must be

allowed for turnings. Pipings are an improvement, and are done by laying firm cord into the seams on one side before machining them. Never use hot water fyr wash-leather gloves. Make a lather with hot water, then cool it down to luke-warm. Work the gloves about in this. Rinse well, repeat the process in a fresh lather, and rinse again. Last of all, work them well in a very soapy lather, and leave it in. Wring the gloves in a clean cloth and hang them to dry where there is a current of air. Drying near the fire makes the gloves hard. It is a good plan to stretch with glove stretchers into shape when the gloves are about half dry. Great care is needed in the process in washing blankets if they are not to be thickened and discoloured. Use warm but not hot water, in which good soap flakes have been dissolved. If the water is hard, add a few drops of ammonia or some borax to soften it. Knead and squeeze the blankets, but, however soiled they are, never be tempted to rub soap directly on them. Give several waters till clean, then put them through the wringer, loosening the tension anil keeping the blankets quite straight. Use a rinsing water at the same temperature as the washing water, adding a little soap to it, to make up for the natural animal fat in the wool which is removed in laundering. If this loss is not made up, the blankets become hard and lifeless. Be liberal with water, both washing and rinsing, and choose a fine windy day, so that the blankets may dry in the shortest possible time.