HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3958, 21 January 1930, Page 60

HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS.

To separate the yolks from the whites °f eggs, break them into a pie chimney. The white will run through and leave the yolk.

A drawer that sticks is an annoyance. Rub the sides with soap or wax and the difficulty will be overcome. A teaspoonful of vinegar beaten into dripping creamed for a cake will take away the fatty flavour and make the cake much lighter.

Add one tablespoonful of peroxide of hydrogen to the water in which handkerchiefs are washed. This will keep them white, and will remove any fruit stains.

Vegetables retain their colour and are crisp and tender when a teaspoonful of borax is added to the water in which they are boiled. To remove perspiration marks from white silk, mix some bicarbonate of soda to a stiff paste with cold water. Spread thickly on the parts, and leave for an hour or so before washing. This will also remove scorch marks if they are not very bad. Powdered alum sprinkled in the crevices of upholstered furniture will exterminate moths.

Don’t buy perishable articles, such as oatmeal and flour, in too large quantities. Don’t put tea and coffee near each other unless they are in tins. Don’t keep dried fruits too long, or they become mouldy and dry. They should be bought in the autumn, when the new fruit comes in.

Sour milk makes cakes, puddings, scones, and omelettes very light. The marks left by hot plates and dishes on a dining table, or other polished wood surface, can be removed by applying spirit of camphor with a soft cloth. Rub lightly, and when the stain disappears, polish with a soft duster. Put salt into the water in which you bathe sore, tender feet. It will help’ to soothe and harden thetn. When tying down jam-pot covers, damp the string. The knot will not slip, and when dry the string will shrink and tighten. If you wish to cool a beverage quickly, take a vessel of cold water and squeeze the blue-bag into it until it becomes a dark blue colour. Then add a handful of salt, and in this place your jug of lemonade, milk, or jelly. The unsightly mark often left on a garment that has been cleaned with benzine can be prevented if the material is ironed under a damp cloth immediately after cleaning. Short tacks are difficult to fix in corners, but if they are forced through a small strip of paper and the paper is held instead of the tack, there will be no more bruised finger-nails. Petrol, though useful for cleaning garments, should never be used in or near a room where there is any sort of fire or flame. Unless under responsible guidance, only grown-ups should use it, and, if stored, it is best stored away from a house.

The best way to clean artificial pearls and keep them always at their best is to sprinkle a sheet of white cotton wool with powdered magnesia, and lay the string of pearls upon it. Fold the wool over the string, and leave for a

while, then roll the pearls gently between the hands, still between the layers of cotton wool. Remove and brush with a soft camel-hair brush. A good polish that will revive dull ebony is made by thoroughly mixing together Boz vinegar and (loz linseed oil. Then add 3oz methylated spirit and -loz butter of antimony. Use only a very small quantity at a time, and polish well afterwards with a soft cloth. Water-taps that show signs of dripping or leaking should receive immediate attention, in order to avoid damp rot in the surrounding woodwork from splashes and continual mopping. Usually the tap wants a new washer. Before attempting repairs see that the water is turned off at the main. There will be a certain amount of water in the pipes after closing the supply, so let the tap run until it stops. Then unscrew the head. When the head is removed from the tap, the new washer is inserted by removing the small nut and washer that holds the old one in position, and replacing the old by the new; finally, the head is screwed into position again and the supply turned on.