HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3995, 7 October 1930, Page 61

HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS.

A very good way of cleaning an aluminium saucepan is on the following lines: Put some water into the pan and bring it to the boil. Then tip it out and at Once fill with cold water from the tap. Now use a rough ish flannel to clean the inside, and it will be found quite an easy business to get the metal into good order. Even when the inside of the pan has been burned the coating comes away almost magically.

The nicest way to heat up the remains of.a suet pudding is to cut it up into slices, place them on a dish or cake tin, and cover with golden syrup. Put them under the grill until the syrup has melted through the slices and so warmed them.

A good way of making cottage pie is to put the meat and carrots and onions - after partly cooking them—through a mincing machine, then into a piedish, moistening them well with gravy or good stock. Instead of putting the usual layer of potatoes on top, try covering the pie with pastry. It is just as nice as a pie made with fresh meat.

How often do women (who are very careful indeed about the cleanliness of their linen) neglect the mangle! A quick flourish with the duster before using it is all that is required, so it seems. The mangle, however, is an important household item, and should be well looked after. If wooden, wash and dry the Tollers carefully. If of rubber use a turpentine rag and wash after. Give the mangle boards a good scrub with hoc soap and water. Take a rag dipped in paraffin and rub over all the painted part of the mangle; do not neglect to dry carefully. Remember to loosen the screw. Women as a rule do not seem to trouble about this.

A tablespoonful of methylated spirits added to the last rinsing water when washing linen will stiffen "the articles or garments sufficiently to enable one to dispense with the use of starch. This also gives them a delightful gloss.

There is no end to the brightening effect one may produce with a tin of lacquer and a brush. Choose a colour to correspond with your kitchen walls, and give any tins needing brightening, a coat. Ones that are a wrong colour you can do to suit youi- scheme. Coloured chairs are fashionable and add a cheery note to the kitchen and the 'woodwork of the sink can be coloured to correspond, also the table oilcloth. This could be done to match the chairs etc. In the laundry the woodwork round tubs may be treated, also tins containing pegs, soda, blue, etc., and if one likes to be specially gay, dip the heads of the pegs as well.

When a floor is stained round a carpet, the cracks between the boards are often unsightly. The common plan of filling the crevices in with putty is not to be recommended, as the stain does not take well on the places that have been so treated. For the purpose, there is nothing better than paper pulp, prepared by tearing newspapers into small pieces and allowing them to soak for a few hours in cold water. When the paper is soft it is easily forced into the cracks, and, after drying, it should be smoothed with glass paper. Either stain or paint may then be applied, and the lines of the former cracks are not to be detected.

To remove inkstains from polished furniture, rub with lemon juice till the stains disappear; then polish in the usual wav.

A few drops of lemon juice in a glass of cold water are excellent for strengening the eyesight.

The raw juice of a lemon is almost a specific for chilblains.

Lemon juice may be used instead of vinegar in salad dressings,with delicious results.

The white enamelled bath, the white enamelled kitchen sink, the white enamelled parts of the electric or gas stove, the white enamelled electric water heater, the white damaselene table cloth, and the strips of white oilcloth on the pantry shelves—these are all apt to soil with constant use. To clean them to perfection, and with absolute ease, take a clean cloth—a small piece is sufficient—and pour on it a little turpentine, say a level teaspoonful. Now rub the cloth well over the soiled parts of any of the above mentioned articles. You will be delighted with the result. All spots and stains will disappear as by magic.

When staining pinewood floors turn half the contents of a small tin of burnt sienna into a large empty paint tin, then stir in and mix well one bottle of turpentine and one bottle of boiled oil. If you think the stain not quite dark

enough for your purpose, add more burnt sienna until you have the desired colour. Have the boards perfectly clean, then paint the stain on evenly; allow to thoroughly dry before proceeding further. Give a second coat if you care to. When dry, you may either give the floor a coat of varnish or wax with a floor polish—either gives a very good finish.