HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS.

Otago Witness, Issue 4085, 28 June 1932, Page 59

HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS.

Cane chairs should be scrubbed clean and then wiped with a cloth wrung out in rice water. This forms a protective film over the cane, and gives it a bright and glossy appearance. * * * Egg stains on washable fabrics can be removed by soaking the garment in cold water for a short time before washing with soap and hot water in the usual wav. » -¥ * Place all left-over pieces of soap in an old pan with a little olive oil, and allow to simmer gently over a slow’ fire until the two ingredients are thoroughly blended. Pour into flat tins and allow to set. ¥ * When boiling a suet pudding, put three or four pieces of orange peel in the water. They will collect all the grease, and the pudding will boil quicker and will be much lighter. * * * The marks left by hot plates 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. # :js * 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.

When separating the yolk from the white of an egg, break it into a funnel over a glass. The white will pass through, and the yolk will remain in the funnel.

The white of an egg will make rough skin white and soft. Rub a little into the skin at bedtime, and wash off in the morning. Beaten up with three tablespoonfuls of rose water, the white of an egg will remove inflammation from the eyes. Apply with a clean, soft cloth. If no gum is available, the white of an egg makes an excellent adhesive. Mixed with equal parts of glycerine, the white of an egg will alleviate the pain of a burn. Pour the mixture over a strip of linen and bind over the affected part.

Lace or net curtains should be folded carefully before washing. If this method is adopted there will be no danger of the curtains becoming damaged in the wash. Hang up while still wet, and place a short pole through the hem at the bottom of each.

Before proceeding with the laundering of linen see that all holes have been repaired, otherwise they will become larger in the wash. The following is the best way to wash new blankets: Soak overnight in salted

water, using 2oz of salt to each gallon of water; wring out and place in a warm, soapy lather, made (if convenient) with rain water and good yellow bar soap; knead and squeeze in this solution, then wring out again and rinse in clear warm water containing a little glycerine. Dry in the open air. An excellent way to damp small articles or garments that arc to be ironed is to tie them in a piece of cloth that has been wrung out in cold water. The moisture on the outside material gradually soaks through to the others.

Care should be taken to keep Ivory from the sunlight, otherwise it will have a tendency to become yellow 7. Ivory that has become affected in this way can be restored with a mixture of lemon-juice and salt. Apply with a pad of soft cloth. .

Ivory articles should b e cleaned once a week with a mixture of sal volatile and olive oil. Apply with chamois, then remove and rub with an old silk handkerchief.

An excellent way to clean ebony is to apply a mixture of whitening and methylated spirit, care being taken that the mixture gets into all corners. Allow to dry on the articles, then remove all whitening particles with a fine paint brush. Afterwards polish with a chamois.

Ebony articles should never be placed in an apartment in which there is dampness.

Hair Brushes.—Rinse thoroughly in cold water to which a generous amount of ammonia has been added; then shake and place in the open air to dry. The ammonia removes the dirt like magic. Paint Brushes.—lf the brushes have become hard with paint, allow them to soak for an hour or so in turpentine; then squeeze the bristles between the fingers until all the paint has been removed. After this treatment, rinse the brushes in a fresh bath of turpentine.

Floor Brushes.—lf the brushes have become very dirty they can be cleaned by rinsing in a tepid, soapy lather to which a generous amount of salt has been added. Afterwards rinse in clear, tepid water and place in the open air to dry. Shoe Brushes.—Rub the bristles of the brushes together in a warm, soapy solution to which a little turpentine has been added. Care should be taken to hold the brushes under the surface of the solution, otherwise the bristles will cause the solution to fall in tiny drops over the face and arms. Rinse in a fresh soapy solution, shake thoroughly, and place in the open air to dry.

Amongst many old-.fashioned “cures” walnuts, cauliflower leaves, and chickweed were supposed to charm a wart away. The juice of the leaves of the great celandine or tetter-wort was also said to be very efficacious. In Derbyshire the juice of dandelion stalks was hailed with great enthusiasm. Of these old-world remedies, white cabbage juice, the juice of the wild crab-apple, and the juices of the marsh marigold are perhaps the most generally useful. Modern medicine rather smiles at these odd treatments. Doctors will tell you to apply strong acids and caustics, but don't attempt to do so on your own responsibility. Always seek medical advice. There is some danger«of turning an innocent wart into a malignant tumour from too intense and prolonged irritation.

Trichloracetic acid (100 per cent.) applied to the top of the wart on a glass rod seems to be the most successful acid in medical hands. Be careful to differentiate between warts on soft mucous surfaces and those on hard skin surfaces. For instance, it would be very foolish and harmful to apply a strong acid or caustic to a wart, say, on the tip of the tongue or lips. Strong acids tend to induce scarring after the wart has sloughed off', and this would be a worse blemish on the face than the original disfigurement. Warts on the hand can generally be cured by one of many caustic or acid remedies. But if they fail you can try this recipe: Salicylic acid, 30 grains; resorcin, 30 grains; flexible collodium, 4 drams. Paint on the warts every night for a week. Or try this: First, soften the wart with 5 per cent, potassium hydroxide, and then apply Fowler’s solution, five or six times daily. To make assurance doubly sure, take at the same time five drops of this drug internally each day. A quarter grain pill of mercurous iodide, taken after meals three times a day, has proved of Striking value for grown ups.

Never pack books away! If you have already done so, turn those out and do not pack any away again. If they are used so seldom you may as well get a small price for them. If you pack them away they will only deteriorate. Books should never be packed close together. They are very susceptible to damp, so they should always be placed so that air can circulate around them. Watch a library assistant: he or she never takes a book down from a shelf without slapping it. Gentle slapping is very good for books! If your books are on shelves, go through them every now’ and then, slapping the books gently together to remove dust. Never dust books until you have done this; if you do you will only send the dust into them. If your books are in a bookcase, turn the case out sometimes. Open the books and shut them

again sharply, but never open books so wide that you stretch or break the binding—quite an easy thing to do if you are too vigorous—and never leave a book open face downwards. Valuable leather bindings can be treated to a very sparing application of furniture cream, and then polished. When the back of a binding has come away from the rest, stick on again with a very little glue, and if a binding is coming loose from the inside, secure again by sticking a firm piece of paper on the inside, covering the edges which are coming loose. Edges of leaves which have become very dusty can be rubbed with some fine pumice powder and then brushed.

A good many stains on pages may be removed with the help of a little bread, but grease marks are more difficult. If you eare to take the trouble, and if the book is at all valuable it will be worth it, you can get out grease stains by treating them with french chalk and then applying a warm iron over brown paper. Books repay a little attention, so don’t forget them or neglect them, and don’t only remember them in the spring.