Things the Housewife Should Know.

Southland Times, Issue 19036, 2 May 1903, Page 1 (Supplement)

Things the Housewife Should Know.

Floorcloths and linoleum will last as lons again if given a thin coating of varnish when first put down. Polish once a week with beeswax and turpentine, wiping with a damp cloth first to remove dust.

Glass bottles and flower- vases may be purified and cleansed by rinsing them out with powdered charcoal. Unslaked lime, placed in the haunts of beetles, will generally keep them away. Lemon, dipped in salt, will successfully clean copper kettles and other articles. Afterwards they must be well rinsed in clean water, and polished with a soft clofch.

To soften hard water, add a little borax. -Water thus softened is wholesome for cooking purposes, and is useful in tho laundry for whitening clothes and effecting a saving of soap.

An ounce of powdered alum stirred into a hogshead of putrid water will render it sweet and fit for use in the course of a few hours.

Wash hair brushes in tepid water in which a little liquid ammonia has been mixed. Soda or borax may be used instead of ammonia, but then the solution will have to be made in hot water, which must be allowed to become almost cold before the brushes aro put in*o it. Binse after washing with clean cold \niei and dry in the air, not by the lire, or the bristles will not remain a good color.