CARE OF THE HOME

Southland Times, Issue 19658, 7 October 1922, Page 14 (Supplement)

CARE OF THE HOME

RESTFUL ROOMS. The influence of colour on the health is realised by doctors and scientists. Women have for some time appreciated the restful effect, of plain wallpaper or distemper for their sitting rooms. They have a plain cream sitting room,' a grey bedroom, a blue dining room, and so on. But. not very many housewives have had their small flat or house decorated in one colour. Yet such a scheme of decoration is the most restful and the most practical of all. It allows of a redisposition of rooms if necessity arises, without incurring extra in purchasing new curtains and chair covers. If the rooms open one into another the effect is infinitely more harmonious than if the colours are different in each apartment. The colour chosen depends upon whether the windows look north or south. Where the rooms are sunny, cool colours must be chosen, when they get no sun, warm colouring will be required. Blue and grey are cool colours. Cream, with a tint of yellow in it is warm, cream with a grey tinge is cool. Green and red are not to be recommended except for occasional use in curtains, cushions, pictures, books, and pottery. Rooms that are designed on very definite colour schemes are not usually comfortable or friendly. Few men really like a merely decorative room. They long for homeliness —for a corner where their pipes and papers can lie undisturbed. The ideal room is that in wliich one finds both rest and the power to work. With plain walls, not too many pictures, and each one chosen and placed either for a decorative reason or a niemoiy which is part of one’s life, books which one has read and will want to read again, a growing plant, a ticking clock, a bunch of the season’s flowers, a few comfortable chairs, and one or two really beautiful bits of pottery or sculpture, and the result will be a room which will be a haven cf rest to its owner and to visiting friends. DOMESTIC JOTTINGS. SEASIDE RUST. ireople who go from inland places to the coast are often astonished to find thajt their hatpins and needles become rusty very quickly. This is largely due to the action of the salt, damp air. Rust may be prevented by wiping the articles with a rag which has been moistened with a little paraffin. When ihe rust has eaten into the metal the hatpins should be placed in a bottle containing paraffin, mid the needles should be soaked in the oil for a few hours. The rust can then be easily rubbed away. EMERGENCY MENDING. All holiday makers know how easy it is to get little rents in one’s clothes through coming into contact with a barbed wire

fence or a bush. In the case of tweeds or I thick materials it is rare that one sees a successful “home-made” darn. A very good way of settling matters right is on the following lines. Get a small piece of the material or cloth of exactly the same colour. Then rub over this with a little thin starch and put it underneath the rent. Then carefully fit the torn edges to- ' gether and smooth them out with the fingers. Finally cover with a damp cloth and press with a hot iron. Continue to iron until the starch has set. taking care not to scorch the material, and the mended part will then be almost invisible. TO GRASS STAINS. Grass stains on clothes should be treated quickly. When it is possible to wash the garment soak the stained part in cold water, using rain water if this can be obtained. Then cover the wet place with a little cream of tartar and put the garment in the sun. Finally rinse with more cold water. If the stains have been neglected the treatment may have to be repeated. Articles which cannot be washed should be treated with methylated spirit dabbed on until the green colouring matter has disappeared. SUMMER MUD STAINS. Do not attempt to treat mud stains on fragile material in the same way as you would deal with similar stains on thick winter cloth, but remove the mud by gently rubbing it off with the finger and then brushing the material with a very soft brush and lightly rub the stain with a piece of flannel clipped in bicarbonate of soda. The most obstinate mud stain will disappear when dealt with in this way. JOINING WOOL Wool may be joined quite easily without tying a knot in this way. Thread the end of the piece being knitted through a darning needle. Now take the new piece and run the needle right through the middle of the new wool, carrying the needle through for several inches. Finally pull the needle right out at one side and cut off the wool closely, and you will have an excellent join. CHILDREN’S HAIR. SOME USEFUL HINTS. Every child’s hair ought to be pretty, even if it is neither an attractive colour nor curly. Ugly hair is usually caused by ill-health or persistent neglect. While all children are taught to wash and dress themselves very few seem to have any idea of taking proper care of their hair. REGULAR MASSAGE. The hair must be kept in a healthy living state by means of regular scalp massage, and several rainutes vigorous rubbing every night. Mother should massage by gentle rotary movement of the fingers rubbing from, the outer edge cf the scalp, up to the middle of the head. Hold the brush so that the child’s hair passes through it sideways, and use a firm but gentle stroke reaching frojn the top to the very bottom of the hair. Always keep the brushes scrupulously clean. “Taking out the tangles” loses all its dread for children if the hair be combed piece by piece from the bottom upwards. Grasp the hair firmly immediately above the portion to, be combed to prevent “tugging,” and never comb the scalp itself unless absolutely necessary. Children’s hair should be shampooed once a month as a general rule, oftener if it seems desirable. Only a pure soap should be used and the hair will require several rinsings. Cold water for the last rinsing is beneficial except for tiny children. Never dry the hair after washing in front of a fire. Open-air drying, is best, but if impossible rub the child’s hair with warm towels and then fan it vigorously until dry. When a child’s hair is considered "poor” it is frequently much benefited by having it "bobbed” for a year or two. A mother should let the child’s hair grow again before she enters her “teens" if a really good length is desired, and if she values her daughter’s future appearance she will not allow the hairdresser to shave the child’s neck when trimming her bobbed hair. Constant crimping and curling of the hair has an impoverishing effect, and regular tight plaiting will soon remove any natural tendency towards wavy or fluffy hair. Excessively greasy, lank hair generally indicates a poor state of health, and will only materially improve when the health is restored. Very dry hair is better for a liberal greasing the night before a shampoo. Hair with split ends requires cutting. NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS. Besides being taught “hair drill” as a part of the ordinary bedtime routine, children should never lx l allowed to use each other’s hair brushes, wear each other’s hats, lean their heads against the doors or walls, or lie on the ground or floor without protecting their hair with a cloth or cushion. BAGS AND BOXES. ABOUT MILADY’S LUGGAGE. Black luggage is now very fashionable. The new black trunks are made of vulcanised fibre, the matt, black surface being relieved by nickel locks and rivets. Another novelty is in the shape of a trunk covered with black patent cloth resembling patent leather. BUY THE BEST. Without doubt it is always when purchasing new trunks to buy the best; especially in these days, when one has to pay so much for workmanship, it is not wise to economise by buying cheap materials. Some women prefer compressed cane trunks to those made of solid leather for hard knockabout wear. Preference is often given to the wardrobe trunk, which enables the user to dispense with the services of a maid during a week-end visit, as the trunk can be placed on end in her room and all the smaller articles left in the set of drawers on one side of it; the hangers on which coats, blouses and frocks are hung can be taken out from the other side and put in"a wardrobe. Clothes travel well when packed in this way, as the box is slightly curved at the end which holds the hangers, and therefore cannot be tilted so as to cause the contents to be turned upside down. A suit case wliich is much appreciated by the woman who travels abroad is one which she can take in the carriage with her, with an inner dressing-case in the form of a folding tray, that can be taken out and used separately when necessary.

There is a delightful new hat box made of compressed fibre covered with brown or green waterproof canvas, and can be placed on one side like a suit case, and has a handle at the reverse side by which it can easily be carried. Another version of the round hatbox is found in three-ply lightcoloured wood, having the appearance of satinwood, which is very inexpensive. LEATHER CUSHIONS. The woman who desires the greatest possible comfort on a journey never travels to-day without one of the delightful coloured leather cushions with a large pocket on one side for holding books and papers. PICTORIAL RAFFIA BASKETRY. AN INTERESTING HANDICPIAFT. Raffia work, from the simplest embroidery to elaborate basketry, is one of the ‘most popular of the handicrafts revived with much interest since the war. Pic- 1 tori al basketry in coloured raffia is r.n ambitious and mort fascinating occupation, and offers unlimited scope for originality and patient workmanship. The purpose of this article is to set forth briefly the method of applying it to a housewife’s needlework basket. It. is presumed that a certain amount of practice in the working of the best-known stitches will be acquired before the making of such a basket is attempted. If the raffia is to be dyed at home, soft, long strands without flaws must be selected ; but it will save labour to buy it fre-m a firm that specialises in materials offering a wide range of colourings and shades. Natural raffia requires soaking in water for some hours before it is used, and should be laid over a line to dry. Cane No. 4 and a special raffia needle and scissors will also be necessary. One good idea is a coil worked with Navajo stitch, which makes a good beginning; it would be quicker to continue the basket in Lazy Squaw stitch, which is not difficult to learn. The design, or scries of pictures, for the basket is a matter for personal choice, and when this has been decided upon a sketch should be made in water-colours for a guide to the work. Landscape sketches and prints in colours that are simple in construction are best to use; conventional floral designs may also be effectively employed. Natural raffia can be combined with the coloured material. The actual design develops as the coloured raffia is added, and it will therefore be realised that judgment and the power to visualise the finished effect will be essential, and no disappointment need be felt, if the work appears to be developing very slowly. It will be necessary’ to guard against splitting the stitches on both sides of the basket and completely to cover the cane with the raffia. When the top of the basket is reached the cane should be drawn in a gradual slant, along the inside of the preceding row and then partly cut away on the underside, so that the end can be concealed under the raffia. A long strip of plain coloured furniture brocade could be sewn inside the basket at the top and held together with silk cord run through the base of a narrow frill. There is a comprehensive hook which deals with pictorial basketry and many publications which clearly show the working of the various raffia stitches.