Household Hints

Southland Times, Issue 22296, 11 April 1934, Page 5

Household Hints

CARE OF STOCKINGS. When washing stockings give them a final rinse in strained tea or coffee. This will keep the original colour and they will not become lighter each time they are washed. This method is perfectly harmless to the silk and will not cause the dye to become streaky. Another hint to lengthen the wear of stockings is to soak them in salt water before they are worn the first time. LIZARD SHOES AND PETROL. No shoe looks smarter than the lizard or python skin shoe. However they are inclined to become tinged with yellow even if they are cleaned with a specially recommended preparation. It will be found that a most successful method of cleaning skin shoes of all kinds is to use petrol. The shoes should be cleaned in the open air and the petrol applied sparingly by means of a spotlessly clean cloth. Use a clean portion of the cloth as soon as each becomes soiled. This method will do much to prevent lizard and python skin from becoming a bad colour. REMOVING STAINS. Tea or cocoa stains can be removed from linen or cotton by soaking _ the articles in cold water, then boiling them in soapy water in the usual way. For coffee stains plunge the material into boiling water as soon as possible. Water should never be applied to tar stains, as this fixes them permanently. Cover them with buttter and leave for an hour or two; then rub the tar off With a clean rag. The grease can afterwards be removed by rubbing with petrol, and the article can then be washed as usual. Black ink can be removed if the articles are soaked in boiled milk for some hours; ammonia and water will remove red ink. Paint should be rubbed with turpentine, then sponged with ammonia and water. Iron mould can be removed by soaking the stained portion in a solution of salts of lemon and water, using a. teaspoonful to half a pint of water. This should be thoroughly rinsed out before the garment is washed in the usual way.