CRETONNE COVERS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18518, 15 March 1930, Page 15 (Supplement)

CRETONNE COVERS

i lIOW TO WASH. This method will prevent the colours fading or the covers shrinking:—Fill two large muslin bags with bran. Use about half a bushel of bran. Place the bags of bran in a wash-house copper of boiling water, and boil for two ' hours. Dip this bran water cut into j tubs and allow to cool. Then soak the dirty covers or curtains in the | water. Add some soft soap to the j bran water, and wash the covers or ! curtains. The curtains should not be j rubbed hard, but if the covers are very I dirty any soap free of soda can be J used to wash the dirty places. Rinse the covers and curtains in fresh bran water taken from the copper and cooled, and then hang them on the line to dry. Do not use clear water for rinsing, and do not starch. Bring ihe covers and curtains in before they j are too dry, and iron on the wrong HOUSEHOLD HINTS. I To prevent milk curdling in a milk ! jelly in which gelatine is used, do not j dissolve the gelatine in milk. Use I water, then add it to the milk, i To clean a bath, first wipe over with j a rag dipped in paraffin, and leave for ! about three minutes. Then dip the j same rag in salt and rub again. Wash | with hot soapy water. I To clean sponges rin3B them in clean : water, squeeze out all the moisture, I then soak them for an hour in one pint I of water to which the juice of one j lemon has been added. Squeeze under : this liquid till clean, rinse well in clean j water, then dry out of doors. To prei serve sponges, never leave them in I soapy water, and after use they should j be well rinsed, squeezed, and hung up |to dry. Should the sponges be soapy I and greasy, before cleaning soak in I strong salt and water, then rinse and I afterwards soak in the lemon juice and water. j To store and keep onions, dry the onions well, then singe the roots with

a red-hot poker to prevent premature growth. Hang in a dry, cold place, and they will keep for a long time. To mend broken glass and china, melt common alum in an old iron spoon over the fire and apply to the pieces of china or glass. When dry, these articles can be washed in hot

| water and the cement will not melt. Rancid butter can be restored to freshness if broken up into small i pieces and put into a bqwl of new ; milk. Let it remain there for about an hour, then drain it, wash in cold salted water, and form into pats again. If cake tins are greased with suet ! instead of dripping, butter or margarine, the cake will turn out without

sticking. Old gas mantles are excellent for

polishing spoons. Apply the powder with a slightly damp cloth. Rinse the spoons in boiling water to which a little ammonia has been added. Rub dry with chamois. To prevent greens from smelling when cooking, put a piece of dry toast tied in a muslin bag in the water. A ground rice pudding will not be lumpy if the rice is mixed smoothly with cold milk before adding it to the boiling liquid. A TRICKY CATCH. Put a penny on the table and ask someone to pick it up with two fingers. They will, of course, say “How easy,” and immediately pick it up with a finger and thumb—unless, of course, they know the trick. You will tell them it is wrong, and pass on to the next player. It is quite likely that you will catch all the players, and even if someone knows the trick it is not likely he will give it away. You will explain afterwards that you said two fingers, and they have used a finger and a thumb! NEW YORK’S COLOURED LINEN. The craze for colour in New York homes increases all the time, writes an American friend, so that now it is difficult to find anything white. Tablecloths, which are being used again, are blue, pink, yellow, or green, with napkins and table decorations to match. The dear old-fashioned white bath towel has given place to a startling banner in coloured stripes or a vivid rose or jade green flag,while face towels are equally gay. A novelty in table accessories is the long napkin instead of the square one, and these have been christened “lapkins.”