HOME HINTS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12711, 5 August 1919, Page 7

HOME HINTS.

Ta.r nr pitch stains can he quickly removed by rubbing with sweet oil or lard, or even butter.

If eggs you are about to boil are cracked, add a little vinegar to the water, and they can be boiled as satisfactorily as undamaged ones. When boiling lish, always tie it up in a thin cloth, and add a little vinegar to the water. This makes the fish firm and keeps it white. If you save soft ashes it makes a splendid cleaner and polish for all sorts of steel and enamelled ware.

If you paste two or three layers of brown paper over the soles of "indoor shoes, they will last for quite double as long as they would wear without. Grass stains on clothing should be soaked in paraffin. The garment may then be sent to the laundry as usual. When cleaning knives, damp them before rubbing ou the board. This will produce a better polish, and they will clean much quicker.

When making cakes with dripping, if a few drops of lemon-juice are beaten up with the dripping the cake will taste as well as if butter had been used. If fur accumulates in a kettle it ruius it, and also wastes gas, for M-a.tcr will not boil quickly in a vessel coated with fur. A good remedy is to fill the kettle with rain-water and boil up smartly. White goods that are yellow with ago may bo restored by soaking in buttermilk. If slightly affected, a few clays are sufficient to render perfectly white, hut in severe cases more time is required. Change tho milk occasionally. A cotton dress that has become somewhat faded can be made entirely white by boiling in water to which a, little cream of tartar has been added.

Accidents often, happen by poison bottles being left carelessly about. To prevent these,-buy a dozen tiny bells, and every time a bottle ox poison is brought into the house tio a bell to its neck, even in the dark the bell will tinkle its warning. It is important that the larder should always be kept well aired, so that the contents may be quite fresh and sweet. To prevent dust, and smuts getting in through the open window, cover it with a piece of butter muslin. This lets the air penetrate and, at the same time, keeps everything spotless. Three or four pounds of copperas exposed to the air is a good disinfectant. A little under, a. sink, especially if you have the old-fashioned closed kind, will eliminate all dampness.