HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12776, 21 October 1919, Page 9

HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

Metal polish which has become hard through exposure to air or heat may be softened by adding a few drops of paraffin. ' When making a fruit tart, mix a little flour or cornflour with the sugar before adding it to the fruit. This will make the juice like syrup and prevent it from boiling over. To clean forks or spoons quickly, rub over with whitening, then place in a. bowl and pour boiling water over them. Add a little soda, mb the silver with a dishcloth, and dry on a clean towel. When lard or dripping is not obtainable for greasing tins and cooking utensils, sprinkle them with flour rather than margarine. The latter is not an animal fat, and evaporates speedily, causing cakes and puddings to stick.

To remove, a dent in furniture, make a wad of brown paper and soak it in vinegar and water. Have a hot flatiron. Put the wad of brown paper on the dent and hold the iron on the top. When it ceases steaming, dip it in water again, and repeat until the dent has come level with the surface.

It' you steam a pudding you will find subsequent cloth-washing very simple if an inverted saucer is placed on top of the basin before putting on the cloth. The pudding itself will keep very dry, too, which is another advantage.

Dried peas are cheap and make a very delicious, dish prepared this way: Instead of boiling, steam them in a basin. In about an hour they will be quite tender, though the skins will not break asd the Hour escape as when boiled. Turn them out on to a dish, mix in a tiny piece of good beef drip-' ping and sprinkle with dried mint. Washing Glass.—When washing glass do not put it in hot water bottom first, as it will be liable to crack from sudden expansion. Even delicateglass can be safely washed in very hot water if slipped in edgeways. When Hanging-Out.—Always turn things inside out before you hang them on the line. Pin nighties and chemises up by the hem, knickers by the bauds, combies by the shoulders. Remember that the line will very likely droop if there are heavy things on it, so provide a long stick with a forked bit on top with which to prop it up. Tips on Ironing.—lf you want to iron almost at once thump each roll with a flat-iron, and put the roll on a plate in a cool oven for a few minutes. Iron tho hems of handkerchiefs before the middle, pulling each hem straight- before you begin to iron. With nightdresses do the sleeves first, then fold the back lengthways, iron both sides of it, and then open out the back, lay tho nightie front upwards and iron that. '

A Useful Mixture.—Grate 2oz of beeswax and put in a jar. Pour on it a teaspoonful of oil of eucalyptus, or oil of lavender, or oil of verhong. Then cover this with turpentine- Stand in a basin of boiling water away from the fire, and stir until the wax has dissolved, then beat with a fork until cold. If it is not warm enough, add more turps and warm again. Pudding Cloths. —These should not bo washed with soap, but put into a saucepan of cold water to which a little soda-has been added, placed over the fire, and allowed to boil for ten minutes. A thorough rinsing in cold water will leave the cloths fresh and sweet after this treatment. A Parchment Bible—The most costlv Bible in the world is in the Royal Library at Stockholm. One hundred and' ; sixty asses’ skins were used for its parchment leaves. There are 309 pages of writing, and each page falls but one inch short, of being a yard in length. The covers are solid planks four inches thick.

A Silence Cloth. —An excellent table pad, which may he used in place of a flannel or asbestos silence cloth, may bo made by sewing together eighteen or twenty sheets of newspaper and covering thorn with heavy muslinThe Children’s Bedroom.—lf there is no nurse to look after baby during tile night, he must obviously sleep in mother’s room (but not in her bed), while the older children sleep in another room close at hand, with doors standing open between, so that mothoi can hear if anything goes wrong. It this be the arrangement, 'then the trimmed cot for the baby of the family will stand beside his mother’s bed. Baby’s Basket and Bath.—Tradition decrees that the basket holding the many little necessaries used in dressing baby shall, like his cradle, he daintily trimmed, and the mother will he well advised to choose a standing basket, with wicker handle, so that she neeo. not be constantly stooping to reach what she needs. The bath should also he on a stand, with towel-rod, spongehowl, and soap-dish underneath, and it tho bath has an inverted rim it will prevent splashing.