HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16941, 16 January 1923, Page 10

HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

Good quality knives should be cleaned with charcoal powder. Fine ashes, moistened with turpentine, are an economical and effective cleaner for steel and brass. \\ ipe steel fenders and fire-irons with vinegar, and they will_clean and polish more easily. To clean silver, moisten the platepowder with a little methylated spirit. As a carpet cleaner bran, slightly damped, thrown on the carpet and then thoroughly swept out. is excellent. Damp a piece of grease-paper with vinegar and wrap it round cheese. This keeps the cheese moist and prevents it from going mouldy. Tea stains on a. tablecloth should bo damped, covered with powdered starch, left to dry. and then brushed off. A lump of sugar put in to boil with green vegetables will preserve their lour and improve the flavour. To Clean footled Blinds.—Where blinds arc. or cream linen, dirty marks show up clearly. For cleaning these there is nothing so good as finolypowdered bath-brick. This should be applied, not too roughly, with a perfectly dry and clean nail-brush. Rub the-dirty places briskly until the marks disappe^j. Nettle Stings.—-For nettle stings an effective remedy can bo secured by using the leaves of cultivated mint. Obtain a sprig of the plant and then bruise the leaves well, finally applying them to the affected part. After a short while the irritation will die away. Greased Coats.—-The grease on a coat collar can be removed by rubbing it with a cloth dipped in ammonia. Velvet collar* may be treated in the same way, but must be held in front of a hot iron immediately afterwards to raise the pile. Polish Your Lino.—Try polishing painted-surface lino instead of washing it. You will find that the polish will give it a protecting surface, and at the same time the floor will last/ cleaner for a much longer time. Painted linoleum should never be scrubbed, but wiped over with a wet, soapy cloth. Refilling Pillows.—When refilling pillows, crush a: small block of camphor and sprinkle among the feathers. This helps to preserve them and make the pillow i’eol cool and refreshing to the head. Burnt Pans.—Should you burn the bottom oL our enamel preserving-pan, do not throw it away. Get a packet of chloride of lime, put it in the pan with about a quart of water, and let it soak for two or three days. Give the pan a good rubbing, and the burnt smirks will have disappeared. To Remove Red Ink Marks.—Children often get red in* spots on their clothes at school, and these are sometimes mo&t difficult to remove. The spots will generally yield to an application of methylated spirits and acetic acid. To a teaspoonful of the spirits add four or five drops of the acetic acid. Then pour a. little of this over the spot. Rinse in cold water, and in many cases the mark will complete disappear. If this does not happen add two or three more drops of the aoetic acid and try again. It should be borne in mind that jed ink spots whitji have been neglected are much more difficult to deal with than those recently made. No More Moth.—Housewives have | several trials—flies, mosquitoes, silverfish. and moth The greatest of these is the moth that lava its eggs on the clothes to hatch and destroy at a later date. Henri Fabre, the great scientist, interested In all insects, found this remedy for moth. He wrapped wool- , ten goods in newspaper, and had .the joy of wat-hing th*> busy moth trying

to find nn opening through which th«*\ crawl and deposit their eggs. Young moths need wool on which feed, but paper is useless, so Value discovered that if woollens are wrapped up securely in paper, being careful t< see that there is no hole, they may be away for months without thought for their welfare. This seasonable hint might be tried during the present month. To Repair Dance Shoes —Dance shoes of black satin which have been scratched can often be touched up with ink. When the damage is more serious it will probably be necessary to decorate the shoes to hide the blemishes. Handpainted shoes are now in vogue, and sprays of flowers or tiny birds, little figures or quaint designs can be painted on the satin. ’Hie ornamentation can be added to the toes, heels, or even the sides of the shoes. Patches ol variegated brocade can be applied, and may be pasted over the toes and shaped so as to fit up underneath the buckle or other ornament. Worn heels can he neatly repaired by pasting on cuttings of brocade, or plain thick satin, cither to match the shoes or in some contrastingly coloured material. To Clean a Mincing Machine.—An excellent way to clean a mincing machine quickly after it. has been used is to run a piece of dry stale bread through it. This will absorb the grease. A little hot soda water and final rinsing in clear cold water will leave the machine quite clean. Cleaning Pictures. —If your pictures have become cloudy looking, it is an indication that smoke and vapours have got inside the glass, because the paper backing has not been properly applied. This will eventually mould ancl fade your picture. Take out glass, clean it. wipe pictures, and glue carefully a clean sheet of paper over the back of the frame.