HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17220, 11 December 1923, Page 9

HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

Soap rubbed on the heels will prevent blisters. Hot vinegar quickly removes whitewash or distemper splashes. Doorsteps whitened with chalk and milk keep clean for a long time. Before chopping suet, melt it in the oven, strain, and let it get cold. It is more easily chopped, and waste is prevented. In applying polish to shoes or boots, the short hairs of an old toothbrush work more easily into the welts than a larger brush. Sago soaked in water or milk until quite eoft is an excellent substitutefor suet or baking powder, in the proportion of one teacupful of dry sago to four of flour. A pinch of salt and the same amount of castor sugar improves the flavour of mustard. If mixed with boiling water instead of cold, it will be found to keep moist much longer. Silk embroidery can be cleaned with spirits of w’ine without removing it from the gown it trims. Put a little of this into a saucer, dip a camel’s hair brush in the spirit, and with this go over every part of the embroidery until it is quite clean. When beating eggs, add a little - salt; it saves time and labour.

When baking a cake and the oven is getting too hot. place a basin of cold water on the shelf beneath the cake. This will reduce £he heat. Two ounces of fuller’s earth boiled in half a pint of vinegar and the juice of three onions is splendid for removing scorch marks from linen. Before washing ebony brushes, rut> the wood thoroughly with vaseline. This will prevent the ammonia or soda used in the washing water from spoiling tho ebony. Afterwards remove the vaseline with a dry soft duster. To preserve kid gloves, put them into a tin box with a lump of ammonia wrapped tightly in a piece of flannel. Do not allow the ammonia to touch tho gloves. This will keep the kid soft and prevent them from spotting. A dry cork will remove stains from plate or silver more quickly than anything else, and, of -rr&rse, it never scratches. If the cork is cut to a point, it can he worked into crevices which have become tarnished. To take away the smell from a newlypainted room, place two or three pailfuls of cold water in the room and let them stand there all night. If the 6mell Ims not quite gone, put fresh water in the pails and leave them there a few hours longer. Soiled Suede Shoes.—When lightcoloured suede 6hoe,\ become dirty, clean them with turpentine. Put the shoes on trees, and rub with a clean rag. Afterwards clean in tho dsual

To Clean Straw Hats.—To clean white straw hats, make a thick creamy solution by pouring a pint of boiling water on to a tablespoonful of good soap flakes. Let the mixture cool a little, and brush the hat thoroughly, using a soft nail-brush. Rinse in tepid water, dry with a soft rag, and hang in the open air. Watch Cleaning.—To keep the works of a watch clean, cut a piece of white paper to tho size of the cover and, after soaking the paper in petrol, place it within the inner case. The paper should be periodically removed and a fresh piece, also soaked in petrol, substituted. The same plan may be adopted for small and medium-sized clocks.

Soap Suds for Soil. —Soap sups should be saved until cold for garden use, as they form an excellent dressing for the soil. They are good for roses, and if applied with a syringe will soon rid them of insect pests. A Mashed Potato Tip.—To make mashed potatoes more palatable and go farther, mix half a teaspoonful of baking powder with them just before serving, and beat up well with a fork. Galvanised iron baths collect grease on the sides. Very hot soda water must be used to clean them. To keep them bright, use admixture of powdered brickdust and turpentine. To make a simple disinfectant, put some iodine in a small box, remove the lid, and tie a piece of muslin over the top. Stand the box in an inward current of air, and the atmosphero in tho room will soon be disinfected.

A piece of court plaster is a good temporary mending for the seam of a glove that has come undone. Turn the glove inside out, and cut the plaster to the necessary size ; moisten and apply after making the edges of the hole meet.

To remove fruit stains, place tho stained part over a basin, cover it with borax and pour boiling water over it. Repeat this process if necessary. Tea. coffee and wine stains can be removed in the same way.