HELPFUL HINTS.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20221, 3 February 1934, Page 28 (Supplement)

HELPFUL HINTS.

Taking the Drudgery Out of Washing-up. BE METHODICAL. Many women dislike washing-up more than any other household task; for one thing, it ha* to he repeated so many times, and, for another, it can be rather a disagreeable job, especially when dishes are greasy and the water is not hot enough. If. however, washing-up is tackled in the right manner, it is shorn of half it* terrors. First, remove all bits, grease, etc., from plates and dishes, using old newspaper to wipe especially greasy dishes. Empty teapots, coffee-pots, eggeupe and so On, dip the content* of the sink basket into a sheet of newspaper, roll it up tightly, and place it at the back of the kitchen fire. It will act as fuel, and all rubbish is burned instead of being placed in the dustbin. The sink is then free for action. Have washing-up bowl, soap fiakee or powder, or whatever you u*e, ready, too, and, of course, plenty of hot water. No one can wash up efficiently without hot water. Stack up all dishes and plates tidily on the drainer. Wash glasses first in cold water and dry them immediately. Have at least two clean drying cloths handy. Make a hot, soapy lather and wash all the silver first and dry it, letting cups and 6aucer* and other non-greasy articles soak in the water while you are drying the silver. Leave the greasiest dishes to the la*t, arm, finally, tackle the saucepans and baking tin*. These should, of course, have been emptied of their contents and filled with clean water before the wash-ing-up was begun. Baking tins which are rather burnt can be filled with water, to which soda has been added, and the water brought to the boil. Soda softens water, but i* bad for the hands; but it is impossible to get a good lather in hard water unless one use 6 plenty of soap flake* or washing powder. CLEANING CUSHIONS. When cushion-covers are attached permanently to a cushion and cannot be removed for washing purposes they may be cleaned successfully in the following v manner: A thick paste should be made v by mixing powdered 6tarch with a little water. Spread the paste over the cushion, rubbing well in with a circular movement. Then leave the paste to dry on in a warm room. Finally brush off with a clean, soft brush and beat the cushion well. It will be found that any soiled patches will be thoroughly cleaned by this process. All-feather cushions may, of course, be dry-cleaned professionally, or washed with their covers on.

A CHILD’S MONEY. PREPARATION FOR LIFE. How to manage money is the greatest lesson before any mother’s child. If the child is to be wealthy, all the more reason for training in spending wisely; if to be poor, the greater need there be for wisdom in retaining and w;se ingThe pocket-money problem cannot be treated lightly by parents who take any thought for the future happiness of their offspring. Money, in present-day society, is Too Important for this. The man or woman who is vague about money—who has never learned to handle it and has wrong idsas of its value—is unfitted to cope with the difficulties of everyday life. This being so, it is quite obvious that the sooner a child learns how to handle this necessary stuff the better. If he learns about the honest acquisition and wise spending of money gradually, as a matter of course, he (and this means she, too, every time) is far less likely to get unbalanced and exaggerated ideas about either poverty or riches. It is not only the children of affluent parents who are cruelly handicapped by this lack of equipment for dealing with life as it is. Make Them Work For It. Ordinary middle-class parents are often just as guilty of spoiling their children in this respect. “Let's give them as much as we possibly can,” 4-hev argue. “They will find out soon enough how difficult it is to make —and keep—money.” It is meant in all kindness, but it is a cruelly mistaken policy, which leads inevitably to disillusionment when the children find out that money does not just drop from the skies. No one wants to make a child mercenary or grasping, hut some day he has got to learn that honest work is the only kind which deserves payment. Why not let a child, however well provided for, absorb this quite invaluable lesson in the easiest and most agreeable way? Why not, as soon as the small person is capable of learning that pennies are things which you can exchange for other things, teach him or her that pennies will not always come from the inexhaustible pockets of parents, but must be earned by an agreed upon and properly done job of work ? Why not let the money, whatever its total and the age of the child, be payment for some piece of work upon which a definite price has been set and which has been done to the best of the child’s ability? It is always possible to find jobs of this *ort, and the busy parent will often find that they actually help the day’s work enormously.

Jobs They Can Do. With the very young you natura ily begin gently. It may be that the small lady or gentleman is merely given a duster and one piece of furniture to deal with. But no corner or convolution is to be left undusted. With the slightly more mature it may be a question of polishing their shoes, or setting forth with a basket, a clearly written shopping list, and the necessary cash, and coming back with the right items and the proper change; or giving the dog a bath and drying him thoroughly; or printing, in nice bold letters, a “Don’t be Long” notice for the family bathroom. There are dozens and dozens of things you can think of like this. Some regular jobs every week, so that the small person can count upon a certain regular income, however tiny. You must of course, exercise patience in the matter of explaining exactly what is to be done and what doe 6 or does not constitute good work, within the limit* of the workers’ capacity. Once tiles*things are clearly understood, all you have to do is to withhold payment if the work has been skimped or negb-cted. and produce it at once for a good job The nature of thing* will do the rest of the teaching for you*