HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXX, Issue 3422, 13 January 1912, Page 4

HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

To destroy worms in furniture apply some paraffin with a hog’s hair brush, j which will go into the holes. | Cords to sash windows should be j rubbed with a very oily cloth at least I once in six months. It makes them j last much longer, and the windows run | more easily. When cooking gooseberries add a pinch of bicarbonate of soda to them. This will remove some of the tartness, and is very economical, as less sugar will be required. A brisk walk just before bed-time will often answer all the purpose of a “sleeping draught,” but without any of the ill-results. Candle-ends, if saved, will come in very useful. Scrape them up into shreds, put in a jar, and melt in the oven; then add enough turpentine to make a soft paste. This is a splendid polish for linoleum, etc. To mend a small hole in an umbrella take a small piece of black silk stick-ing-plaster and soak it until quite soft. Place this carefully under the hole inside and let it dry. Flowers are a great joy to an invalid, but they should always be removed from the room at night, and the water changed at least once a day. No faded or withered flowers should ever be allowed to remain in a sick-room. A pad of thick paper, laid over the edge of each step under the carpet, will prevent the carpet from wearing and will double its life. When starching holland pinafores, if a little tea is put into the starch used, they will keep their color, instead of , getting that faded appearance we all 1 know so well. Steel dipped in the juice of the nettle becomes flexible. Lint dipped in nettle juice and placed up the nostril has been known to stay the bleeding of the nose when other remedies have failed, i and fifteen of the seeds ground into powder and taken daily will cure the swelling in the neck known by the name of goitre, without in any way injuring the general health. Ordinary corks make splendid firelighters when treated in the followingway : Pack them loosely into a tin, and pour enough paraffin over them to well soak them. Let them lie for a clay or two, when they will be ready to use. One or two placed amongst the wood when building a fire are a great belli to its lighting. Many condemn the use of tea in terms most unqualified. while others assert its innocence, and go so far as to ascribe to its salubrious and extraordinary virtues. It does stimulate the nerves, especially when drunk without cream. Bread and butter, or a biscuit, should always be taken with tea. Tea will often induce wakefulness, it is a point that cannot be denied, but it is also said to abate a pain in the head. Tea, like every other commodity, is liable to abuse. To Polish Wood.—Take a piece of pumice stone and water, pass regularly and very carefully over the work, until the rising of the grain is cut down, then make this paste. —Put enough powdered tripoli into boiled linseed oil, then rub it upon the wood with a piece of flannel until the work of a bright and shiny surface.. Finish with an old silk handkerchief. All ■loths used for polishing must be used ■lean. ; To .Make Hair Curl, or to Keep it in Waves.—Melt a piece of pure white beeswax, about the size of a filbert, in one ounce of olive oil, then stir in two or three drops of otto of roses. Before putting the hair into pins or paper, dip the thumb or finger into the mixture, and lightly touch the hair j with the fingers, but lie careful not to . use too much. 1 To Make Old Furniture Look New.— . Scrape four ounces of beeswax into a 1 basin, and add enough oil of turpen- - tine that will moisten it through, then ; powder a quarter of an ounce of resin ! finely, and add as much Indian red as I will bring it to a deep mahogany color, j Stir well until the composition is pro--perly mixed. This is an excellent j paste for reviving mahogany or oak furniture. Before using a new umbrella inject a small quantity of vaseline into the hinge portions of the frame. Vase-i line will not spread like oil and spoil { the covering, and is a sure preventive against rust. Wet umbrellas should lie stood on their handles to dry; this allows the water to run out of them, instead of into the part where the silk and ribs meet, thus causing the metal to rust and the silk to rot. To Clean White Woodwork.—To keep white woodwork looking fresh, use whiting intsead of soap. Dip a soft flannel cloth in clear water, squeeze nearly dry and dip *in whiting. Rub the woodwork well witu this, then wash with clear, warm water and dry thoroughly. If you want to make your candles burn naif as long again take each candle by the wick and give it a coating of white varnish. Put the candles thus treated away for a week •, to dry and harden. It will be found on using that the varnish will form a cup which holds tire fat and nufkes the candle burn much longer, as there is no .possibility of any grease running down the candle to be wasted. A stale loaf put into a closely-covered tin, exposed for half an hour to a heat not exceeding that of boiling water, then taken out of the tin and allowed to cool, will be restored in appearance and propei'ties to the state of new bread. Roasting in a gas-cooker causes the meat to dry. Gas causes a very dry

heat. A simple way. to prevent this is to place a common jam-pot half full of water in a corner at the bottom of the oven, and whenthe water heats up the steam will keep the air inside q nte moist, and you will find when the meat is done it will be juicyr" •\Yher curtain pins have been in use for some time they are apt'to become rusty. r J'o remedy this let them stand for a few minutes in a cup of water, to which a little ammonia lias been added. Then remove and well rub, and they will look like new again.