HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXX, Issue 3586, 27 July 1912, Page 4

HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

RUSTY CURTAIN PINS. When curtain-pins have been in use foi some time they are apt. to become discolored and rusty. To remedy this, let them stand a few minutes in a cup of water to which a little ammonia has been added. Then take them out, rub well, and they will look almost as good as new again. * -x- *■ TO CLEAN COPPERCopper or brass may be cleaned with great success in the following way: Dip a wet, soapy piece of flannel in powdered bath-brick, and rub well with this. Then polish with a sorry dry cloth, and you will he delighted with the result. * * * STAINED WALL-PAPER. To remove grease-spots from wallpaper, sprinkle a piece of bl-otting-pa-per with carbonate of soda, and press it against the wall with a moderately warm iron. The blotting-paper will absorb the grease, while the soda preserves the color of.the paper. * * * WHITE PAINT. To clean white paint, place a small

quantity of whiting on a damp flannel, rub it lightly over the paint, and rinse with a cloth wrung out of clear cold water. But old paint in a town house will need more strenuous treatment, and must bo scrubbed with soap and water to which a little extract of soap has been added.

. BRIGHT SILVER. To keep .silver' bright, dissolve a small handful of borax'and a tiny piece of white soap in a pan of hot water. Place the silver in. 'this, and allow it to stand for a few horns. Then pour off the suds, and rinse the silver in clear water. Dry with asoft cloth, and polish with a chamois leather. Silver treated in this way will keep clean and) bright for quite a floug time, if it is occasionally rubbed with a clean chamois. * * •• * CLEAN WINDOWS. A very simple and effective way of cleaning windows is to moisten a little whiting in water, rub it thoroughly over the window, and allow it to dry on. Then rub it off, and polish with newspapers. This treatment leaves no streaks or smears, and the windows look beautifully clear and bright. * * Green peas should not he shelled for more than half an hour before being placed in the saucepan for cooking, otherwise their color will be spoilt when cooked. » * • Decanters can be cleaned by filling them with strips of brown paper and adding cold water. * * * A steel knife should never be used to stir anything coding in’ hot grease, as this blunts the -edge. iV . * ■ # When a corkscrew is not available an ordinary screw with a string attached will remove a cork from a bottle quite easily-

Now baking tins should be placed in the oven for an hour to become -properly seasoned before being used for ordinary -baking purposes. The oven should be of moderate heat. By treating them in t-liis way the tins will last twice as long. * * * When copper kettles become dull and black-looking, try cleaning them in the following way: Out- a lemon m half, dip it in salt-, and rub it ail over the surface of the kettle. Afterwards wash well in warm water to prevent the acid eating into the mej-al, and polish with dry powdrod Bath brick. c * * Lamps should -be filled. every day, and the chimneys washed once a week. If you want to have a good light, let every lamp have a new wick once a month, and just before lighting rubthe stand of the lamp over with a dry cloth to remove any tra-ces of oil. i: * To make a cornice pole, procure a penny broom-handle, a penny tin of white enamel, and twelve brass rings large enough to slip easily along the pole. Give the -pole two coats of enamel, allowing two hours to elapse between eacli coat. When dry it is ready for use. Two brackets at a penny each form the support. The curtains are suspended from the rings in the usual way.

To remove grease-spots from wallpaper, sprinkle a piece of blotting-pa-per with carbonate cf soda, and press it against the wall with a moderately warm iron.- The blotting-paper will absorb the grease, while the soda preserves the color of the paper.

For blanket washing choose a bright dry day when a gentle wind is blowing, rather than a day which is hot and still, si ire strong sunlight turns woollen materials yellow. Shake the blankets before they are wetted to remove. the dust, which if left in gives the blankets a dingy look, and shake them again before they are hung on the line so as to raise the nap and restore the new appearance.