HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

Franklin Times, Volume 9, Issue 690, 6 December 1921, Page 2

HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

A teapot-ud should be left open. If shut it is liable to get mouldy.

To cut hard-boiled eggs in smooth slices, dip the knife in water.

A good beefsteak, however well cooked, will not be at its best unless served directly it is ready.

If double layers of brown paper are placed under oilcloth on shelves or tables it will last twice as long.

To turn out a cake from a tin without breaking, wrap it round with a damp cloth for a few minutes.

Remember that green vegetables should not be covered with the sauce-pan-lid when they are being boiled.

Enamelled saucepans, when discolored, can be made bright and clean by scouring with powdered pumice stone.

Uncooked meat will become tainted if allowed to lie flat on a dish in its own juice. It should be hung up.

To protect the forefinger of the left hand from neediepricks when sewing, put a small piebe of court-plaster over the end of it.

If tender feet are rubbed every night, after bathing and drying, with a little lemon juice, the skin will not be so liable to chafe.

Kitchen tables may be made <£ wliite as snow” if washed with soap and wood ashes. Floors look best scrubbed with cold water, soap and wood ashes.

Blacking a grate will be done more quickly and satisfactorily if you mix some powdered alum with the blacklead you use. In this way a brilliant and lasting polish is produced.

In lying down for a rest or a little nap in the daytime, neckbands and waistbands should be removed or loosened, and the corsets laid aside. The shoes, too, should be slipped off.

To open windows easily after sticking with paint, wet weather, etc., brush over the inside of the frames with ordinary blacklead, when they will slide without the least difficulty.

Butter and milk absorb odours very quickly, and should therefore never be allowed to stand in a close room or near uncooked meat, fish, or anything with a strong odour.

Before jam-making, soak half a cake of pipe-clay and rub the paste over the outside of the pan, giving the bottom an extra thick coat. Dry on the ( fire This will save the jam and the pan.

To keep mosquitoes at a distance, dissolve a small piece of alum in water, and sponge the face and bands with it and allow to dry. You will not be troubled with mosquitoes.

During hot weather small bags of muslin filled with charcoal should be lnmg in the pantry on either side of the meat. This will keep it fresh in the hottest weather.

When making jam, add a piece of butter the size of .an egg, fifteen minutes before removing- the fruit from the fire. Tin's will .make it look clear and prevent it from sticking to the sides of the jars.

When polishing mirrors, windows, or picture glass with; whiting, the best way to use it is to have it in muslin bags. Dampen the glass lightly, then rub with the bag, and polish off with a crumpled newspaper.

Clothes pegs' should be scrubbed in hot soap and water and boiled for twenty minutes, then taken out and allowed to drain till dry. They will last much longer, and will not split if this is done.

For dust-stained alabaster ornaments a paste of whiting, soap, and milk is the- best. The paste must be left to dry on, and then washed away, the surface being- first, dried with a cloth and then with a flannel.

A drop of oil will prevent door hinges creaking-, and it will cause locks and bolts to move easily. Care must be taken to guard the floor under hinges, and the contents of drawers from being made greasy by protecting them with newspaper.

Remember that in boiling and roasting meat loses a great deal of weight. Beef will lose nearly a- pound in every four. For this reason nios and stews

are more econonoeal than joints, and the entire nourishment o! the meat is preserved.

To remov” ink- i a : n , from children’s <"■■-.]loot the stained pinafores Hie eic-kt before wash dig day. Lay the ink-snots in a' saucer of milk, and ■oval on them snow common salt, f.-.-n-o all night, and wash as usual povt dav. After the garments have been iv, l].-.- 1 no tra *e of the ink-spots will b« ; mod. \