USEFUL HINTS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 2318, 20 August 1921, Page 4

USEFUL HINTS.

The smaller the cake you arc baking, the quicker should be the oven. To clean handkerchiefs, rub with common salt, wash and dry. A lump of charcoal, added to the water in which cut flowers are placed helps to keep them fresh. A cloth dipped in vinegar and. water is the best thing for use for cleaning the mica windows of oil stoves.

Cotton wool dipped in methylated spirits will clean photographs without destroying their polished surface.

When the rollers of a mangle wear out in places, wrap them round tightly with strips of unbleached calico.

A kettle should be kept free from soot, otherwise it will take a long time to boil, soot being a non-cou-ductof of heat.

Before frying bacon, soak iff in water for a few minutes. This will prevent the fat from running, and will make the bacon go farther.

-If you always rub your pie-dish with a shallot before beginning to make a meat or game pie, it will improve the flavour of the pie immensely.

To remove water stains from satin, rub gently with tissue paper in a circular motion. In a few minutes the marks will disappear.

When cleaning brass with metal polish, a more brilliant polish will result if the polishing cloth is sprinkled with dry whiteing.

Chopped suet is very useful foxreplacing eggs in milk puddings. Simply sprinkle a little on the top, and the puddings will be rich and creamy.

Eucalyptus oil will remove grease stains from any kind of material. Apply with a clean piece of llannel, and rub gently until the stains disappear.

When washing cut ghfss, add turpentine to the water in the proportion of one tablespoonful to two quarts of water. This will ensure a brilliant polish. A cement for or china is made by dissolving a little alum in an iron spoon over the fire. It should he carefully applied with a line brush and left to dx-y.

If_a navy blue skirl: is shiny from constant use, sponge it with-warm water to which a little liquid ammonia has been added. 'lron it over a damp cloth, using a very hot iron.

An ordinary large glass bottle makes an excellent hoi-water bottle. The glass must he warmed before the hot. water is poured into it. Cork it tightly, and wrap with flannel. Dark-painted or grained woodword may be made to look like new by a coat of oak varnish. Remove all dust, rub the surface of the old varnish very lightly with the pumice stone, wash, dry, then apply the varnish.

To make glass-ware glisten, was!: tho Hass and rinse in hot water then plunge into cold water in which

a handful of starch has been dissolved Drain tho glassware on towels until perfectly dry; then polish with a soft, dry cloth. If when making a boiled frail pudding you shake sonic coarse ..brown sugar over the bottom and >ides of the basin after greasing I hem, you will get a tofl ee-like crusl outside the pudding, which is delicious. When removing stains by artificial means —that is, by using chemicals

1 1 wavs do so before I lie linen i

washed. Washing and boiling serve ijo give such stains a timer hold, and 'cause them to infect other garincuts with which they conic in contact.

Browned Hour, useful for thickening stews and brown soups, can be made by spreading Hour thinly in a plate, then placing the plate in a moderate oven, and turning Hour frequently until brown. It should then be bottled and tightly corked, when it will keep indefinitely. Take some pieces of shredded soap, a teaspoonful of saltpetre and a heaped tablespoonful of ammonia, add one quart of warm water, and shake until the soap is dissolved. Put into a bottle and keep well corked. This mixture is excolleul for washing clothes. Powdered starcli is a good silver polisher, and it is far superior to breadcrumbs, dough, and such-like for cleaning soiled wallpaper. Powdered finely and rubbed gently oveV the walls with a clean, soft duster or an old muslin curtain, it will remove all stains.

Wash some freshly gathered parsley and put it into a saucepan of boiling salted water. Boil it for two' or three minutes —not longer. Drain and dry the parsley on a sieve in front of the fire, and store it u well-corked bottles in a dry place. When required for use, place it in warm water for five minutes.