USEFUL HINTS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 2623, 23 August 1923, Page 1

USEFUL HINTS.

A box of quicklime placed in a damp cupboard for a few days will absorb all moisture. Candle-ends, if melted and mixed with turpentine, make a good polish for stained floors. Very rusty steel can be cleaned by rubbing with hot vinegar and salt and by polishing with a flannel Grease spots on suede shoes will disappear if they are rubbed with a piece of cloth dipped in pure glycerine. Good stock for gravies can be made from the skins of carrots and onions; they contain valuable salts. Before cleaning copper kettles till them with boiling water. They will be found to polish more quickly. Before wearing new shoes place them in a warm place for a few minutes. This will make the leather more pliable. Carbonate of soda is a good mouth wash, correcting- acidity; while if taken internally, soda is a cure for indigestion. Grained woodwork should not be washed with soap and water, but cleaned and polished by rubbing it with a cloth dipped in turpentine. Remove dirty marks on paint by rubbing them first with a slice of lemon and (lien with whitening. Afterwards wash with soap and water. Velvet is an ideal polishing cloth, and will outshine chamois leather oilmen. It works like magic on brass, silver, shoes, furniture and floors. Rice water or a little borax dissolved in boiling water is better than starch for stiffening voiles, cotton georgettes and fine laces. The freshness of linoleum can be restored by cleaning with beeswax and turpentine. First wash the surface with hot water, then dip a dry rag into the polish and rub lightly over the surface. White Coats. —A white coat may lie cleaned by brushing the following mixture well into the cloth the way of the nap. Mix some powdered pipeclay and 'a little blue stone dissolved in vinegar in sufficient quantities to form the whole into a paste; rub into the coat, and leave it to dry on. When the coat is quito dry, rub it well, beat it to get the dust out, and then brush.