USEFUL HINTS

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 3008, 9 March 1926, Page 4

USEFUL HINTS

To prevent poached eggs from breaking, put a little vinegar in the water.

Always be sure to remove stains before washing, as boiling water makes them permanent.

A few drops of lemon juice rubbed on brown or black shoes will give them a brilliant polish.

Kerosene will make tin kettles as bright as new. Saturate a woollen rag, and rub with it. If, just before blackleading your grate, you rub it over with turpentine, you will get an excellent shine. Clean copper kettles with a cut lemon dipped in salt. Rinse with clean water and polish with a soft cloth.

When plates or dishes are burnt after baking they can be cleaned if rubbed with a damp cloth dipped in salt.

Marks on a marble hearth, caused by hot coals falling on to it, can be removed by the application of chloride of lime. Mix this into a paste with wafer and use with a soft rag. Those who like Scotch girdle scones, but who do not possess a proper girdle, will find that an iron shelf out of the oven will answer equally well put over a moderate fire or on a gas or oil cooking stove. It is often difficult to place anything turned out from a mould in the centre of the dish. If the dish on which the mould is to be served is first rinsed in cold water, the mould will slide into position without trouble. A well-damped sugar-bag filled with small coal dust makes very good fuel for an open grate. It burns brightly and makes no mess; moreover, it is a handy way of using up small coal. Tea leaves or potato peelings added to the dust will help to bind it. Coloured stockings, especially those of delicately tinted silk, should be washed carefully. Prepare a lather of white soap and sofe warm water. A little salt added will keep the colour from fading. Rub the stockings gently with the hands and when perfectly clean rinse through several waters. Wring as dry as possible, then wrap in a doth and wring again. Hang in the air quickly. Press on the wrong side with a warm iron.

Egg shells contain lime and are splendid for bleaching purposes. Save all raw egg shells, dry and crush them, tie them in a bag, and place with the clothes in the copper. The same lot of egg shells can be used more than once before throwing away. Put a small piece of butter into a cup, stand this in a little boiling water in a saucepan, break the egg into it, and steam for about seven or eight minutes. This is much the nicest way of poaching an egg, and no water touches it. When knitting a child’s ribbed sock, it is sometimes difficult to decrease and to keep the ribbing even. Instead of decreasing, knit the sock with a finer set of needles from where the decreasings would start to tfhere the heel starts. The ribbing is then unbroken, and the sock fits excellently.