EVERYDAY ECONOMIES

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 105, 25 July 1927, Page 5

EVERYDAY ECONOMIES

THE WITS-END CLUB A new novel may be selected by the winner each week as a prize for the most original household hint or recipe that has been tested and found to save time, labour or money. Many folk might be glad to have the benefit of your experience, so send in your suggestions, addressed to The Homecrafts Editor, Women’s Page, THE SUN. Auckland. The prize this week has been awarded to Mrs. TI. Thomas, Epsom, for the following hints. THIS REALLY IS SO! Sweeps, like other people, ask more nowadays —and get it! So put off the sweep’s call as long as possible, consistently with safety and sense. Did you ever ask your old tins to help keep down the sweep’s bill? Because they can do so! When next you have a clear fire, put on some old tins, and let them burn glowing red; then lift them off and throw them into the dustbin. The

dustbin will be the cleaner, and the chimney will have been also cleaned by these same old tins! This is sober fact, and not fancy! Tar is one of the most hateful things to get on garments. But it can be removed absolutely and inexpensively. Just a clean bit of rag dipped into eucalyptus oil and applied to the stain will do the trick. But a fresh scrap of rag must be used for each rub you give the cloth. When the tar has been removed, there will not be a trace of stain left by the oil. Eucalyptus oil is very cheap and pleasant to use, and has a wholesome smell. There is a use even for a broken wooden clothes peg; it makes a really excellent cleaner for the inside rims of either enamel or aluminium saucepans, and does not scratch them. This List is a very valuable feature of its help. M. T. STRAPS FOR PLUMP SHOULDERS Not all of us possess willowy figures, and the owner of plump shoulders usually suffers from the inconvenience of broken shoulder straps. If she tries to avoid this by sewing on extra strong straps, too often the straps part company with the garment at the back and make an ugly rent. Here is a way to overcome this difficulty. Take two lengths of ribbon and stitch them together along the outer edges by machine —on the right side. Insert an elastic through the ribbon which will draw up the shoulder straps slightly, and then stitch to the garment in the ordinary way. The elastic in the double straps w r ill carry all the strain as it is flexible, and you will also find these straps very much prettier I than the ordinary plain ones. THE HANDY SPONGE Does your bathroom possess a sponge? A sponge of its very own, 1 mean: a nice, soft, plump one. There’s nothing more satisfactory for the final wiping over of the bath and lavatory basin than a sponge, and it takes up the moisture better than any cloth. Pass it over the white taps, too, every morning, and it w'ill keep them in good condition. The sponge is just as useful, also, for wiping out the w’ashstand basins. Then you can borrow it on those occasions when a heavy rain drives under the window's and settles in pools on the sill: it will absorb it very quickly, and is easy to wring out. Squeeze out in clean cold water every day after using, and keep it in a sponge basket where the air can get at^it. TO MAKE YOUR POCHETTE SAFE It is an embarrassing moment to open your pochette and have everything tumble out and roll into the far I corners of the bus or train. That is the worst of a home-made pochette. But all this bother may be avoided if you insert a zipper fasteni ing at the top of the pocket. Zipper fastenings can now be obtained at most big stores in bag lengths, and they are quite simple to sew' in the pochette. A bit of gold galon will hide the zipper tape. ECONOMICAL FISH CAKES Mash quarter of a pound of potatoes until quite smooth, mix with them

half a pound of cooked fish free from skin and bone. Pound them well together with a little chopped parsley, half an ounce of liquid butter, a few drops of lemon juice and quarter of a teaspoonful of anchovy essence. Mix well and bind with half a wellbeaten egg. Form into cakes. Brush over with egg, roll in fine breadcrumbs, and fry in boiling fat. * * * TO ECONOMISE HEAT A So-Useful Hint for Washing Days A tin box, a fish kettle, or even a large biscuit tin can be used in which to air clothes on the gas-stove rack. This will economise much waste heat. Also, the clothes will not look untidy hanging about. If there is a continual high pressure of heat being used, place an asbestos mat in the tin on which to rest the clothes, so that there will be no likelihood of them scorching. STEAMED PUDDING A Recipe You Can Vary Mix together two ounces each of flour, shredded suet, breadcrumbs and sugar, add a good pinch of salt and one teaspoonful of baking powder. For lemon pudding, add the grated rind and juice of a lemon. For fruit pudding, two ounces each of currants and sultanas or seedless raisins. For fig puddings, four ounces of chopped figs. Mix with a well-beaten egg and a good gill of milk. Turn into a greased basin and steam for two hours. * * * COAL ECONOMY Some Very Practical Hints Make a big fire in the morning and pack the coals closely, one piece over the other. Mix some cinders and water together, and put on top. Don’t stir the fire until mid-day. A poker is the greatest enemy of Makes old linoleum like new. icvives i cue colours. —K.P. Linoleum Reviver. 6

Why do thousands of housewives coal economy, and should only be used when the real need arises.

Why not follow the example of a lady, well known in society, who is burning kitchen coal in her drawingroom grate, and declares that her « friends have always a good word for • her fire? When the coals are burning too . brightly for the fire to last, sprinkle very freely with water, from a pailful in which one pound of kitchen soda has been dissolved. * * * At this expensive time, hay boxes are coming to the fore again. Super “hay” boxes that are guiltless of hay. but elaborately and perfectly contrived of aluminium to keep in heat, can be bought at any stores or big ironmonger’s—but the simple sort can be made at home. A box, with sufficient hay and newspaper for stuffing, and a thick, felt cover is all that’s needful. A chicken, porridge, or any other dish, after it has been well started on the open fire or stove, should be | placed hot as hot in its vessel in the ■ hay box and left there for the good work to be completed. To fill cracks in furniture, soften some beeswax until it becomes like putty, then press firmly into the cracks. Sandpaper the surrounding wood and work some of the dust into the beeswax, then varnish, and the cracks will be found to have disappeared.