HOUSEHOLD HINTS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 12 April 1938, Page 4

HOUSEHOLD HINTS

Use cups that have had handles broken off as “basins” for making little steam puddings.

Bath water in which has been dissolved two tablespoons of starch is advocated as a tonic for the skin. Instead of water, use vinegar to mix with plaster of Paris, as this makes it more pliable and easier to handle for filling up holes or cracks. A way to clean linen blinds is to sprinkle them over with silver sand and then to rub with stale bread.

Fingers are inclined to get hard with much sewing but this can be prevented if they are occasionally dipped into an adjacent bowl of fine oatmeal and boracic powder and the mixture rubbed on the hands. When drying wet boots, stand them on their heels so that the air gets in at the bottom. Soles dry much quicker by doing this.

A small “chip” on china can be rubbed smooth with sandpaper and danger of injury from it avoided when the china article is being washed. A small piece of raw potato in a tobacco tin will keep the tobacco nice and moist.

For “woollies” make buttonholes botn sides and sew buttons on to a tape so that the buttons can be removed when “wollies” are to be washed. To save your walls from becoming marked by the backs of chairs, tack a small-size cork on the back of the tops “rail” of each chair. If a little butter is placed over the cracks in eggs that are to be boiled, the contents will be prevented from oozing out.

Youi - velvet frock can be steamed by hanging it in the bathroom each time you turn on the hot tap for a large quantity of water. Hang the frock over the bath, and allow the steam to permeate the material, having first closed the window and door. Allow the frock to dry without touching any other garments. You can keep velvet fresh by this continual steaming for months. The trouble is practically nil. If there are any small spots on the pile, rub gently with another piece of velvet dipped in eucalyptus extract. When beds are of various sizes, it is a very good idea to list the beds on a small chart, allotting a letter to each. Mark the sheets on the bottom hem with the corresponding letter in Indian ink. Hang the chart for reference on the inside of the door of the linen press. This method saves time unfolding and refolding sheets of the wrong size. Gilded furniture is to be the distinctive 1938 touch in home furnishings. Elegant tables with fluted gilt legs and tops of gold-baked tiles represent the new trend, but they need the right classical background. More practicable for the average house are bedroom suites of sycamore wood sprayed with silver-gold. Creamy wallpapers that look as though they had super-fine gold dust blown over them are new and attractive.

Krutted and crochet trimmings to wool frocks are the thing this year, and if you have a plain frock that is inclined to be dull, try the effect of a pair of patch pockets on the skirt and a round yoke in knitting. Square pockets are the most practical kind, but if you want more decorative shapes, knit, or crochet your circles, diamonds or leaf patterns, and applique them to square pockets of the dress material. Among the earliest forms of calendars were square pieces of wood, bone or brass, with notches for three months on each side. Under new regulations of the Hitler Youth movement, young girl members must in future take part in camping expeditions and special excursions.