FROCK FIRST AIDS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 April 1938, Page 5

FROCK FIRST AIDS

REPAIRING MISHAPS. Minor accidents are liable to occur during holidays, but neither the mother who is packing to take the children away, nor the girl who is collecting all the pretty things she needs for her vacation, can afford to provide a supply adequate for every contingency which might put frocks or other garments out of action. The sensible plan is to be forearmed with a first-aid outfit to do running repairs if occasion arises. It is tragic to spoil a dress for a half-penny worth of tar. If the material is washable and the tar still soft, the spots can be rubbed over with lard and left for a few hours. Scrape off the lard before washing in the usual way. If the tar has hardened, it must be scraped off first with a knife. The parts can then be soaked in turpentine and the garment hung out to dry. On unwashable materials a paste of powdered fuller’s earth and turpentine should be rubbed well into the stains, and removed when dry with a stiff brush. Simple Remedies. Green stains from grass are sometimes troublesome after picnics. In the case of white frocks, all that is needed is sponging with a solution of ammonia and water. Stains on coloured material should be soaked in paraffin or glycerine, and, after an hour, rinsed in' warm water, then the dress can be washed as usual. Grass stains on white flannels must be covered thickly with powdered magnesia, which should be left, if possible, for a couple of days before being brushed out. Only in very stubborn cases need the treatment be repeated. Lemonade stains do not always necessitate washing the entire dress or sending it to be dry-cleaned. They can be soaked in warm water and vinegar, then rubbed on the wrong side of the material across the weave. A piece of material of the same type will prove better for the purpose than the flannel usually employed for cleaning. Sea water marks on unwashable garments can be sponged out with a cloth moistened with vinegar. Shoes so stained should be rubbed with a soft cloth soaked in hot milk in which a small piece of washing soda has been dissolved. Use Eucalyptus. Chocolate on unwashable fabrics can be removed by sponging with eucalyptus oil, which is not troublesome as petrol is in leaving a ring where the spots have been treated. It is also invaluable for rubbing any greasy marks from the carpet after an accident at meal time. The excellence of eucalyptus for cleaning should be more widely known, as it can always be used where most people use petrol it dries and becomes odourless almost as quickly, and it is safe to pack and to handle in any conditions.