Silver Polishing Cloth

New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 54, 5 July 1940, Page 44

Silver Polishing Cloth

Dear Aunt Daisy, A line first of all to say "thank you" for the many helpful recipes. etc., you have helped me with, and long may your work go on! Now, I am not a first-class cook, and I have never tried grilling, but your recipe for grilled porterhouse steak in The Listener read so appetisingly that I'd like to try some. Would you kindly, some time when you have room, give me all the hints you know about this, please? I notice all kinds of questions are asked, so would you please advise me what to put on a cloth for polishing spoons? I use the usual well-known plate powder, but I know there is a way to have cloths treated so that they are always ready for use, Now one more question. You will think this is a fearful mix-up of questions, I know, but my lad’s feet perspire very much so that his socks are ruined in no time. Could you tell me anything simple that will help this distressing business? "Daisy Bell’ (Timaru) We will begin at the end of your letter-with the trouble with your lad’s feet. A friend of mine had a son with the same trouble, and you will be cheered to know that it has been cured! The cause of the excessive foot perspiration is nearly always strain. Remove the strain, and the trouble disappears in a short time. You know how beads of perspiration stand out on the forehead of a man who is doing heavy lifting or any work which is a strain! Well, there are twice as many sweat glands on the soles of the feet as there are on the forehead; so that if the feet are strained at all, perspiration is inevitable. One or other of the " foot-arches" must be weak — either constitutionally or because the arches have fallen, even though you can’t detect it yourself. The remedy is to go to an experienced and accredited chiropodist, and have the feet examined, and adjustable arch-supports made to fit the foot. Each foot needs specially ‘fitting, just as each pair of eyes needs fitting with special spectacles. Moreover, the supports need re-adjusting every four or five weeks, as the ligaments and muscles of the foot regain strength from the rest which the arch-supports are giving them, and the bones in the foot- : (Continued on next page)

tContinued from previous page) areh cre being pulled back into their place. It is not sufficient to wear shoes with reinforced arches, for these cannot be adjusted to the individual foot. In the case of my friend’s son, the foot-arches were badly drawn up, instead of having fallen down, but the result was the same-great strain and excessive perspiration. He was fitted with arch-sup-ports, and improved at once, being practically quite comfortable after three or four months. It is necessary, also, to bathe the feet night and morning,, and to dust them well with an antiseptic foot powder, putting some of this also inside the socks. I will give you the name of the firm, which makes the arch-sup-ports and the foot powder, if you send me a stamped and addressed envelope, as we cannot give trade names on this page. While you are waiting for the special powder, you could make up equal parts of Fuller’s Earth, powdered starch and zinc powder. This is excellent. There is also a Special Foot Soap Powdera finely granulated powder, which dissolves away the unpleasant acids, and is very refreshing to use for all kinds of tired feet. Polishing Cloth:-This is a very handy article. Just bring to the boil in a saucepan about two quarts of water, a good tablespcon of the usual plate powder, and a single cupful of cloudy ammonia. Drop in a couple of clean dusters, and stir them well in the hot solution for about ten minutes; then throw them over the clothes-line to dry, without wringing. An alternative mixture is made with a breakfast cup each of whiting, water and ammonia, and about a teaspoonful of liquid Gum Arabic from the chemist. Soak a clean dry cloth in this, and hang it out to dry.

Cleaning Silver Easily:-Here is a quick way to clean silver. Once a week is quite often enough. Meit a cupful of shredded-up soap in a pint of boiling water, and add a tablespoon each of borax, whiting and washing soda. Mix it up well, and store in golden syrup tins, or similar ones. When washing up, after washing the silver, put them into a bowl of very hot water containing 2 good tablespoons of: this. Leave them in while you wash the dishes, then take out piece by piece and dry on a clean cloth. This is a much easier way than " cleaning the silver,’ for it only makes an ordinary " washing-up" a little longer. I’m sure you will. enjoy any grilled steak or chop. The "marinade" I gave for the porterhouse is very good; but just a little pepper and salt rubbed into the meat is almost as nice. Always put a little butter on the steak when grilling it, and have the griller very hot indeed (red hot), before putting the meat under it. When one side is well sealed, in 3 or 4 minutes, turn the steak over and seal the other side, after dabbing it, too, with butter. Then lower the heat a little, and cook both sides. Always have the steam or chops for grilling cut fairly thick, so that there is plenty of juicy meat beneath the sealed outside. Fish is more delicious grilled than any other way, I think; remember to put butter on before grilling. Try some freshlycaught trout this way. Just cut it into steaks.