A Problem and a Recipe

New Zealand Listener, Volume 5, Issue 121, 17 October 1941, Unnumbered Page

A Problem and a Recipe

Dear Aunt Daisy, I am writing in the hope that you will be kind enough to advise me as to the best method of dry-cleaning a carpet. Mine has become rather soiled, and as we are quite out of reach of cities, I will have to clean the carpet myself,

I am sending you a recipe for Grapefruit Marmalade, which is really delicious. I made eight pounds from this recipe at a cost of about one and eightpence, so it is very economical, too. Grapefruit Marmalade.-One grapefruit; 2 lemons; 1 sweet orange; 5 Ibs. sugar; 1 teaspoon tartaric acid; and 5 (Continued on next page)

(Continued from previous page) pints of water. Cut fruit very thinly, and put it straight into the pan. Soak it in the water for 24 hours, soak the pips separately in a little of the water. Boil gently until quite tender; then add the sugar, and the water from the pips; and add the tartaric acid last. Boil fast,

with the lid off, stirring constantly until it jellies when tried on a saucer, and tie down in the usual way. The tartaric acid is most important, as it gives that pleasantly acid flavour which is so much

appreciated.

G.

R.

(Te Waitere).

We shall certainly try the marmalade, G.R. It is surprising how many different ways there are of making this economical and popular kind of jam. Cleaning a Carpet.-For your carpet, try the old-fashioned way of dipping a cloth into a bucket of warm water and ammonia. Having wrung it out fairly dry, wash over the carpet with it, giving particular attention to any very dirty spots. Have the ammonia water fairly strong, and do only a small piece of carpet at a time, rinsing or changing the cloth very frequently. You will be surprised at the dirt which comes out, and at the new and fresh look of the carpet afterwards, There is no need to

make the carpet very wet. This is not exactly "dry cleaning," but it is a very satisfactory method. There are also carpet soaps to be bought nowadays, as well as at least one shampoo for carpets, in which the cleaning agents are carefully proportioned and worked out, and which make a very good job of it indeed, Now that carpets are difficult to obtain, as well as very expensive, we must do our best to renovate our old ones. It you wish, you could also try sprinkling the carpet well all over with bicarbonate of soda. Leave it on for about an hour, then brush off with a good stift brush. That is a dry-cleaning method which many people like, but I always think the "washing" method is better. You may need more than one bucketful, for such a lot of dirt always comes out of the carpet; and do not have the cloth too wet. Send me a stamped and addressed envelope if you would like the name of a carpet shampoo.