INSTEAD
of scouring the bottom of the dishpan when greasy, wipe it off with a small rag dipped in kerosene. Burn the rag. Try it and see how easily it comes off, and your dishpan will never have a leak.
TO
re-japan old tea trays. Carefully wash the tray and dry before a fire. Retouch the bare places with bronze powder mixed with copal varnish. When this is quite dry varnish the whole surface with the copal varnish and place the tray in a warm room to dry and harden.
THERE
Is nothing better to keep the furniture bright than common coal oil. Dampen a soft cloth with it and rub all the varnished surfaces with it, including doors, casings, baseboards, etc, and they will always be fresh and bright.
THE
paper coffee boxes lined with paraffin are splendid for keeping the dried beans and prevent weevils getting in. Close the boxes after filling and bind the edge with passepartout or strips of muslin dipped in boiled starch or white of egg. Beans will keep for years in this manner.
SECURE
a very large pane of glass for the candy board when making French candies, and note how much nicer the work is done. The glass is easily cleaned and is splendid for cooling the candies on. for glass cools more easily than stoneware and it is easy to lift the small pieces if they stick to it.
WHERE
cartridge paper has faded during the summer, it is said, the original color can be restored by getting regular watercolor paint and mixing it with Paris white and the required amount of sizing to hold. Rub the dust off the paper with a cloth and apply the water color to the paper with a calcimining brush.
IF
linen suits look yellow, they may be whitened by boiling in a lather made in the proportion of a pound of pure white soap to a gallon of milk. Rinse thoroughly in several waters and blue slightly. A double boiler should be used that the milk may not scorch.
WHEN
you go on your next summer trip, have four or five pieces of mat or strawboard cut the size of the inside of your trunk, so they will slip in easily. Wrap dresses in tissue paper and tie to the boards with tape. You can pack or unpack, and nothing need be disturbed till it is ready to use. One woman “lived” in a trunk this summer, and wash dresses that were not worn were as fresh as when first packed.
IN
old houses where the boards are far apart and the floors are extremely cold even when covered with carpet, a cement cheap and lasting can be made by making a paste with old newspaper a soaked in water and mashed to a very fine pulp. Mix in this, some flour and alum and the paste will be found splendid for filling in the cracks of the floor. If desired the boards may then be painted. Some claim that a little glue also assists in making the mixture even more lasting.
SMALL
pieces of felt used to cover the bottom of chair legs will prevent the wood from scratching the varnished floor. Glue the felt to the bottom of the legs. A small, flat headed tack, if deeply imbedded in the felt, will assist in holding it in place, though the tack must not touch the floor. There are small rubber caps which are corrugated and can be purchased at furniture stores for the
same purpose. Undoubtedly they assist in keeping the floor free from unsightly scratches.
