Some of
these hints are practical while others could be down
right dangerous! Please be cautious if you do use any of
them. I found some very amusing but I guess people really
did find them useful at one time!
If you have
trouble keeping your oven low enough to prevent
burning of cakes and pies, place a pan of water
in the oven during the baking.
To remove cakes
which stick to pans, dampen a cloth in hot water
and wrap around the pan. After a few minutes, the
cake will come out, due to the steam which has
formed.
To keep cut
flowers, drop an aspirin tablet in the water. It
also helps to cut off a little piece of the stem
each time the water is changed.
Removing down from
ducks—After the duck has been picked, pour
melted paraffin all over the duck and let stand
until paraffin has hardened, then peel off the
paraffin and all the fine feathers will stick to
it.
Place a cup of
salt in a bag and saturate with cold water. Apply
to the glass and it will prevent frosting while
you are driving.
Place stained
silverware in a pan and cover with sour or
buttermilk and let stand for 24 hours. Remove and
rinse in cold water and then wash in hot soapsuds
and wipe dry and the silver will be well cleaned.
To oil a
clock—Take a small piece of woolen cloth and
saturate it with oil. Place inside the clock and
it will absorb.
Runs in
hosiery—Try sewing runs in hosiery and rayon
underwear on the machine and the seams will be so
small and so neat that they will hardly show.
Crochet cotton for
buttons—save all the ends of crochet cotton
and use for sewing on buttons of children’s
garments.
100 lb flour sacks
can be made into pillow cases and lunch cloths by
adding colored borders of gingham.
To sharpen
scissors, cut through coarse sand paper.
Clean pail with
apple peelings—Boil some apple peelings in
your water pail frequently and it will become
nice and shiny.
To remove grease
from leather—apply turpentine to the grease
stains on leather. With a little rubbing the
stains will come off.
Removing car
grease from clothing—To remove car grease
from clothing sprinkle stain with cornstarch and
let stand 1 hour. Brush off with stiff brush.
To clean paint
brushes soak in hot vinegar.
Removing
perspiration odor—Sponge with 2 cups of warm
water to which ½ cup of vinegar has been
added.
Removing gum from
hair—Apply the white of and egg to hair
which has gum in it.
To clean felt
hats—Take a piece of hard bread and rub over
felt hat. Brush well. Another way is to heat
cornmeal and brush into hat. Let stand half an
hour and brush out with clean brush.
To remove old
paint stains—Cover with olive oil or butter
and rub with chloroform until the stain has
disappeared.
To remove ink
stains from fingers—Moisten the sulfur end
of a match and rub over the stains and they will
soon come off.
Good furniture
polish—Equal parts of boiled linseed oil,
turpentine and vinegar make a good furniture
polish.
