Mother's Remedies, Thomas Jefferson Ritter [reading well .TXT] 📗

214. To Make Vegetables Tender.—Cutting onions, turnips, and carrots across the fiber makes them more tender when cooked.

215. Clear black coffee diluted with water containing a little ammonia, will clean and restore black clothes.

216. To Make Linen Easier to Write on.—To make linen easier to write on when marking, dip the pieces you wish to mark into cold starch, rub over with hot iron and you will be able to write without the pen scratching.

217. To Air Pillows.—To air pillows, rip the corner of the ticking an inch or more. Insert a piece of rubber hose pipe a few inches long, first covering the exposed end of the tube with strong netting. Sew the ticking firmly to it and then hang all day on the line, in the air punching and shaking many times during the day. They will be light and fluffy besides being thoroughly aired and sweet and clean.

218. Uses for Pea-Pods.—Never throw away pea-pods; they give a delicious flavor to the puree for the next day.

219. To Remove the Skins of Tomatoes Quickly.—To remove the skins of tomatoes quickly, put them into a wire basket and sink it quickly into a kettle of hot water. Do not let the tomatoes stand in the water long enough to heat through, and plunge into cold water immediately from the hot. Another way is to rub the skins backward with the blunt edge of a knife. In this way the tomato does not need scalding, and according to epicures is more tasty.

220. Dyeing at Home.—In dyeing at home amateurs often make the mistake of putting the dyed article through the wringer, possibly to avoid staining the hands for one reason, or perhaps hoping to dry the garment more quickly. This however, should never be done, for the creases so formed are most obstinate and in fact, often only disappear with wear, despite all pressing. Dyed articles should be squeezed and hung out of doors to dry.

221.—To Save Children's Shoes.—To save children's shoes wash them occasionally to remove the dirt and old polish, and soften them with oil. When any part of the sole becomes badly worn, it should be mended at once, for usually a shoe will wear out at one point more quickly than elsewhere, and by paying ten or fifteen cents to have that part mended it saves dollars in time. Gunmetal shoes are preferable for everyday wear, for such shoes are lusterless and can be cleaned with oils instead of polish, which is destructive to the best leather, even when sparingly used.

222. A Systematic Housewife.—It is a handy plan for the business woman or the housewife who has much domestic accounting to do to keep two calendars, one to tear off day by day, the other to refer back to past dates when necessary. The reference calendar which can be very small and inconspicuous should have its special hook on the desk or table.

223. To Keep Candles in Warm Weather.—Keep your candles in the ice box this warm weather. They will remain beautifully upright through a whole evening's use, if they are hardened first in this way.

224. Tea Towels.—Keep the tea towels in sight, then have them fresh, clean, and whole, and hang them on a long metal curtain pole, in a convenient place, say back of the sink. This is better than placing the towels on a nail against the wall as is usually done, and it permits them to dry out quickly.

225. A Spotless House.—A house that is spotless at the price of the family's peace or of the housekeeper's best self, is the worst sort of an investment. You, the woman, are of vastly more importance than your surroundings. If you feel yourself becoming a mere drudge, if your family is growing away from you mentally, if your nerves are weakening under a fetish of cleanliness, get time to read.

226. To Keep Flooring in Place.—Strips of moulding may be tacked around the edges of a room at the baseboard, so as to cover the edge of oilcloth or linoleum. This holds the floor covering in place and prevents dust from getting beneath it.

227. Light Colored Wall Paper.—Light colored wall paper may be cleaned by a careful rubbing with a very clean rubber of the kind which artists use. If the spot cleaned seems lighter than the surrounding color it may be toned down by a gentle rubbing with a clean chamois skin.

228. To Keep Canary Seed Away from Mice.—If there are any mice in the house, the best way to keep the canary from being robbed of its food is to empty the contents of a cardboard box of bird seed into a quart preserve jar and cover with a screw top.

229. Convenient Scrub Bucket.—The most convenient scrub bucket is light, and is made of galvanized iron with a wide flaring top. The bucket is to be fitted with a wire soap tray on the outside, for often the soap is wasted while floating in the water if there is no convenient place to put it, while scrubbing. Holes can be punctured in the bucket and the wire tray fastened on with a heavy cord or a pliable wire,

230. Fruit Stains on Table Linen.—Fruit stains on table linen should be taken out before the cloth is put in the wash tub. Soap and water will set the stains.

231. Wicker Furniture.—Do not scrub your unpainted wicker furniture with soap and water, as it will turn it yellow and ruin its looks. Instead, try scrubbing it with a strong solution of salt water. If you have pieces that are so shabby that they must either be painted or thrown away, try the salt water treatment first. Scrub well and put in the sun and air and dry quickly.

232. Removing Dirt from Carpet.—Of all the ways to remove dirt from a carpet, the worst is by the use of the ordinary short brush which involves the housemaid's kneeling down in the dust.

233. How to Preserve the Household Broom.—The ordinary household broom will last twice as long, if care is taken of it, as it will if it is just used anyhow. When it is new, before using it, put it in a pail of hot water and let it remain there until the water is quite cold. Then thoroughly dry—in the sun if possible. Always clean it after sweeping, by dipping in water and shaking well before putting it away and occasionally give it a thorough washing in hot soda water.

234. A Good Furniture Polish.—A good furniture polish may be made of paraffin oil and turpentine. Kerosene too is very good, while crude oil may be used to darken wood that has not been varnished.

235. Delicious Salad.—Seeded raisins cut in pieces, broken nut meats, and a small part of celery in thin bits make up a delicious salad.

236. To Clean Light Rugs.—Rugs with white or very light ground may be cleaned by sprinkling with cornstarch, mixed with one-sixth its bulk of prepared chalk. Let the starch remain several hours and brush it out with a fine whiskbroom, then hang in the sun and heat well before putting down. This method is recommended for fine, silky rugs, as it injures neither tint nor texture and makes a beautifully clean surface.

237. To Light a Closet of Any Kind.—To light a closet of any kind, but especially a linen closet, the safest thing—next to electricity is a light clear glass lantern with wire guards outside the glass. Swing it by a light chain pulley, some little way in front of the shelves. Thus a touch sends it up or down, throwing the light wherever it may be needed.

238. To Remove White Marks on Furniture.—A mixture composed of equal parts of turpentine and linseed oil will remove the white marks on furniture caused by water. Rub it on with a soft rag and wipe off with a perfectly clean duster.

239. If Your Paint Has Been Marred.—If your paint has been marred by careless scratching of matches, try rubbing it with the finest sand paper. Use a half lemon for removing match marks from paint.

240. To Remove Inkstains from Cotton.—To remove ink-stains from cotton material, place the stain over the steam and apply salt and lemon juice which will soon remove the ink.

241. To Clean Plaster-of-Paris.—To clean plaster-of-paris figures, cover with a thick coating of starch and water, let it dry on the surface and the dirt will brush off with the dry powder.

242. To Clean Piano Keys.—A cloth moistened with alcohol will clean piano keys.

243. Washing Veils.—When veils are washed at home they usually come out quite limber and flimsy. To give them the stiffness add a pinch of sugar to the rinse water.

244. To Take Candle Grease Out of Linen.—To take candle grease out of linen, place the linen between two sheets of thick white blotting paper, and set a hot iron on it, leaving it there long enough for the iron to become perceptibly cooler. If necessary repeat this until the grease is removed.

245. Cleaning the Sweeping Brush.—Try cleaning the sweeping brush with an old comb. It is a good plan, for it preserves the brush and keeps it clean, and at the same time saves your hands.

246. Bright Wood Berries May be Preserved.—Almost any kind of bright wood berries may be preserved for decorative use in the winter, by dipping in melted paraffin and putting away in a cool place until needed. Treated in this way berries will remain firm and bright for a long time, and may be used in many ways.

247. Old Wood Work to Keep Clean.—Old woodwork, that is so hard to keep clean, can be made to look like new grained wood, by first painting it with cream colored paint to give a body alike, and when dry go over it with a dark oak varnish stain; with a little practice it can be made to look like grained wood. The varnish dries quickly and leaves it darker in some places. Any old furniture can be treated in the same way.

248. To Prevent Chairs Marring the Floor.—One should have all rockers covered with half rounds of rubber to prevent the scratching of the porch floor. These rocker tires are procurable at any furniture establishment and are easily adjusted.

249. Summer Homes.—Some of the wealthiest women are furnishing their summer homes with rag rugs, instead of the handsome oriental floor coverings, that are a mark of luxury; and what seems odd to those who cannot afford to please each whim, the rooms are being repapered with simple sprigged effects and all evidences of up-to-dateness are being eliminated, to be in keeping with these copies of the colonial rag carpets.

250. To Destroy Flies.—Flies will get into the house during the summer in spite of the greatest care. One method of catching and killing them, without having disagreeable looking fly paper lying around is to prepare a mixture of cream, sugar and pepper. Put this on a plate and they will eat greedily of it and die. They will instantly seek the open air and it is easy to brush them from the screen doors. This is an old method and a good one.

251. Successful Fern Growing.—A woman who has had her refrigerator placed on the porch has a long drain pipe to carry off the melted ice, and this is made to flow right into a large bed of ferns. The cold water in no way destroys the plants, in fact, they can endure the coldest water, and last year her ferns grew to an enormous size all due to the daily supply of water from the refrigerator.

252. Faded Crepe.—Faded crepe can be dipped into a solution of water and indigo, the water made very dark with blueing for the purpose. Dissolve in one quart of water, a teaspoonful of sugar. Lift the crepe out, and shake it and pin it to the bed to dry. As it can not be ironed pin it carefully over soft muslin with needles.

253. Sweeping as a Beautifier.—The average woman who does her own housework gets exercise enough, only it is not under the best conditions, for the air, as a rule, is not sufficiently fresh. If she wants to be benefited physically, while putting her house in order, let her make it like outdoors, with the windows wide open so the fresh air can sweep through the rooms. If necessary she can wear a jacket while making beds and sweeping, and by the