Part 104
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 time her work is done she is bound to be in a healthy glow. If she does not do housework she must go outdoors, and walk, and indeed, a little walking is desirable even for the housekeeper.
254. Putting Screens Away.--If screens were carefully put away last fall there should be little difficulty in getting them in place on the first hot fly-breeding day. The wise housekeeper writes on the top of her screen, where it is hidden from view by the upper sash, the room and window where it belongs. She also covers the wires with a coating of vaselin and stores them in a dry place with a cover thrown over them. Should the wire have become shabby and rusty looking it can be freshened up with a coat of paint. If the wires have gone into holes and are badly bulged, replace with copper wire netting. It costs more than the ordinary kind, but does not wear out nearly so soon.
255. Attractive Living Room.--The living room is sure to have a cheery atmosphere if provided with a wooden seat at either side. The wooden shelf is a good place for the clock, candlesticks, and a few simple flower vases.
[MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES 883]
256. Finger Bowl.--A finger bowel should always have a few flowers or a leaf floating around on the surface.
257. Raw Oysters.--Raw oysters are further improved by sections of lemon or sprigs of mint among the cracked ice.
258. Cheerfulness at Meals.--Meals should be something more than the consumption of food. All work stops at those times and people meet together. Nothing that can be done should be omitted to make it an occasion of agreeable interchange of thought and conversation, and when this is done, not only the body, but the mind and nerves are refreshed.
259. To Keep a Rug from Curling.--The edge of the heavy rug will not curl if treated to a coat of shellac on the under side.
260. Grease Stains on Silk.--For grease stains on silk, rub the silk with French chalk or magnesia, and then hold it to the fire. Thus the grease will be absorbed by the powder, which may then be brushed off.
261. Ironing Centerpieces.--When ironing centerpieces of tablecloths, see that the iron moves with the straight grain of the cloth. If this method is followed the circular edge will take its true line.
262. Tucking Children's Dresses.--When hand tucks are to be used on children's dresses, they should be very carefully made, and the first one kept perfectly straight to use as a guide for the others. A good way to do this is to loosen one thread, not to pull out but sufficiently draw it to show the straight line, and crease the tuck in this line. After the width of the tuck and space between each is decided use a notched card as a measure for all the other tucks.
263. A Neat Way to Mend Table Linen.--A neat way to mend table linen is to darn it with linen threads off an older tablecloth. It will look much neater than a patch sewed on. It is advisable to keep a piece of a discarded tablecloth in the mending basket for that purpose.
264. A Good Substitute for a Toaster.--If the toaster is suddenly lost, you can find a very good substitute in the popcorn popper. It can be held over the gas or before the coal fire, and the bread will toast in a few minutes.
265. To Prepare Cauliflower.--To prepare cauliflower remove all the large green leaves and greater part of stalk. Soak in cold water, to which has been added one teaspoonful of vinegar and a half teaspoonful of salt to each quart.
266. Preserving Dress Patterns.--Some women, after they have used a pattern, just roll it up and tuck it away wherever it happens, and when they want to use it the next time, it curls up and acts so that there is no doing anything with it. If they would just lay the patterns out flat and put them where they might stay that way, all this trouble would be avoided.
[884 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]
267. Lace on Centerpieces.--Lace that is used on centerpieces is not fulled, but is just held in enough to lie flat. The best way to get this flatness is to draw the thread of the lace and fasten one end to the linen, leaving enough to make a neat seam, and then to adjust fullness so that it lies evenly. When right side is up one cannot see that any fullness exists.
268. Uses of Mop Handles.--Most women have found the mop handle with the handy clasp, a general utility tool. There is a great deal of unnecessary bending of the knees to the household gods. It is a painful attitude, and work that can be done just as well in a standing position, should never be done in a kneeling one.
269. Iron Holders Made from Asbestos.--Iron holders made from a piece of asbestos the desired size, and covered with drilling or heavy unbleached muslin are light and keep out the heat. There should be a ring or loop sewed to one corner to hang up the holder.
270. Washing Quilts.--To wash quilts a housekeeper gives the following directions: Dissolve a bar of white soap in a cupful of water. Run into your bath-tub sufficient water to cover one quilt; make a good suds, and put in the quilt, and let it soak for a few minutes. Do not rub, but use the washboard, top end down, to press or pound out the water and dirt. Never wring but with the wash-board press out the water. Rinse several times. When you have pressed out as dry as you can pin the quilt closely on the line to drain. When thoroughly dry, whip with a carpet beater until fluffy, before removing from the line. This method is especially fine for tied quilts. The bath tub is preferred, because of shape and water conveniences.
271. Shrinking Dress Goods.--Before making the white linen dress skirt, or any material that is liable to shrink, fold the goods carefully and place it in a tub and cover with water. Let it get thoroughly wet, stretch the clothes line as tightly as possible, hang the goods through the center, and pin perfectly straight on the line. When dry, let two persons stretch the goods as curtains are stretched, fold it with the wrong side of the material out and iron double with the seam running through the center of the goods on the length of the material. In shrinking colored prints add turpentine to the water, and it will set the color. A teaspoonful is used to a gallon of water.
272. Fixing Worn Corsets.--For stitching over worn corset stays, a wide white tape is unequaled.
273. Cooking Breakfast Food.--Don't leave the tin lid on the saucepan if you start the cereal in the evening for breakfast. It will rust and the moisture drip into the food.
274. Tough Meat to Make Tender.--Tough meat can be made tender by adding a teacupful of lemon juice to the water in which it is boiled.
275. To Preserve Pineapple.--To preserve pineapple allow only three-quarters of a pound of sugar to each pound of pineapple.
[MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES 885]
276. Hemstitching Underclothing.--Hemstitching forms a dainty finish for the household linen and underclothing, but the busy woman often will not undertake it because of the difficulty of drawing the threads. If a piece of white soap be rubbed on the underside of the cloth, where the hemstitching is to be done, the threads may be drawn with ease, in half the time that is usually required.
277. To Boil Eggs Without Cracking Them.--To boil eggs without the risk of cracking, hold them in a spoonful of boiling water before immersing them.
278. Save the Basting Thread.--Basting threads, when saved, should be wound on a spool, otherwise they get hopelessly tangled and are not used again.
279. Threading Needles.--Thread will knot less easily, if the end that is broken from the spool is run through the eye of the needle.
280. Measuring Dress Goods.--Do not measure dress goods and laces with a tape line, as it stretches the material. Use a yardstick.
281. Do Not Use Coarse Thread.--An expert needlewoman says that the reason why so much embroidery does not look attractive is that too coarse a thread is used for the work. It is not a bad rule to use a cotton a number or two finer than is recommended, unless the advice comes from one who understands embroidery perfectly.
282. Putting in a Temporary Hem.--The hem of a dress that must be lengthened after it is laundered should be turned perfectly straight and stitched with number one hundred thread. It can be easily ripped and the fine threads will not leave the usual stitched lines that one often sees when a hem is lowered.
283. Serviceable Child's Dress.--A quaint little frock that will be serviceable, can be made from a remnant of demi flouncing hemstitched on the embroidered edge. This placed at the hem, of course, and the top is gathered in Mother Hubbard style into a neck band edged with a little frill. The sleeves are in bishop style confined with bands trimmed to match the neck.
284. Convenience for the Sewing Room.--A good sized waste basket should be continually close to every sewing machine. Then it is easy to form the habit of dropping all scraps into it just as the scissors make them, instead of leaving them to litter about the floor.
285. Buttons for Future Use.--When buttons are removed from a dress for future use they should be loosely strung on a thread before being put in the button box. This is a time-saver as well as keeps the buttons from getting lost or several of a set from being used.
286. Basting Long Seams.--When basting long seams, if the edge of the material is slipped under the machine needle and the needle is lowered it firmly holds the two pieces, and one can more quickly do the work.
287.--Mending Table Linen.--A woman who is expert in mending table linen does it in this manner: A piece of linen is coated with white soap, to make it stiff and the patch is evenly trimmed. This is placed under the hole in the damask after the edges around the hole in the tablecloth are soaped and trimmed to remove the rough edge.
[886 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]
288. Washing Cooking Utensils.--All the cooking utensils should be washed with soda immediately after they have been used, which will remove every trace of grease.
289. To Make Soft Soap.--Soft soap made from half a pound of shaved hard soap and two quarts of water will save the soap bill at cleaning time.
290. Separate Night and Day Pillows.--If separate night and day pillows are not used, as is now generally done, the bed will look neater if special pillow slips are kept to put on over the wrinkled pillow cases by day.
291. To Keep An Iron Sink in Good Condition.--To keep an iron sink in good condition, scrub once or twice a week with hand soap and kerosene. Every night put a little chloride of lime in the strainer and pour through it a kettleful of boiling water.
292. Steaming or Boiling Pudding.--In steaming or boiling puddings, as the water boils away add more boiling water. If cold water is added, for a short time at least, the foodstuff will not be boiling, and this state of affairs may prove disastrous to the pudding.
293. Cooking Peas.--When cooking peas do not shell them. Wash the pods and put them on to boil. When they are done the pods will break and rise to the top of the kettle leaving the peas at the bottom. They have a better flavor cooked this way.
294. Troubled With Ants.--When troubled with ants in your pantry and kitchen pour kerosene around on the edge of your shelves and on your doorstep. They will soon disappear.
295. To Exterminate Roaches.--A housewife says that a few drops of turpentine sprinkled around where roaches gather will exterminate them at once.
296. How to Economize on Gas.--More gas is wasted in the oven than elsewhere. Often one burner will suffice after the oven has been well heated. It is better to run one burner than to burn two low, as they frequently go out.
297. Less Noise in Washing Dishes.--If your cook insists in washing the dishes in the pantry while the family is still at dessert, insist upon her placing the dishes to drain upon a heavy turkish towel. It will lessen much of the clatter.
298. A Useful Article in the Kitchen.--A useful article in the kitchen is a small microscope. Show the cook how to use one. She will be so horrified if shown dates, prunes, or figs that are germ infested that she will take special pains in washing them. The microscope is also useful to examine cereals, cornmeal, buckwheat and other things which unless kept tight may be unpleasantly infected.
[MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES 887]
299. To Restore Freshness to Vegetables.--For the housewife who must practise strict economy, as well as for her who lives at a distance from the market, it is well to know that cabbage, celery or lettuce and their like which have lost the first freshness, may be restored by putting first into warm water, just comfortably warm to the hand, and after fifteen or twenty minutes, you will be surprised to note that it will have the original snappy crispness so much desired. Often the grocer will sell the second day celery and lettuce at half price. The above method will freshen same, and may make quite a saving of bills.
300. Worn Brooms or Whisks.--Worn brooms or whisks may be dipped into hot water and uneven edges trimmed off with shears. This will make the straw harder, and the trimming makes the broom almost as good as new.
301. Making Over a Heatherbloom Petticoat.--When you make over a heatherbloom petticoat, do not cut it off at the top and place the drawing string in again, and do not plait it to fit the band. Instead, place a band around the waist of the person being fitted, pin the petticoat to the band, then make large darts at each seam and cut off that superfluous material that otherwise would need to be put into gathers. It does not destroy the shape and permits the petticoat to lie smoothly over the hips.
302. The Gingham Apron for the Housewife.--The gingham apron for the housewife at her daily tasks, especially if the maid is out and she has any kitchen work to do, is imperative, and she will find the long apron that buttons over the shoulders the most acceptable.
303. After Cleaning the Sewing Machine.--After cleaning the sewing machine, several yards of stitching must be accomplished before the machine runs smoothly and without leaving marks. If you have any long seams on dark material to sew up, sew them now before attempting any light work.
304. To Remove Tangled Threads.--No doubt you often have stopped sewing and patiently picked the threads out of the bobbin under the machine plate, or around the wheels, for this often occurs, says the Woman's National Daily. Save time in the future by lighting a match and burning out the threads, then brush the ashes off and oil the parts.
305. Clothes Rack for Children.--In one home, in the rear hall, is a low rack on which children can hang their coats, hats and mittens when they come in from school. The hanger was made with two stout steel brackets and a curtain pole fitted up with hooks on which the articles were held. On one end of the pole was hung a whiskbroom, and each tot was taught its use.
306. To Remove Dust from Any White Fabric.--To remove dust from any white fabric lay the spot over a tea-kettle of boiling water. Place a cut lemon over the spot, pressing firmly. Remove occasionally, in order to allow the juice to evaporate, and the stain will disappear before one's eyes, no matter how stubborn or how deep set.
888 MOTHERS' REMEDIES
307. Amateur Dressmakers.--Amateur dressmakers will probably find it difficult to decide just how to finish the necks of the collarless frocks and waists that will be worn this summer. If the material is net, there is no prettier decoration than a band of the net piped with silk or satin and braided in a simple design. Necks of tub dresses while there is to be no contrasting yoke, may be trimmed with a threaded beading.
308. To Prevent Marks on the Dining Table.--If you have a highly polished dining table which you are afraid of spoiling, lay a piece of oilcloth on the table under the pad and you will have no trouble.
309. For Cupboard Shelves.--Put a white oilcloth on kitchen shelves instead of paper. The cloth will not turn yellow as the paper does, and can be kept clean while washing dishes.
310. Cleaning Gilt Frames.--When gilt frames or mouldings of the rooms have specks of dirt on them they can be cleaned with white of an egg, rubbed on with a camel's hair brush.
311. To Clean Kid Gloves.--Take a fine soft cloth, dip it into a little sweet milk, then rub it on a cake of soap, and rub the gloves with it. They will look like new.
312. Washing Fine Woolens.--To keep baby's sacques and socks and your own shawls and scarfs as fluffy as when new, dry and put in oven of range, shaking often between the palms while drying.
313. To Wash Grained Woodwork.--To wash grained woodwork take a half pail of hot water, add half a pound of soap chips, and boil until dissolved. Take from fire, add one pint kerosene, then boil for five minutes longer. Add one quarter of this to a half pailful of warm water. Wash woodwork thoroughly, wipe and dry, and lastly use a flannel to polish with.
314. Sewing on Buttons.--How often the mother hears the complaint: "I do wish you wouldn't sew these buttons on so tightly that I can't button them." When you start to sew on a button, before you take a stitch, lay a pin across the face of the button, and sew over the pin. Fasten your thread before you remove the pin, else you will draw the last stitch and spoil it. You will find there is a good shank to the button and yet it is perfectly secure.
315. Airing House After Meals.--After each meal, there should be another thorough airing of the lower floor in the home. No matter how perfectly the system of ventilation, it is impossible to prevent cooking odors. This airing is doubly necessary should there be smokers in the family.
316. House Cleaning Hints.--For the last few days before house cleaning, ornaments and pictures can be washed at one's convenience. They need only be removed or covered when a room is cleaned. With these preparations, the actual cleaning can be done quickly and with much less disturbance of the family routine.
[MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES 889]
317. Uses for Men's Old Silk Handkerchiefs.--Men's old silk handkerchiefs should never be thrown away when worn thin. They are just the thing for dusting the polished surface of the piano, ornaments and fine china and glass and bric-a-brac.
318.--Cleaning Fine Fabrics.--In cleaning fabrics great care should be taken not to rub them roughly between the hands. The gentle rubbing on of the solvent with a fresh cloth is sufficient.
319. To Wash White Woolen Blankets.--To wash white woolen blankets, dissolve four tablespoonfuls of good washing powder in a dipperful of boiling water and pour into a tub of warm water. Open the blanket out wide and put it in the tub and let it soak all over for a half an hour. Then rub it all over between the hands, and if there are any stains left, rub them with soap. Rinse in clear water of the same temperature as the wash water. If you do this your blankets will be soft and will not shrink. Do not rub blankets on a washboard, as it makes them hard, and blueing added makes them a dull gray color.
320. To Take Out Wagon Grease.--To take out wagon grease, which is of two kinds, that made from coal tar may be removed from cloth by an application of petroleum; the other, made from animal fat, responds to a sponging of ether.
321. Old Perspiration Stains.--Old perspiration stains may be removed by applying oxalic acid and water in solution, one part of the former to twenty parts of the latter.
322. Eyelet Embroidery.--Eyelet embroidery is one of the daintiest as well as the simplest of embroideries, and, best of all, with a little practice the work can be accomplished quite rapidly. Eyelet embroidery is equally effective done on sheer or heavy material; and neat sewing is all that is required to gain good results.
323. A Convenience for the Household.--A convenience for the household, that will be appreciated by men as well as women, is a wire rack to hang in the closet. It has a series of projecting arms upon which coat hangers may be placed without interfering with each other. This greatly augments the closet room. This rack may be slipped over an ordinary closet hook, and will accommodate five coat hangers.
324. To Turn the Hems of the Table Linen Easily and Accurately.--To turn the hems of the table linen easily and accurately, remove the needle from your sewing machine, adjust the hemmer to the desired width and pass the goods through. They are then ready for hemming by hand. You will find this saves a great deal of time, and gives you a straight, even hem.
325. Soft Wood Floors to Paint.--If a soft wood floor is glue sized, before painting, it will take less paint.
[890 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]
326. Hanging Out Quilts.--When hanging out quilts and pillows, pound and brush them the first thing, and let the fresh air get into them all day. Most people do this just before taking them in. Consequently the beds did not get the proper airings.
327. Paint that Sticks to Glass.--Paint that sticks to glass can be removed with hot vinegar.
328. Books with Delicate Bindings.--Books with delicate bindings which have become soiled through much handling, can be satisfactorily cleaned by rubbing with chamois skin dipped in powdered pumice stone.
329. Cleaning Silverware.--Old tooth brushes and nail brushes, and old knitted underwear should always be reserved for cleaning silver. Nothing is better than a tooth brush for brushing the dried whiting out of the heavily chased silver or repousse work. The chamois skin is best for the final polishing. If table silver be steeped in hot soap suds immediately after being used, and dried with a soft clean cloth, a regular cleaning will not be needed so often.
330. Cleaning Crockery and Enamel.--By immersing, for a day or two in sour milk, glass, crockery or enamel ware articles may be perfectly cleaned of stains or limey accumulations from hard water. This is much better than a scouring, as the surface is not injured in any way, and every part can be reached.
331. Going to Market.--The housekeeper who goes to market rather than order by telephone will find she gets better things for less money.