Fowler's Household Helps: Over 300 Useful and Valuable Helps About the Home, Carefully Compiled and Arranged in Convenient Form for Frequent UseFowler, Arthur L.
General
Fowler's Household Helps: Over 300 Useful and Valuable Helps About the Home, Carefully Compiled and Arranged in Convenient Form for Frequent Use
Fowler, Arthur L.
Formulas, recipes, etc.; Home economics
New Way to Fasten Lace Curtains--The best way to secure lace
or net curtains in place over the poles is to fasten with the
very fine wire hairpins, known as "invisible" hairpins. These
are so sharp that they can be pushed through the curtains
without injury to the fabric, and are so fine that they are more
invisible than pins. They have the added advantage of never
slipping out of place like small-headed pins, or becoming
entangled in the lace like safety-pins. Put them perpendicularly
(up and down) in the curtain with the rounded head at the top.
Filling for Sofa Cushions--Cut a roll of cotton in small
squares and put it in a pan in the oven and heat it for half an
hour. Do not let the cotton scorch. Every square will swell to
twice its original size and will be as light and fluffy as
feathers for stuffing sofa cushions.
To Brighten Carpets--Wipe them with warm water to which has
been added a few drops of ammonia.
To Clean Picture Glass--Clean the glass over pictures with a
cloth wrung from hot water and dipped in alcohol. Polish them
immediately, until they are dry and glossy, with a chamois or
tissue paper.
Polish for Leather Upholstered Furniture--Turpentine and
beeswax mixed to the consistency of thin cream makes a fine
polish for leather upholstered furniture.
To Fasten Small Pieces on Furniture--For fixing on small
pieces of wood chipped off furniture, use the white of an egg.
Onion Water for Gilt Frames--Flies may be kept from damaging
gilt frames by going over the frames with a soft brush dipped in
a pint of water in which three or four onions have been boiled.
This is also good for cleaning the frames.
To Remove Fly Specks from Gilding--Old ale is a good thing
with which to wash any gilding, as it acts at once on the fly
dirt. Apply with a soft rag.
To Clean Gilded Picture Frames, use a weak solution of ammonia
and water. Go over the gilt gently with a moist cloth, and after
a few moments, when the dirt has had time to soften, repeat the
operation. Do not rub hard, and dry by dabbing gently with a
soft cloth.
IN THE BATHROOM
For Clogged Lavatory Basins--Mix a handful of soda with a
handful of common salt and force it down the pipe; then rinse
the pipe thoroughly with boiling water.
To Clean Bath Tub and Wash Bowl--Some housekeepers like to use
kerosene in the bath tub to take off the soapsuds and stain that
will gather, but the odor is sometimes objectionable. To clean
the bath tub and the wash bowl in a jiffy use a half lemon rind
turned wrong side out.
To Clean Mirrors--A little camphor rubbed on a mirror after
the dust has been wiped off will brighten it wonderfully.
To Clean and Purify a Sponge--Rub a fresh lemon thoroughly
into a soured sponge and then rinse several times. The sponge
can be made as sweet as a new one.
IN THE LAUNDRY
To Clean Dirty Clothesline--Wrap it around the washboard and
scrub it with a brush and soap suds.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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