About the last of May, or the first of June, the little millers, which
lay moth-eggs begin to appear. Therefore brush all your woollens, and
pack them away in a dark place covered with linen. Pepper, red-cedar
chips, tobacco,--indeed, almost any strong spicy smell,--is good to
keep moths out of your chests and drawers. But nothing is so good as
camphor. Sprinkle your woollens with camphorated spirit, and scatter
pieces of camphor-gum among them, and you will never be troubled with
moths. Some people buy camphor-wood trunks, for this purpose; but they
are very expensive, and the gum answers just as well.
The first young leaves of the common currant-bush, gathered as soon as
they put out, and dried on tin, can hardly be distinguished from green
tea.
Cream of tartar, rubbed upon soiled white kid gloves, cleanses them
very much.
Bottles that have been used for rose-water, should be used for nothing
else; if scalded ever so much, they will kill the spirit of what is
put in them.
If you have a greater quantity of cheeses in the house than is likely
to be soon used, cover them carefully with paper, fastened on with
flour paste, so as to exclude the air. In this way they may be kept
free from insects for years. They should be kept in a dry, cool place.
Pulverized alum possesses the property of purifying water. A large
spoonful stirred into a hogshead of water will so purify it, that in
a few hours the dirt will all sink to the bottom, and it will be as
fresh and clear as spring water. Four gallons may be purified by a
tea-spoonful.
Save vials and bottles. Apothecaries and grocers will give something
for them. If the bottles are of good thick glass, they will always be
useful for bottling cider or beer; but if they are thin French glass,
like claret bottles, they will not answer.
Woollens should be washed in very hot suds, and not rinsed. Lukewarm
water shrinks them.
On the contrary, silk, or anything that has silk in it, should be
washed in water almost cold. Hot water turns it yellow. It may be
washed in suds made of nice white soap; but no soap should be put upon
it. Likewise avoid the use of hot irons in smoothing silk. Either rub
the articles dry with a soft cloth, or put them between two towels,
and press them with weights.
Do not let knives be dropped into hot dish-water. It is a good plan
to have a large tin pot to wash them in, just high enough to wash the
blades, _without wetting_ the handles. Keep your castors covered with
blotting-paper and green flannel. Keep your salt-spoons out of the
salt, and clean them often.
Do not wrap knives and forks in woollens. Wrap them in good, strong
paper. Steel is injured by lying in woollens.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account