What the Housewife Wants to Know
By Katherine Kay
Old stockings cut down the seam make excellent cloths for polishing furniture and floors, as well as soft iron-holders. When grease is spilled on the kitchen table or floor, pour cold water on it at once to prevent its soaking into the wood. It will quickly harden, and can be lifted with a knife. To remove soot from a carpet, sprinkle plenty of fine salt over it, and sweep along the grain of the carpet. Repeat until every trace of the soot is removed. In making down pillows go over the wrong side of the case with an iron rubbed well with beeswax each time it is applied to the cloth, to prevent the down's working through the cloth. Flat irons should be washed every week, and always kept in a clean, dry place. Few housekeepers use sufficient wax in ironing. Do not allow your irons to become red hot, as they will never again retain the heat. When winds blow, and there is frost in the air, put handkerchiefs, collars, cuffs, and all small articles in the wash to dry in a pillow case. The fabric is spared whipping by the wind; they will freeze dry, and be quickly gathered for ironing. Buy a strip of asbestos cloth at the hardware store, and use small squares of it to interline your iron-holders. Keep a good-sized piece fastened to your ironing-board to save the sheet. Do not try to sweep an invalid's room, but wring a clean cloth out of cold water to which a few drops of ammonia have been added, and carefully wipe the carpet, matting, or floor, turning and rinsing the cloth, and changing the water frequently. Cheese-cloth makes good dusters, and window or box draperies that are no longer fresh and attractive should be cut into squares and neatly hemmed for the purpose. There should be a sufficient number on hand that they may be washed as regularly as the face towels, as they last longer and give more satisfactory service with frequent washings. Teach the boys as well as the girls the proper way to put the bedclothes to air over two chairs in the morning, and also occasionally give the boys a lesson in simple cooking by having them help prepare breakfast.—Katherine Kay, in the Pilgrim.