A good way to clean leather furniture is to add a little vinegar to some warm water and wash the leather, using a clean soft cloth. Wipe with a dry cloth. To restore the polish, mi...
A request for information as to how to rid plants and trees of black ants, which was received at the Pennsylvania department of agriculture's division of zoology, elicited the foll...
Grease may be removed from silk and woolen clothes by the use of magnesia. Scrape a quantity upon the spot, cover with a brown paper and place a hot flat-iron over it. The heat of...
To keep cookies from burning on the bottom, turn the baking pan upside down and bake on the bottom of the pan.
To clean a French mirror which has grown dull, rub with a cloth soaked in alcohol; follow this by rubbing with a dry cloth. The dullness will vanish, and the mirror will look like...
To boil eggs without the risk of cracking, hold them in a spoonful of boiling water before immersing them.
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.
Charcoal absorbs all dampness, for which reason it should be kept in boxes with silverware to prevent rust.
I measured the top of my kitchen cabinet, and had a piece of zinc cut to fit it, allowing an inch for turning over the edges. My husband tacked it on, and I can cut meat and bread...
A practical cook says: When food has been scorched remove the pan from the fire and set into a pan of cold water. Lay a dish towel over the pan. The towel will absorb all the scorc...
Vinegar, or dilute acetic acid, is produced by a process of fermentation from certain vegetable substances. After alcoholic fermentation has taken place there follows, under suitab...
A housewife says that a few drops of turpentine sprinkled around where roaches gather will exterminate them at once.
If you want your table linen to last do not use bleaching preparations. Use only clean soap and soft water. If the water is not soft, add a little ammonia.
We had a lot of nuts that became too dry to be good, and were about to throw them away, when a friend told us of a very easy and practical way to freshen them. It was this: to let...
An array of ordinary medicine bottles is always unsightly, and a nuisance, too, on cleaning days. Have a tiny cupboard with tight closing door, or a well-fitted curtain, and there...
Wring cloths out of very hot water, lay them over spot and remove quickly. Repeat if necessary. When dry, rub the furniture with some of the good polish.
For polishing tables after hot dishes leave a white spot, take a cloth wet in alcohol, then have one wet in sweet oil. Do it quickly and spots will disappear at once.
Always wash lemons before grating them, not only to remove any foreign matter sticking to them, but in order to remove the tiny insect eggs so often seen on them in the disguise of...
If you have had the misfortune to burn your kettle it may be made smooth and clean by filling it with ashes and water, leaving it for an hour or so, then washing with clear water.
A guest of ours kept all her needles in a bottle in which was a pinch or two of emery. She said that it keeps them always bright and free from rust, and she finds it much easier to...
When hemming table cloths, sheets, etc., on the machine, try the following plan: Sew the hem as you always do, but when you come to the end, instead of leaving a long thread to tie...
We judge our neighbor as queer and eccentric, but with the same measure comes back his judgment of us.
It is better to wash windows on a cloudy day or when the sun is not shining directly on them. Before washing, dust them thoroughly inside and out, then wash the woodwork without to...
If you must paint wicker furniture see that you buy paint that is well mixed and thinned to the proper consistency. If too thick it gets lumpy and the paint is apt to rub off on th...
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...
When making washable petticoats for her small daughters, a mother whom I know attaches two skirts to one belt, which in turn is sewed to a little lace trimmed waist. The lower skir...
Save all the empty spools, and when any dyeing is done in the household, drop the spools into the fluid for a few minutes, and they will make fine playthings for the children on a...
If last summer's white dress has turned yellow, put it in a stone jar, cover with buttermilk and let it stand a day and night. Then wash well and starch with blued starch. This is...
In our home, when hot cloths are needed wet ones are put in a steamer, and water kept boiling underneath. In this way the cloths are more easily handled and can be applied as hot a...
A bit of velvet is a fine polisher for brass. It quickly removes the dust from woodwork, or shoes soiled from walking which do not need reblacking. For dusting a felt hat there is...