Democratic Sentinel, Volume 3, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 March 1879 — HOUSEHOLD ECONOMY. [ARTICLE]

HOUSEHOLD ECONOMY.

Kerosene lamps should never stand near hot stoves, or where the heat is so great as to convert the oil into gas. This practice is one cause of explosions. To Lessen Friction of Furniture.— Black lead is excellent to lessen friction between two pieces of work. The slides and rests of desks or bureau drawers may be made to move easily by spreading common stove-blacking evenly with a cloth or the finger over their surfaces. Time and patience may thus be saved. A Good Test of the Purity of Milk. —A German paper gives a test for watered milk, which is simplicity itself. A well-polished knitting-needle is to be dipped into a deep vessel of milk and immediately withdrawn in an upright position. If the milk is pure, some of the fluid will hang to the needle, but if water has been added to the milk, even in small proportions, the fluid will not adhere to the needle. Washing Colored House Linen.— 1. To wash towels with colored borders let them soak in a pailful of cold water containing one teaspoonful of sugar of lead; let them remain ten minutes before washing; to make the colors look clear and bright, use pulverized borax in wash-water, very little soap and no soda. 2. To wash red table linen, use tepid water, with a little powdered borax, which serves to set the color; wash the linen separately and quickly, using very little soap; rinse in tepid water, containing a little boiled starch; hang to dry in the shade, and iron when almost dry. Lime Incrustation in Kettles.—l. When there is much lime in the iron teakettle, set it on the stove or on the fire without any water in it, and let it stay there until red-hot; then take off and set it on the ground to cool, when the lime may be taken out easily. 2. To remove lime from teakettles where hard water is used, set the kettle out doors and let it freeze over night. In the morning thaw and rap off. 3. Boil clabber in the kfettle two or three times; if it will not scrape off, let it stand a while. 4. The deposit of the crust in kettles may be prevented by placing an oyster shell in the kettle. The particles of lime will adhere to the shell. Cleaning Corsets.—The directions given by the correspondents of our exchanges for cleaning corsets are noteworthy for their variety. We reprint two of them: 1. Take out the steels at front and sides, then scrub thoroughly with tepid or cold lather of castile soap, using a small scrubbing brush; do not lay them in water. When quite clean

let cold water run on them freely from aJbpigot to rinse out the soap thoroughly. Dry, without ironing (after pulling lengthwise until they are straight and shapely) in a cool place. 2. Remove the steels from your corsets and wash them on a board with a stiff brush in water in which borax is dissolved; do not boil them; rinse thoroughly and dry in the sun. Washing with Hard Water.—To those who have to use hard water for washing, this method may be recommended : Procure a large barrel, set it close to the well, and let some one who is able, if you are not, fill it with water; then put in two panfuls of wood ashes, skim off the coals, let it stand two days at least; wash your white clothes as for boiling, soap them, and lay them in a clean tub; have sufficient broken water boiling hot to cover them, pour it on them, and cover immediately with one or two thick woolen blankets, and let them stand until the next morning; then wring them out, and you have a splendid suds with which to wash your colored clothes, also, with the broken water, and your clothes will look as nice and white as if you had used rainwater. This is a good way for women who are not strong, as they are not so liable to overwork as if they did it all in one day.