Democratic Sentinel, Volume 5, Number 2, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 February 1881 — USEFUL HINTS. [ARTICLE]

USEFUL HINTS.

Those who object to tea-leaves for sweeping the carpets can use freshlycut grass instead. It answers the same purpose for preventing dust, and gives the carpet a fresh, bright look. The Young Scientist states that leather and cloth can be rendered waterproof by being well smeared over with a preparation of paraffine and drying oil, made by adding about one-tenth part of the latter to melted paraffine. If you want good starch, mix it with cold water; add boiling water until it thickens, then add a dessert-spoonful of sugar and a small piece of butter. This makes a stiff and glossy finish equal to that of the laundry. Fob hanging pictures use copper or silver wire. Moths eat out the inside of the cord. Water in which onions have been boiled, rubbed lightly over the frames, will keep insects away from them. Nepiunite is a recently patented colorless substance held in solution for the purpose of treating silk, woolen and cotton fabrics, paper, feathers and other materials, rendering them water repellant and proof against dampness, mildew and moths. Fob a damp closet or cupboard, which is liable to cause mildew, place in it a saucer full of quicklime, and it will not only absorb all apparent dampness, but sweeten and disinfect the place. Renew the lime once a fortnight or as often as it becomes slaked. It is not economy to have too few brooms—one for the sleeping-rooms upstairs, one for parlor' and sitting-room, and one for tire kitchen are not too many. As they are worn they may be passed down a grade at a time, the new ones always being reserved for the parlor. If the new broom is allowed to stand in cold water for twelve hours, afterward drying it, it will last much longer. A broom should never be permitted to stand on its brush, as it makes it onesided and ill-shapen. Hang it up by a loop in the handle. A watch cannot go for an indefinite period without being repaired or cleaned. At the expiration of a certain time the oil dries up, dust accumulates, and wear and tear are inevitable results to the whole machinery, the functions becoming irregular, and frequently ceasing to act altogether. A person possessing a watch of good quality, and desirous of preserving it, should have it cleansed every two years, at least. And care should be taken to confide this cleaning or repairing to careful[hands ; an incapable workman may do great injury to a watch evfen of the simplest construction.