Democratic Sentinel, Volume 6, Number 4, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 February 1882 — USEFUL HINTS. [ARTICLE]

USEFUL HINTS.

Bed Wash fob Bbicks.—To remove the green that gathers on bricks pour over them boiling water in which any vegetables not greasy have been boiled. Bepeat for a few days, and green will disappear. For the red wash melt one ounce (A glue in one gallon water ; while hot add alum size of egg, one-half pound Venetian red, one pound Spanish brown. Try it; if too light, add more red and brown. If too dark, water it To Paint am Old Hous®.—Take three gallons water and one pint flaxseed ; boil half an hour; take it off and add water enough to make four gallons; let it stand to settle; pour off the water in a pail, and put in enough of Spanish white to make it as thick as whitewash ; then add one-half pint linseed oil; stir it well and apply with a brash. If the whiting does not mix readily add more water. Flaxseed, having the nature of oil, is better than glue, and will not wash off as readily. To Soften th® Hands.—One can have the hands in soapsuds with soft soap without injury to the skin, if the hands are dipped in vinegar or lemon juice immediately after. The acids destroy the corrosive effects of the alkali, and make the hands soft and white. Indian meal and vinegar or lemon juice used on hands when roughened by cold or labor will heal and soften them. Bub the hands in this; then wash off thoroughly and rub in glycerine. Those who suffer from chapped hands will find this comforting.

Staining Wood.—Apple, pear, and walnut wood, if fine-grained, may be stained black by the following process. Boil in a glazed or enamelled iron vessel with water four ounces of ground gallnuts, one ounce of logwood chips, and half an ounce each of green vitriol and crystals of verdigris. Filter while warm, and brush the wood over with this rapidly. Dry and brush over with strong cola solution of acetate of iron, and dry. Bepeat this several times, and finally dry in an oven at a moderate temperature, and oil or varnish. To Wash Whit® Lack Edging.— Have a quart bottle covered with linen, stitched smoothly to fit the shape. Begin at the bottom and wind the lace about it, basting fast at both edges, even the minutest point, to the linen. Wash on the bottle, soaping it well, rinse by plunging in a pail of clear water, and boil as you would a white handkerchief, bottle and all. Set in the hot sun to dry. When quite dry, clip the basting-threads and use the lace without ironing. If neatly basted on, it will look nearly as well as new—if not quite. Washing Mad® Easy.—l soak my clothes over night; in the morning I fill my washboiler half full of water, and place it on the stove to heat, throwing in a handful of soft soap, or about two ounces of hard ; I then wring out the soaked clothes, soap the dirty parts, and by this time the water is hot; put them in and let them boil fifteen minutes, stirring often; I now take out and put them in cold water, wash out the sudsj if any dirt remains, give it a few rubs and it is gone ; I rinse them good in plenty of water, and my clothes are as white and clean as those that have gone through a long process of rubbing. I have washed my clothes this way for ten years, and they have never turned yellow.