Take the jump for the absolute last of the facts worth knowing!
To Prevent Lamp-wicks from Smoking:-Soak them in vinegar and them dry them thoroughly.
Rub the nickel stove-trimmings and the plated handles and hinges of doors with kerosene and whiting, and polish with a dry cloth.
Death to Bugs:-Varnish is death to the most persistent bug. It is cheap---ten cents' worth will do for one bedstead---is easily used, is safe and improves the look of the furniture to which it is applied. The application must, however, be thorough, the slats, sides, and ever crack and corner receiving attention.
{Ed. They're not talkin' roaches here, children.
That salt should be eaten with nuts to aid digestion.
That milk which stands too long makes bitter butter.
To Clean Drain Pipes:-Drain pipes, and all places that are sour or impure may be cleaned with lime water or carbolic acid.
If oil-cloth be occasionally rubbed with a mixture of beeswax and turpentine, it will last longer.
To Remove Mildew from Cloth:-Put a teaspoonful of chloride of lime into a quart of water, strain it twice, then dip the mildewed places in this weak solution; lay in the sun; if the mildew has not disappeared when dry, repeat the operation. Also soaking the article in sour milk and salt; then lay in the sun; repeat until all mildew is out.
{Ed. Yet another use for that rotten milk you have lying around!}
To Take Ink Out of Linen:-Dip the ink spot in pure melted tallow, then wash out the tallow and the ink will come out with it. This is said to be unfailing. Milk will remove ink from linen or colored muslins, when acids would be ruinous, by soaking the goods until the spot is very faint and then rubbing and rinsing in cold water.
Ink spots on floors can be extracted by scouring with sand wet in oil of vitriol and water. When ink is removed, rinse with stron pearl-ash water.
{Ed.And keep that oil of vitriol under lock and key, otherwise someone will use it to disfigure their enemy, Sherlock Holmes will be called in to consult and he'll come knocking at your door. Do you want that? I didn't think so.}
To Toughen Lamp Chimneys and Glass-ware:-Immerse the article in a pot filled with cold water, to which some common salt has been added. Boil the water well, then cool slowly. Glass treated in this way will resist any sudden change in temperature.
To Remove Paint from Window-Glass:-Rub it well with hot, sharp vinegar.
To Clean Stove-pipe:-A piece of zinc put on the live coals in the stove will clean out the stove-pipe.
Packing Bottles:-India-rubber bands slipped over them will prevent breakage.
{Ed.Yeah, in a parallel universe...maybe. If you're lucky.}
To Clean Ivory Ornaments:-When ivory ornaments become yellow or dusky, wash them well in soap and water with a small brush , to clean the carvings, and then place them, while wet, in the sunshine. Wet them with soapy water for two or three days, several times a day, still keeping them in the sunshine, then wash them again, and they will be perfectly white.
{Ed. Art restorers the world over are screaming in agony.}
Stained Brass:-Whiting wet with aqua ammonia will cleanse brass from stains and is excellent for polishing faucets and door-knobs of brass or silver. "Sapolio" is still better.
Hartshorn applied to the stings of poisonous insects will allay the pain and stop the swelling; or apply oil of sassafras, which is better. Bee stings should be treated this way.
For Cleaning Glass Bottles:-Crush egg-shells into small bits, or a few carpet tacks, or a small quantity of gunshot, put into the bottle; then fill one-half full of strong soapsuds; shake thoroughly, then rise in clear water. Will look like new.
Cutting of Glass Bottles for Cups and Jars:-A simple, practical way is to take a red-hot poker with a pointed end; make a mark wit a file to begin the cut; then apply the hot iron and a crack will star, which will follow the iron wherever it is carried. This is, on the whole, simple, and better than the sue of strings we with turpentine, etc.
Cistern Water may be Purified by charcoal put in a bag and hung in the water.
{Ed. Finally! One that makes sense!}
Salt Will Remove the Stain from Silver caused by eggs, when applied dry with a soft cloth.
Opened Fruit, Fish or Vegetables:-Never allow opened fruit, fish or vegetables to stand in the tin can. Never stir anything in tin, or, if it is done, use a wooden spoon. In lifting pies or cakes from bright tin pans, use great caution that the knife does not scrape off flecks of bright metal.
Never use water which has stood in a lead pipe overnight. Not less than a wooden bucketful should be allowed to run.
Never use water from a stone reservoir for cooking purposes.
Never allow fresh meat to remain in paper; it absorbs the juices.
Never keep vinegar or yeast in stone crocks or jugs; their acis attacks the glazing, which is said to be poisonous. Glass for either is better.
Squeaking Doors ought to have the hinges oiled by putting on a drop from the sewing machine oil-can.
{Ed. Or perhaps kerosene might do the trick?}
Plate Glass and Mirrors:-A soft cloth wet in alcohol, is excellent to wipe off plate glass and mirrors, and prevents their becoming frosty in winter.
A red-hot iron will soften old putty so that it can be easily removed.
{Ed. Didn't we hit that subject in an earlier post?
To Test Nutmegs:-Prick them with a pin; if good, the oil will instantly spread around the puncture.
A Good Way to Clean Mica in a stove that has become blackened with smoke, is to take it out, and thoroughly wash it with vinegar. If the black does not come off at once, let it soak a little.
To Banish Rats from the Premises, use pounded glass mixed with dry corn meal, placed within their reach. Sprinkling cayenne pepper in their holes will also banish them. Chloride of lime is an infalliable remedy, spread around where they come, and thrown into their holes; it should be renewed once in two weeks. Tar is also a good remedy.
To Prevent the Odor or Boiling Ham or Cabbage:-Throw red pepper pods or a few bits of charcoal into the pan they are cooking in.
{Ed. For that smoky flavor!}
To Brighten Gilt Frames:-Take sufficient flour of sulphur to give a golden tinge to about one and one-half pints of water, and in this boil four or five bruised onions, or garlic, which will answer the same purpose. Strain off the liquid, and with it, when cold, wash with a soft brush any gilding which requires restoringm and when dry, it will come out as bright as new work.
All cooking utensils, including iron-ware, should be washed outside and inside in hot, soapy water; rinsed in clean, hot water, wiped dry with a dry towel; a soapy or greasy dish-cloth should never be used for the purpose.
A cake of Sapolio should be kept in every kitchen to be used freely on all dishes that require scouring and cleansing. All tins that have become discolored can be made as bright and clean as new by the use of Sapolio; also shines dishes; and, in fact, almost all articles that require any scouring. Purchased at all groceries. Once of the most useful articles ever used in the kitchen.
{Ed.And this section has been brought to you by Sapolio, the soap that no longer exists!}
Posted by Kathy at January 5, 2006 11:57 PM | TrackBack