Mother's Remedies by Thomas Jefferson Ritter (positive books to read txt) 📕

8. A Use for Sacks.—Save all salt and sugar sacks; wash and boil them and they can be put to various uses. Salt sacks are nice to strain jellies through; are also nice to bake veal or beef loaf in. Sugar sacks make nice dish-towels.

9. Soap With Stove Blacking.—Use a half bar of laundry soap, and one cake of blacking. Put in an old kettle with three quarts of water. Boil down until thick. This will last a year.

10. To Remove White Spots from Tables.—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.

11. To Clean Mirrors.—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 new. This method is used for cut glass with excellent result.

12. To Whiten Linen.—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.

13. Velveteen for Polishing Cloths.—Old pieces of velveteen that have served their original purpose should be saved for polishing cloths. They will answer perfectly the purpose of chamois and save buying anything fresh. When soiled the cloths may be washed in soapy water and dried in the open air.

14. For Clearing Vinegar.—Should your home-made vinegar refuse to settle, try this: To each gallon stir in a half pint of fresh milk and let stand undisturbed for twenty-four hours. The milk will form a curd at the bottom and all the dregs will settle with it, leaving the vinegar clear. Pour off very carefully.

15. Uses for Old Velvet.—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 nothing better than a piece of chiffon velvet. It is also good to keep the bottom of a silk skirt free from the dirt. One housekeeper even uses a big piece of old velvet to rub her stove to a high polish after it has been blackened.

16. Removing Warts.—Warts can be removed permanently and safely by an application of a salve made by mixing common table salt into a yolk of an egg. Change the application daily, and within the week they will all drop out.

17. To Save Time by Sewing.—When sewing on plain garments, cut out several garments at a time, and save time by stitching all the straight seams, then doing all the basting, etc.

18. To Remove Stains from Blankets.—Stains on blankets and other woolen materials may be removed by using a mixture of equal parts of glycerin and a yolk of an egg. Spread it on the stain, let it stay for half an hour or more, then wash out.

19. Burn from Acid or Lye.—In case of a burn with carbolic acid or lye, the speedy application of sweet oil or olive oil will give almost instant relief.

20. To Wash Laces.—To wash delicate or tender laces put the lace in a fruit jar with shavings of some good soap, cover with warm water, let soak for awhile then shake, using if necessary several waters, then rinse in same manner, spread between pieces of muslin and roll up on a bottle or jar, and leave to dry. They will not be torn in this way and will look like new.

21. For Cut or Bruise.—Bind sugar and turpentine on the wound or bruise at once. The healing properties of this simple remedy cannot be surpassed.

22. Lemons; How to Obtain More Juice.—Lemons placed in a moderately hot oven, for a few minutes will yield a greater quantity of juice than if used in the ordinary way.

23. Whipping Cream.—If cream does not whip well, add to it the white of an egg, and the result will be very satisfactory.

24. To Clean Lamp Burners.—To remove the black gummy coating which sometimes comes on the brass parts of lamp burners, moisten the cloth with common household ammonia, rub it on sapolio, and apply it to the coated surface with the aid of a little elbow grease. A bright brassy surface will soon appear.

25. To Preserve Hot Water Bottle.—Fill with air, cork tightly, and hang in a cool dry place. This keeps the walls of the bottle from coming in contact with each other and prevents deterioration and decay.

26. Sweep Stairs with Paint Brush.—My mother uses a paint brush with long bristles for sweeping her stairs. With its use the work is more quickly and thoroughly done than by the old way, because the bristles reach every corner and crack as a cloth cannot do.

27. Washing Hair Brushes.—To wash hair brushes take a piece of washing soda, dissolve it in warm water, and stand the brush in it, taking care that the water covers only the bristles. It will almost instantly become clean and white. Place it in the air to dry, bristles downward, and it will be as firm as a new brush.

28. Loops on Towels.—Always have a loop on each end of the kitchen towel, where a roller is not used. Otherwise all the soil and the wear come on the lower end.

29. Changing Pillow Slips.—To change pillow slips without scattering the feathers all over the house, sew up the clean tick, all except a space of about twelve inches. Take the full pillow unopened and baste one side of the empty one to the full one. Then with a knife slit open the seam of the pillow, the twelve-inch space. Quickly baste the other sides together so they will not come apart easily. Then slowly push the feathers into the clean and empty tick, and when finished undo the basting and sew tightly. Soak the soiled ticks in cold water immediately to remove remaining feathers.

30. Use of Old Linen Collars.—Cut them up into narrow strips and use them for gas-lighting instead of using wax tapers. They make a steady flame and do not drip grease.

31. Discarded Toys.—My baby came in the other day hugging to his breast a toy tin goat. It was evidently one of the discarded playthings of a neighbor's child. On inquiry I found that the toy had been given to my boy, and he has taken so much pleasure in this castoff plaything that I have been saving his old toys and passing them on to other children of the neighborhood. I have discovered that in their baby hearts these are as good as new, because they have never played with them. It is nothing to them that they are not just out of the store.

32. To Clean Silver.—Try curdled milk for cleaning your silverware. Let the silver stand for several hours in the milk, and you will be surprised at the result.

33. Removing Stains.—Damp salt will remove egg stains from silver and tea stains from cups.

34. To Keep Free from Mould.—Jelly and jam can be kept entirely free from mould by pouring a thin layer of melted paraffin on top. This paraffin can be saved when the jelly is taken from the glass and used the next season so the cost is very small.

35. Hanging Out Clothes.—The other day I came across a peculiar clothes bar. It was the same as any other, except that the crossbars had been removed, and for them ropes had been substituted. The owner told me she had had her husband fix it for her the previous winter when she was bothered with salt rheum. "I hang up all the baby's little things, fastening them with clothespins, right here in the house where it is warm," she explained. "Then it is but the work of a moment to take the whole thing out of doors, and there is no fishing around for the tiny things when my hands are so cold they feel as though they would drop off."

36. A Fine Cutting Board.—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 or anything on it, without harming it in the least, besides using it as a moulding board.

37. Convenient Place for Stiletto.—It will be found a great convenience to have the stiletto tied to the embroidery hoop by a ribbon about a foot long, when that little instrument is necessary for the work in hand.

38. Cleaning Paint and Varnish.—Many housekeepers have been annoyed by finding their paint and varnish brushes dry and hard. To soften them, heat to the boiling water point some good cider vinegar, immerse your brushes and allow them to simmer in it for a few minutes, then wash out in strong soapsuds and your brushes will be soft and pliable.

39. How to Keep Cookies from Burning.—To keep cookies from burning on the bottom, turn the baking pan upside down and bake on the bottom of the pan.

40. Non-Sticking Cake Tins.—Cake layers will not stick in cooking if a little meal is scorched on the cake tins and rubbed off with paper.

41. To Clean Sieve.—Hold a sieve which has been used for straining oatmeal, tomatoes, fruit, etc., at once under the faucet, or shake it in enough water to cover it, then slap it, and it is easily cleaned; if it dries first it is almost impossible to get it clean even by more time and effort.

42. Washing Clothes.—After the clothes have been soaked a while to loosen the dirt, spread on washboard, soap, and then rub with a common scrub brush. The dirt comes out easier and with much less wear on the clothes. Even when the washing machine is used, this is a help for the wrist bands that are not quite clean.

43. Discoveries.—When old clothes, like worn-out aprons or waists or linings come to hand, and are absolutely good for nothing else, cut them into small pieces, say eight or twelve inches square, some larger, and put them into a bag or box easily accessible. Then when something is spilled over on stove or floor, or mess of any kind is made, use these bits for cleaning up and drop them into the fire.

44. To Stretch Curtains.—Take curtains while wet and put on a curtain rod; also put a heavy rod as a weight on the lower hem. Hang one on curtain at a time at an open window and stretch the desired width.

45. Cleaning Windows in the Winter.—It is a hard task in the winter time to wash windows in the old way, but if it is very cold, windows can be cleaned by using "Bon Ami," The same is useful for cleaning bright pieces on stoves.

46. How to Kill Black Ants.—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 following from Prof. H. A. Surface, State Zoologist. You can do this by finding the nesting places of the pests and making holes into the interior of them with a sharpened stick like a broom handle and pouring into each hole a half tea cup of carbon bisulphide. Fill the hole with earth and cover with a wet cloth or blanket to keep down the fumes and the ants will be destroyed at once. This is the best possible method for destroying ants of any kind.

47. Washing Windows.—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 touching the glass. For the glass use warm water, to which add a tablespoonful of kerosene to each pailful of water used. Dry with a cloth or chamois skin, wrung very dry; then polish with a soft cloth or soft old newspapers.

48. Home-made Soap Shaker.—A baking powder can with holes punctured in both cover and bottom, makes a fine soap shaker. Put all the small scraps of soap in this, and when you wash dishes, just put box and all in your dishpan and shake about. You will have a nice suds and no soap rubbing off on the dishes.

49. Cleaning Rugs.—When cleaning rugs first lay them out straight and brush with a stiff dry scrubbing