Cleaning Up Around the House

I've been sorting and cleaning the last two weeks, trying to make less clutter around our house. This isn't easy with two teenagers and a ten year old who all take after mom, and tend to keep papers and every book they've ever read. Going with the theme of cleaning I thought I'd share these household tips today from The Detroit Free Press Women's Department, published in sometime during the 1930's.

Removing Egg Stains: Soaking in cold water is good for egg-stained plates, but hot water will cook egg more firmly to the plate. Utensils used for cooking fish, onions or other foods or strong odor should be soaked five minutes in warm water to which a spoonful of vinegar has been added. They should be soaked in soapy water before the vinegar.

Silver Cleaner: When using an aluminum pan for cleansing silver, permit the silver to soak only a few seconds. Place the tarnished silverware in a clean aluminum saucepan , add boiling water enough to cover, and one teaspoon of salt and one teaspoon of baking soda for each quart of water. Cover the saucepan and let stand a few seconds , then remove silver, rinse well in clear, warm water and wipe with a soft towel.

Aluminum Cleaner: To remove discolorations from aluminum , add cool water and a spoonful of vinegar, let boil half an hour, then rinse well and dry at once.

Ink Stains: Lemon juice is very useful for ink stains. Rub the juice on the mark at once, leave for five or ten minutes, then wash off with milk. Hydrogen Peroxide used before laundering will take ink from white goods.

Blood Stains: Wash in cold water until stain is partly removed and then wash with warm water and soap. Or wash with cold water and salt. If material is heavy, apply a thick paste of raw starch and water. Leave this until dry and then brush off. Repeat if necessary.

For great tips on removing perspiration stains read this on OFL:

http://oldfashionedliving.com/stains3.html

~Brenda

Household Questions and Answers

Besides the noble art of getting things done,there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials. ~Lin Yutang

Today I have some great household questions and answers for you. I hope everyone is enjoying the weather. We are finally seeing plenty of sunshine and lovely breezes here! I planted pansies yesterday morning, and have been weeding everyday. Have you noticed the weeds always grow faster than the flowers?

I have been adding about two tablespoons of chlorine bleach in about 2 gallons of rinse water for my hand washed stainless steel spoons and forks. I recently noticed the tableware has a darkened appearance. What can I use to remove this discoloration? ~Jimmy

There are several things known for putting a shine back into stainless steel. Wiping with undiluted white vinegar, club soda or rubbing with lemon peels. You can also soak in the vinegar or club soda if need be. Always rinse and dry afterwards.

I put some commercial salsa in Martha Stewart plastic ware from K-Mart. Big mistake, since I can't get the aroma out. I've tried the newspapers sealed in bowl itself, rinsing and soaking in lemon juice to no avail. Either I resign myself to only using this bowl for this salsa, which I love by the way, or throwing it out entirely... ~Isabelle

Here are a few more things to try. Soak the bowl in borax and hot water or straight vinegar. Then wash, rinse and dry. Or put some unused coffee grounds in the bowl and cover it for a day or more. Yes, some salsas can be almost deadly:)

Our daughter got glue on her favorite jeans while helping her dad in the basement, of course she didn't tell me about it until the glue dried. How can I get the glue out of the jeans? ~Cheryl

Most stain tips are for glue that hasn't dried. WD-40 comes up again as being able to remove glue on clothing. One interesting method I found was to freeze the jeans for 24 hours, then pour boiling water over the glue stains and they should loosen.

We have a great bunch of tips on odor removal:
http://www.oldfashionedliving.com/odors.html

Sharing Some Common Sense

September fattens on vines. Roses flake from
the wall. The smoke of harmless fires drifts to
my eyes. This is plenty. This is more than
enough. ~Geoffrey Hill


A few years ago one of my readers sent me a reprint by Oxmoor House of Common Sense in the Household by Marion Harland. It was first published in 1871 and is a fascinating read. I wanted to share a few of her tips today.

Boil a double handful of hay or grass in a new iron pot, before attempting to cook with it; scrub out with soap and sand; then set on full of fair water, and let it boil half an hour. After this, you may use it without fear.

To wash White Lace 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 fair 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.

Dry ink stains can be removed from white cloth by lemon-juice and salt.

If china is rough to the touch, it is dirty. Hot, clean suds, a dry, clean towel, and quick wiping leave it bright and shining.

Glasses: Roll your glasses around in the water, filling them as soon as they touch it, and you need never crack one. A lady did once explain the dinginess of her goblets to me by saying that she was "afraid to put them in hot water. It ROTS glass and makes it so tender! I prefer to have them a little cloudy." Certainly not that a year's soak in hot water could make glass tender!

This is a fascinating article on OFL on doing laundry in the 1920's: http://www.oldfashionedliving.com/laundry.html

~Brenda