Keep Potato Peelings

March 31st, 2018

Never throw away your potato peelings, but always burn them, and you will seldom have to clean your stove.

Source: 1001 Household Hints, Ottilie V. Ames

Nausea (Sick Stomach)

March 29th, 2018

Give small bits of cracked ice. Soda mint. Lime water.

To crack ice: wrap a piece in a cloth, and hammer.

Source: The Mary Frances First Aid Book, Jane Eayre Fryer

For Any Cough Old Or Fresh

March 27th, 2018

TAKE a quartor of a pound of blew currans an ounce of Anyseeds and a penny worth of liquorish makeing it and your seeds first into powder then beat your currans to a kind of a conserve strewing in your powder as you beat them then take of the best maiden honey you can gett putting thereof as much as will moisten all this seting it on the fire let it simer a while but not to long lest it be clammy so take from the fire and keep it for your use. take it as oft as you please upon the poynt of a knife the quantity of a nutmeg.

Source: A Book of Simples, H.W. Lewer

When Too Much Salt Has Been Used

March 25th, 2018

When you have accidently used too much salt, the effect may be counteracted by adding a tablespoon of vinegar and a tablespoon of sugar.

Source: 1001 Household Hints, Ottilie V. Ames

Stings

March 23rd, 2018

Extract sting if it remains imbedded in flesh. Apply household ammonia, diluted with a little water, or solution of bicarbonate of soda (1 tsp. soda to 1 cup water).

Mud, wet salt, slice of onion, arnica, witch hazel, camphor are soothing. If there is much swelling, apply cracked ice. Apply spirit of camphor or alcohol to mosquito bites.

Source: The Mary Frances First Aid Book, Jane Eayre Fryer

To Banish Rats

March 21st, 2018

Chloride of lime is infallible; it should be put down the rat holes and spread about wherever they are likely to appear.

Source: 1001 Household Hints, Ottilie V. Ames

For Dandruff

March 19th, 2018

Take glycerine four ounces, tincture of cantharides five ounces, bay rum four ounces, water two ounces. Mix, and apply once a day and rub well down the scalp.

Source: The White House Cookbook, F.L. Gillette

Uses of Ammonia

March 17th, 2018

All housekeepers should keep a bottle of liquid ammonia, as it is the most powerful and useful agent for cleaning silks, stuffs and hats, in fact cleans everything it touches. A few drops of ammonia in water will take off grease from dishes, pans, etc., and does not injure the hands as much as the use of soda and strong chemical soaps. A spoonful in a quart of warm water for cleaning paint makes it look like new, and so with everything that needs cleaning.

Spots on towels and hosiery will disappear with little trouble if a little ammonia is put into enough water to soak the articles, and they are left in it an hour or two before washing; and if a cupful is put into the water in which clothes are soaked the night before washing, the ease with which the articles can be washed, and their great whiteness and clearness when dried, will be very gratifying. Remembering the small sum paid for three quarts of ammonia of common strength, one can easily see that no bleaching preparation can be more cheaply obtained.

No articles in kitchen use are so likely to be neglected and abused as the dish-cloth and dish-towels; and in washing these, ammonia, if properly used, is a greater comfort than anywhere else. Put a teaspoonful into the water in which these cloths are, or should be, washed everyday; rub soap on the towels. Put them in the water; let them stand half an hour or so; then rub them out thoroughly, rinse faithfully, and dry outdoors in clear air and sun, and dish-cloths and towels need never look gray and dingy–a perpetual discomfort to all housekeepers.

A dark carpet often looks dusty soon after it has been swept, and you know it does not need sweeping again; so wet a cloth or a sponge, wring it almost dry, and wipe off the dust. A few drops of ammonia in the water will brighten the colors.

For cleaning hair-brushes it is excellent; put a tablespoonful into the water, having it only tepid, and dip up and down until clean; then dry with the brushes down and they will be like new ones.

When employed in washing anything that is not especially soiled, use the waste water afterward for the house plants that are taken down from their usual position and immersed in the tub of water. Ammonia is a fertilizer, and helps to keep healthy the plants it nourishes. In every way, in fact, ammonia is the housekeeper’s friend.

Ammonia is not only useful for cleaning, but as a household medicine. Half a teaspoonful taken in half a tumbler of water is far better for faintness than alcoholic stimulants. In the Temperance Hospital in London, it is used with the best results. It was used freely by Lieutenant Greely’s Arctic party for keeping up circulation. It is a relief in nervousness, headache and heart disturbances.

Source: The White House Cookbook, F.L. Gillette

Roach Remedy

March 15th, 2018

A few drops of turpentine sprinkled around where roaches gather will exterminate them at once.

Source: 1001 Household Hints, Ottilie V. Ames

Protection against Moths

March 13th, 2018

Use newspapers in all boxes and trunks where winter clothing is to be packed, as moths abhor printer’s ink. Also wrap all plumes and wings in newspapers, fasten the ends securely with pins, and you need not worry about moths.

Source: 1001 Household Hints, Ottilie V. Ames

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    NOTE: these remedies are listed only for information and/or amusement. They are not to be construed as medical advice of any type, nor are they recommended for use. Consult your doctor or other medical professional for any medical advice you require.