Household Hints by Rosemary

Grassroots

(Page 6)

Soap and Suds

Every now and then when looking for an old photo or letter I find little gems of information in my Mom's books and treasure boxes. My Mom was a great one for saving all little household hints, I guess that's where my interest stems from. Because much of the information is dated prior to the 1960's, many are out of date, or we no longer perform that function, but some are quite good, others just funny. That being said, I'd like to list some of her finds for the use of Soap and Suds. I don't know where they all came from, but she has a note that some are from an old Farmer's Almanac. Because there are so many, I'll do them in two articles, so here's the first.

1.    If you break a strand of beads, moisten a small bar of soap and use it to scrape them up from the floor. It will also keep them in place while you pick them out with a needle to re-thread.

2.    To keep the top of a nail polish or glue container from sticking, run a sliver of soap around the screw thread inside the cap.

3.    Before cutting material to make a buttonhole with a razor blade or exacto* knife place a bar of soap under the material to save your work surface.

4.    If you lather your hands very well and roll a candle between them, without touching the wick, allow the candle to dry, it won't smoke and will last longer.

5.    For a smooth and quiet slide drawer rub both sides and the underside with soap.

6.    When working outside, or doing dirty work inside, scrape your nails over a moist bar of soap to fill the gap between your nail and skin. Then you won't have anything collect under your fingernails.

7.    When doing a hemline on a dark fabric use a sliver of soap to draw the sew line. When you're finished the soap line will disappear in the first wash.

8.    Squeaky door hinges can be silenced by wedging moist soap between the frame and hinge. Work the door back and forth and then rub some soap directly on the hinge.

9.    Here's one we've used: to find a leak in an inner tube, or blow up pool, rub soapy water on the surface, bubbles will form where the air is escaping. I guess this was one of Mom's suggestions originally.

10.    Nails and screws will be easier to put in wood if you rub them into a bar of soap first.

11.    Another one of Mom's tricks that I've used for years, an unwrapped bar of soap in dresser drawers, linen closet shelves and suitcases will prevent musty odors and keep the contents sweet.

12.    I remember my Mom keeping her needles and pins in a pincushion made of a bar of soap wrapped in a scrap piece of material.  Now I know that the purpose was first of all to keep them safely in place and secondly to make them go through fabric more easily.

That's the first batch of two, stay tuned for more sudsy hints and advice.