Down-Home Make-Do Housekeeping Hints

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Mice dislike the smell of fresh peppermint. Add sprigs of the herb to your kitchen cupboards to ward off the rodents and freshen the air at the same time. Change the cuttings often.

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To repair cracks in an iron cook stove, mix a pint of wood ashes, three teaspoons of salt, and enough water to make a stiff paste. Fill the cracks while the stove is hot. Your homemade gunk will be as hard as cement when it dries.

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Polish zinc counters with kerosene and newspapers. Kerosene also works well on brass and copper kitchen tools, and newsprint will help you shine up teapots, mirrors, silver and old stoves that haven't been blackened in a while.

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Here's a recipe for fireproof, waterproof cement that's strong enough to use on iron utensils: Combine lime and the whites of eggs until a paste is formed (don't let it get too thick). Add some iron filings and unite the broken pieces. Allow the mend to dry slowly.

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To make a good flypaper, mix together equal parts of melted resin and castor oil. Then, using a warm knife, spread the goo on strong paper. (Leave the edges uncoated to hold down the mess.) Writing paper, catalog and slick magazine covers, handbills, paperback book jackets, and any other non-porous stock are fine newsprint doesn't work.

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The feathered wings of geese, turkeys, and other fowl make fine dusters and are also good for sweeping out the hearth. If you have running water and a septic tank, put a spoonful of bakers' yeast down your sink drain once a month. This creates a healthy supply of bacteria that help break down the waste.

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For a non-stick greaseless griddle, rub the cooking surface with a fresh-cut turnip before use.

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Does your home smell musty, fishy, or closed in? Put a few cloves in water and let them simmer on the back of the stove. The aroma will fill the whole house. Try other spices, too alone or in combinations. This is a good trick to use in winter when you just can't open a window.

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