Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-01
Economy In Proper Care
Thoughtful Handling of Shoes, Hosiery and
Gloves Will Save Much Money in
Most Instances.
Most Instances.

! Patent leather which has been scratched
! should be treated with a mixture OF
olive oil and jet-black ink. Paint over
| the scratches with a fine brush. repeat
! ing the process two or three times II
necessary. Orange juice will polish pat
ent leather If patent leather shoes are
kept slightly warm, especially in cold
weather. they are less likely to crack.
Remove mud from suede shoes by
brushing lightly but thoroughly Clean
light suede shoes with warm bran. If
the material is shiny, use wire brush
or very fine Sandpaper, always brushing
in the same direction.
Satin or brocade shoes, if only slight
lv soiled, can be cleaned with bread
crumbs. Rub very gently in the direc
ton in which the material is woven.
If the upperS of your light-colored satin
dance shoes have become Soiled and
shabby while the Soles are still in per-
feet condition they can be painted black
with india ink, and after thoroughly
drying be painted a second time if the
appearance is not sufficiently black.
Shoes treated in this way look like black
suede and take on new lease of life.
Gold or silver tissue shoes should De
kept in black tissue paper to prevent
furnishing. MagneSia will clean them
to some extent of they are not badly
soiled. Very careful handling is neces-
sary.
Care of Hosiery.
Changing and laundering hosiery at
frequent intervals adds more to the
wearing quality than most people realize.
Hosiery that is worn but one day and
then Numbered will last twice as long
as hosiery that is worn three or four
days.
The reason is simple. Washing re-
mats the Trimmed mesh. so that the
subsequent wear comes on the rematted
fibers instead of on the stretched and
tEinned mesh.
Never rub soap on silk stockings. A
good plan is to dissolve cake of pure
white soap. shaved fine, in a quart of
warm water and keep the solution in
fruit jar and use it as you need it.
To wash the stockings, add enough of
the solution to lukeWarm water to make
generous SudS, then wash the stock
ings first on the right side, then on
the wrong side. Rinse them in water
of the same temperature as the water in
which you washed them. Squeeze them
as dry as possible, shape the feet and
the legs, and hang them to dry in the
shade, away from artificial heat. Hot
water Is bad for any silk stockings and
will ruin white ones, turning them yell
low.
A simple way to prevent holes in
stockings for some time is to rub paraf-
fin over the under side of the heel and
toe OF the stocking. It works equally
well on silk, cotton, Isle. or wool, and
on any weight, but you must apply the
paraffln every time the stockings are
worn. The paraffin leaves a glaze that
reduces friction between foot and shoe
and SO helps to preserve the fibers of
the stocking
If stocking develops gaping hole
in the heel do not patch or darn it.
but get some luSter cotton and crochet
up the hole. Use the single crochet
stitch with fine cotton, beginning at the
outside edge of the hole, and gradually
narrow toward the center, just enough
to keep the work fiat.
Large holes in the knees and heels of
children's stockings, if mended as fol-
lows, Will wear longer, look neater and
be more comfortable than if mended in
the usual way: Take some strong black
net, cut out slightly larger than the
hole and tack neatly on the wrong side.
then darn in and out of the net on the
right side until the hole is we'll covered.
The darning will be almost invisible.
Gloves.
To mend gloves that have torn be-
tween the fingers, use the buttonhole
stitch In preference to the more COM
mon over-and-over stitch, which tears
out again almost Immediately. Fine
cotton thread is better to use than silk,
especially for kid gloves, and cotton's
lack OF luster makes it less conspicuous.
Use a very fine needle. First work
round the entire edge of the torn place.
with the buttonhole stitches placed
not too close together. The stitches
thus made provide a firm edge for the
second sewing. Next place the edges
of the torn place together and work
over them with medium close, button
hole stitch.
To mend glove with a wide Jagged
tear choose fine cotton of a slightly
lighter shade than the glove itself and
carefully buttonhole around the Jagged
edges. From an old glove cut a piece
OF material slightly larger than the
split. If kid glove is to be mended
use china cement to fix the patch
FIRMLY under the new neatly button
holed opening. If it is a channels glove
sew the patch firmly onto the opening
with scalloping stitches. Adhesive
plaster is often used to mend rubber
gloves or heavy kid gloves. Put the
plaster underneath the torn place, place
the edges together, then press firmly
against the plaster.