Evening star., 1939-11-25
First Aid
For the
Aiing House
BY ROGER b. WHITMAN,

matlOn on Whdt an inexperienced
buyer of furniture should look for
when he's out to get bedroom set?
Answer-Much of the informa-
ton you need is contained in a
Government bulletin entitled Fur
niture Selection" report No. 18, of
the National Committee of Wood
Utilization. Write to the superin-
tendent of documents, Washington,
tnclosing 10 cents in coin.
Copper Stains
Question-What will remove cop
per stains from stucco?
Answer-Take them out with am
monia. One method is to dissolve
sal ammoniac in water, to make a
paste by adding fuller's earth and
to apply over the stains.
Finishing Plywood.
Question-What finish should I
apply to the plywood that lines the
walls of our big living room? We
do not wish to darken the room too
much.
Answer-Plywood can be painted
with any good light-colored paint.
Or, If you do not care to cover the
grain of the wood, apply first a coat
of Shellac, thinned half-and-
with denatured alcohol. Follow this
with coat of wax Two coats of a
quick drying varniSh would also
make a satisfactory finish.
Papering Rough Walls.
Question-The walls throughout
my house are teXtured plaster. Can
this be smoothed to make a good
surface for wall paper?
AnsWer-Go over the walls with
sandpaper wrapped around a block
of wood to take down the highest
points of the texturing. Then, US
ing the same kind of plastic paint
that was originally used for the
walls, fill the remaining roughness-
es, using brush or troWel. Final
smoothing of the wall can be done
with trowel or with rubber
squeegee, such as is used for wash
ing plate-glass windows.
Painting Radiators.
Question-Before painting my
radiators I went over the surface
with steel wool. then wiped them
with benzine. Was this correct? l
then put on a coat of fiat white
paint with another coat to follow,
finishing with high quality en-
amel. My husband claims that the
white paint will turn brown in time
after the heat is turned on. Is
he right?
Answer-Your method is correct
A white paint will darken some
what when the heat is on, the
change of color depending on the
quality of the paint
Cleaning Wood Floors.
Question-What can I apply to
hardwood floors to remove marks,
such as scratches and spots, as we'll
as several layers of wax? The floors
are almost new, and I do not want
to have them scraped.
AnsWer-To remove scratches
from shellacked floors, wipe with
turpentine. Or, small scratches can
be treated with little denatured
alcohol, put in with soft camel's
hair brush, and deep scratches with
a little thin shellac. Vanished
floors should be treated with var
nish. You can clean the floors by
wiping with liquid floor wax and
plenty of clean cloths. Polish by
applying good paste floor wax in thin
coats, rubbing we'll. Floors that are
badly scratched should be scraped,
preferably with an electric sand
ing machine.
Hand Pump Loses Prime.
Question-We have a 20-foot well
on our property, getting the water
with a hand-stroke pitcher pump.
But every morning the pump has
to be primed; if the pump is not
used for a short time. we have to
pump at least a dozen times to bring
up water again How can we cor
rect this condition?
AnsWer-Loss of prime in a hand
pump is usually caused by a de-
fective check valve, or some obstruc-
ton under this valve. Remove the
valve and scrape the lower side
thoroughly with a knife, being sure
to remove all grit.
Cracked Plaster.
Question-The walls of my house
are of unfinished plaster, and were
recently decorated with casein paint.
There is one particularly bad crack
in the wall. How can it be re-
paired?
Answer-The crack is probably
from settlement, and may grow
worse should settlement continue.
If so, you will be wasting time and
material to do any patching until
settlement is over. If you feel sure
that the crack has reached its limit,
you can repair it with patching plas-
ter, to be had at a hardware store.
Widen the narrow part of the crack