Evening star., 1941-03-14
Use Muriatic Acid to Clean
Smoky Fireplace Bricks;
Take All Precautions
Rust Spots in Kitchen Stoves
Due to Metals Sweating;
Apply Aluminium Paint
By Margaref NotOeH

IL y Nh " S"ct AN OUcb
Dear Miss NOVEL;:
Our living room fireplace is Of dt
burning logs some of the bricks beca
part with a broom has had no effect,
anything that will remove it.
Also, our kitchen stove Is not quit
top range. Shortly after we began
using it I noticed rust spots forming
in the two storage bins. In one
bin I keep skillets, and in the other
bread and rolls. I am most careful
about drying the skillets before I
put them away. The interior OF
the stove is not porcelain but the
ordinary metal usually found in
stoves. Do you know of any way
that this condition may be cor
rected?
MRS. T. K.
Answer-Muriatic acid will clean
the bricks very nicely. You may
get a bottle at the drugstore. Re-
member that it is a poison, will
mark your wood floors or brass
andirons if it spatters on them,
and that it is hard on your hands
and clothes, so take the necessary
precautions to protect them. Then
use slender stick with a Swab
of cloth tied around the end. Dip
this in the acid and rub the burned
spot on the bricks. 1t may take two
or three applications before they
are clean, but this slow method will
prevent the acid scattering on other
things. Muriatic is excellent for all
stone or ceramic surfaces and I am
sure you will be pleased with the
results. I think the rust inside your
stove Is caused by the cold metal
sweating" when the stove is heated.
I would suggest that you paint the
interior of the stove with aluminium
paint after you have cleaned the
rust spots off with steel wool. This
will prevent its rusting any further.
If ypa do not care for the appear
ance of the aluminium, you can paint
with white enamel on top of that,
to keep a spio and span appearance.
Dear Miss NOVEL;:
You have helped me before with
home problems, so will you please
help me now with a church prob
lem?
We want to purchase. or have
made to order, two pedestals for
flowers and vases. as there are no
places or receptacles planned for
them. have drawn rough sketch
of the interior of the church to give
you some idea of the arrangement.
The church is an old one and the
interior is ivory with combination
of pine and oak woods. "X' marks
the spot where there is not enough
room for the pedestals. 20" marks
/ the place where they would seem
best, but we do not know whether
they should be placed on the floor
or on the platform just above this
point.
MRS. w. H. ].
Answer-Your sketch is most IL
Illuminating and I think you would
be wise to place the pedestals where
YOU have marked TO-" on the floor
at either side of the altar. Suggest
they be a little shorter than the
floor of the platform, so that when
flowers are arranged in vases, the
flowers and foliage will mask the
platform edge. the minister will not
be hemmed in and the flowers may
be enjoyed by the congregation and
the minister.
Dear Miss NOVEL;:
I have an old mahogany chest OF
drawers with two small drawers at
attached at the top. The edge OF
theftop has a deep veneer which is
broken off in spots and the mirror
is very poor. would like new mir
ror hung on the wall Do you think
a gilt oval one would be good? Also,
is it possible to patch the broken
places with new veneer?
H. S.
Answer-A good cabinetmaker can
patch the broken places so that
they will never be noticed. Most
of them keep a collection of veneer
of varying thicknesSes just for this
purpose. I would suggest that you
keep the mirror frame and have
new piece of glass put in it. Have
the frame refinished, remove the
pedestal which holds the frame and
hang the mirror on the wall. I think
you will find this more in keeping
with the design of the chest than
the gilt oval mirror. If your mirror
frame is not redeemable, next best
would be square mahogany framed
mirror to match the wood of the
dresser. I think you will need the
balance of the dark wood above the
heavy chest, rather than the gilt.
Dear Miss NOVEL;:
have found Just the pattern I
want for bedroom draperies in Is
cent percale. Would it be unwise to
purchase such inexpensive material
for this purpose?
knswer-No. I think you will be
we'll satisfied with it. Suggest you
line it with plain percale and leave
the hens free at the bottom. In this
way they may be washed and ironed
and will not pull up on the seams.
Allow for shrinkage, unless you are
laundering the material first.