Evening star., 1942-06-06
First Aid
For the
'AHingHouse
BY ROGER b. WHITMAN.

Dy AtooEAk Ds AAA ASA<AA>s
@. How can I remove rust from
my smoothing iron? How can I
Make rust stain from silk slip?
A. For your iron, soak the rust
with kerosene and rub with fine
emery paper. At an automobile ac-
cessory shop you can get rust-re-
moving liquids that are very salts
factory. For the slip, you can use
iron-rust soan. to be had at a
drugstore.
Q. Please repeat your directions
for getting rid of the odor of Gig
arettes.
A. One correspondent recon-
mended one or two saucers half full
of household ammonia Another
did the trick with spray attachment
OF her vacuum cleaner; sne put in
some whcle cloves and then ran the
vac for Is minutes. There are also
several commercial products to be
had for this purpose.
@. Wfae IS formula for de-
termining the correct ste of
steam radiator for a roonS2
A. One formula allows / square
foot of radiation for each 2 square
feet of glass, l square foot of radia-
ton for each 20 square feet of out
side or exposed wall and of each 20
feet of cold ceiling and l square
foot of radiation for each 200 cubic
feet of contents. Increase this by
Is per cent for north or northeast
room. This formula is only foun-
dation; it should be varied accord
ing to house construction and to
local conditions.
Dry Rot.
@. What is the cause of dry rot?
What should be done to check and
prevent it?
A. Wood exposed to continuous
dampness stimulates fungus
growth in the wood, which turns it
into powder. A thorough circula-
ton of air or coating the lumber
with coal tar creosote or other
chemical wood preservative will
check the condition. All rotted
wood must be scraped off before
applying the preservatlve.
@. have hardwood floors that
are about six months old. They
were shellacked. When the floors
were new applied paste wax on an
average of once a month. The
floors now are beginning to darken.
Will you let me know the best
method to restore the floors to their
original color?
A. The floors have been over
waXed and the thick layer of wax
has picked up dust and dirt. To
clean the floors, moisten piece of
cheesecloth thoroughly with liquid
wax mot self-polishing) and go
over the floors with this, turning
out a clean part of the cloth fire.
quently. Work with clean cloths
only. Then apply a thin coat of
paste wax and polish the floors by
rubbing well. Floors should be
waxed about twice a year Around
doorways it may be necessary to
do this more frequently.
@. have an all-steel tankless
boiler, which during the winter,
while making steam, overheats the
water The lead pipes leak due to
the fact that the temperature of
the water cannot be regulated. Do
you know of a valve that could be
applied to this boiler to control
the temperature?
A. Your local plumber should be
able to install a thermostatic water
mixing valve at the outlet of the
water heater coil. There are sew
eral firms making this type of valve.
Moth Killing.
E @. I have fur coat so badly dam
aged by moths that it is not worth
/ repairing. I should like to use it as
laprobe in my car, but am afraid
the moths will get into the uphol-
stery. What could I do to the coat
to make this impossible?
A. Having it dry cleaned will kill
all life in the coat. The treatment
should be repeated later in the
spring before putting the coat away.
@. During a recent rainstorm wa
ter seeped through the front of my
I house. I have checked on all open
I ings and they seem to be tightly
caulked. I have been advised to
/ brush boiled linseed Oil into the
/ brick, as they are porous. Could
you advise a better method?
A. Check the condition of the
mortar joints between the brick.