Evening star., 1942-04-30
Proper Care
Of Metal
Utensils
Treat Pots and Pans
Well to Make Them
Last for Duration
By BSveax of Home
Economics, United States

OtVSsVSss'Scs ~ 'S'sS~ c'osSS
DEPARTMENT A Aericnlfnre
Today most of the metals used ir
ordinary household articles have be.
come critical" materials. In ordel
to save these metals for production
of vital war equipment, their use
has been sharply curtailed-in many
instances stopped entirely-for the
manufacture of ordinary civilian
goods.
In the following brief dictionary
are presented some hints for war.
time good housekeepers concerning
the care of metal articles in theil
homes. These tips on metal saving
come from Lenore Safer, chief OF
the household equipment section OF
Of the United States Department Of
Agriculture's Bureau of Home Eco
nomics.
Aluminium.
Never leave food in aluminium any
longer than necessary. Food stored
IN it-or food particles left in the
pan and allowed to wait some hours
before the pan Is cleaned will cause
pits or holes to form in the alu-
minum, So will soaking the utensil
for some time before washing 1t.
Pitted aluminium not only is un-
slightly, but it is more difficult to
clean. Any alkali, such as soda
water, will cause aluminium to turn
dark and to pit. Soda water boiled
In aluminium will corrode the pan.
You can brighten aluminium that
Is slightly discolored by boiling some
weak acid in it-for instance, water
To which you have added some
cream OF tartar or vinegar. Or II
you are cooking rhubarb, tomatoes,
tart apples, sour milk, or buttermilk,
these will also brighten the alumni
mum without spelling the foods for
eating.
You can clean badly discolored
aluminium with cloth dipped IN
very fine securing powder or with
fine steel wool of the grade 90. II
you use steel wool, you'll be sure OF
removing even the tiniest of salt
particles. Ordinarily. you won't have
10 resort to these drastic cleaning
measures If you keep aluminium
utensils clean from day to day
with mild soap. sudsy water, rinsing
and thorough drying.
Brass.
Most brass articles around home
come In the class of decorative
goods. Day-to-day cleaning need
only be q dusting with soft cloth.
# YOU want to clean 1t more thor
oushy, wash 1t in hot, sudsy water.
Then rinse and dry.
II there are spots on the brass,
rub the spots with one OF the fol-
lowing: Hot vinegar and salt;
lemon rind and salt; hot buttermilk; !;
hot sour milk; tomato juice; rhu-
barb Juice. Wash these oil, rinse
them, then wipe the brass.
You may also clean the brass with
metal polish made especially for
brass or copper. These two metals
are hard and can stand a more
abrasive polish than other, softer
metals. Some homemakers prefer
the looks of unpublished brass. Others
save themselves much polishing by
cleaning the brass, then lacquering
it with q clear lacquer. The lac
ouered brass needs only busting and
occasional washing.
Bronze.
Clear with weak soapsuds. hot
vinegar. or hot buttermilk. Rinse
thoroughly right away. Dry thor
oughly. To brighten the bronze
use dry whiting powdered chalk,
or rottenstone. You may lacquer
bronze in the same way as brass.
Chromium Plate.
Never use metal polisher or any
kind of cleaning powder on any
chromium finish. 1t is soft metal
and wears OF easily. But it is one
of the easiset metals to keep clean
and stainless Simply wipe 1T Oh
with q damp cloth. If it needs wash
ing, use soapy water, rinse, and dry
Copper.
Keep copper absolutely clean II
YOU use 1t for any food, otherwise
it's dangerous. Clean and polish II
by the same methods recommended
for brass.
Iron.
Wash iron in hot. sudsy water. II
this doesn't clean it, use hot soda
and water. II the iron utensil u
zmall enough, boil 1t in soda ane
water. Rinse and dry.
Always keep iron thoroughly dry
because . little moisture will cause
It to rust II iron does become
rusted, take of the rust with scour-
ing powder, with steel wool, ol
With q ball of copper threads. 1
you want to store an iron pan fol
long, coat it with saltless oil o.
fat. Wrap it in paper, and stor'
it IN . dry place.
Stainless Steel.
Clean OF spots or burned-on foot
with . gritless cleaning powder o.
grade 90 steel wool Otherwise keel
clean with hot. soapy water, rinslni
and thorough drying.
Nickel.
II you can't get nickel clean with
soap and sudsy water, use a fin'
cleaning powder. such as within,
paste. Rinse and dry with a sof
cloth. Wash nickel frequently Il
keep II bright. A coarse, gritt,