Evening star., 1942-06-13
Aid
|For the
|AHingHouse
By ROGER b. WHITMAN.

By ROGER b. WHITMAN.
Hard water-What is . good wafer
softener for washing purposes mot
cooking or drinking? Have tried
sn kinds of soaps and powders with
out success
The water can be softened by the
addition of q small amount Of stock
solution OF trisodium phosphate.
Mix pounds of this chemical in .
gallon of water. To find the amount
needed to soften the water, I'LL the
scrub pail with water and add two
tablespoons Of the stock solution.
After mixing flll glass with the
mixture and stir q piece of soap in
it to raise light lather. If q curd
forms in the water, add more of the
stock solution and repeat test until
there Is no curd. Note the amount
of stock solution used; then add an
equal amount to each pail of wash
or scrup water used.
Heat through glass-We have sew
eral glass windows about 10 feet
high and 125 feet long. We have
considerable trouble from the sun,
which penetrates through the glass
When the heat Is strong it is almost
unbearable How can we keep this
exceptional heat from the premises
and merchandise?
Window shades in the form of fine
wood Stats would be one solution.
Another method Is to coat the glass
with = blue liquid coating which
will have the effect Of taking out the
heat In the suns rays. The name
of the manufacturer can be obtained
from the Architects Samples Ex-
hibit, 10l Park avenue, New York
City.
Photo darkroom-I plan to convert
the laundry In my cellar into q rust
free Photographic darkroom, using
gypsum wallboard, painted. over 4
by-l studs laid fiat to conserve
space. and . gypsum wallboard CELL
ing fastened to the beams. Is in
formation available for this type Of
construction
The makers Of gypsum wanboArd
can furnish you with printed in
structions on the proper method Of
installing their material. Where
partitions are not carrying a load.
studs can be spaced "A inches on
centers.
Spot made by lamp shade-A
lamp stood on a table against q
wall. A small spot appeared on the
wallpaper and has gradually grown
until 1t Is now . circle foot in
diameter. What is it? How can /
remove it?
The shade is parchment, or an
imitation. and its appearance has
been obtained by a treatment with
mineral oil. The shade touched the
wall and the mineral oil, under the
heat Of the lamp. soaked into the
paper. To take out the stain. cover
it with a soft paste made Of fullers
earth or powdered chalk dampened
with spot remover Cnon-inflam-
mable, if you can get it,. If the
liquid is inf1ammable. be extremely
careful of fire. Allow to remain
until dry and remove by brushing.
It may be necessary to repeat.
Closing a doorway We'd like to
block up a passagewsy between two
bedrooms, making a closet opening
into the room that has the door
To keep down expense We would
like to use wallhoard in the other
room. If this is used, can wall
paper be removed from it? If not,
can you suggest something else?
We want to avoid lath and plaster.
Use gypsum wallboard; give it
coat of quick-drying varnish. When
dry, size it; then apply the wall
paper.
Tobacco pipe-How can an apart
ment be rid of the constant odor
of an evil-smelling tobacco pipe that
is in use ut all hours?
Exposing one or two saucers half
filled with ammonia may do the
trick. One Of my readers described
the clearing out of tobacco odors
with cloves; she put them in the
spraying attachment of her vacuum
cleaner. which she ran for a quarter
of an hour or more. Using moth
observation-disclosures of cloves
would be still more effective. The
frequent use of pipe cleaners might
be suggested to the party of the
first part.
Termites-My foundations are
concrete blocks Termites have come
up through the holes in the center
Of the blocks, which apparently are
laid directly on the ground. Is this
a common thing? How could it be
stopped?
That is very usual, especially
when the concrete blocks are not
set on tight concrete footing. One
termite exterminator whom I know
plugs these holes with dense con-
crete, supporting the plugs on
pieces of metal lath jammed into
the holes a foot or so below the sill.
This can be done only in cases
where the sill is so far gone that it
must be replaced. When the top OF
the opening cannot be reached it
is possible to drill holes through