Evening star., 1945-11-05
Readers Clearing House
HOUSE PROBLEMS.

From Mrs. B. r. r., Washington. ]
In answer to Mrs. j. L. SIS queries
on house problems, ! think can be
of help on couple of them.
First-The woodwork in my home
Is painted an ivory color and, believe
me, 1t is a task to keep it clean.
second-I can give you some first
hand information on an automatic
washer of which I am a proud
owner. have had one for the past
21z years and am afraid couldn't
do without it. Having two small
children, ages 31s and IA, I have
plenty or dirty clothes and I have
no trouble at all in getting them
clean. As for getting clothes tan
gled, they do when there are clothes
such as "a little girls dresses and
aprons and such that have sashes
or ties. But the little inconven-
fence OF untangling is very small
when you stop to think and con-
slider the time and work an auto
matte washer saves you, which, in
my opinion to me, is a godsend. I
could go on and on telling you why
I like my washer.
Third-The question of a home
without a basement. In my opin-
ion, I couldn't do without one.
There are so many things you can
store in basement that it would be
inconvenient to store in other places,
such as lawn mowers, garden tools
and a hundred and one other things.
We have no trouble keeping ours
warm and dry my clothes town
there during freezing weather. 1
hope this will be of some help.
From Mrs. r. /. H., Bethesda.J
I, too, like Mrs. j. L. S., am inter-
eSted in postwar automatic wash
ing machine. have been living at
home with my family in the absence
of my husband and have had plenty
of opportunity to observe my
mothers washer. I noticed, too, that
the machine did not always do
good job of cleaning and that it
tangled and think have found
out why. For the cleaning part,
many people have tendency to
either skip the soak" or cut it down.
The clothes should be soaked the
full period on the dial. Then a
great deal of care should be taken not
to put too much soap in, enough to
- et, - ~ i,,nI,ae <,f e,,le
through the glass. That brings up
another point. I experimental with
all the different soaps and found the
one which would really make my
baby's diapers soft, clean and white.
Diapers are good test for soaps.
The soap you use is very important.
Then next for the tangling. That
Is very simple. Knots are encoun-
tered when the machine is over
loaded. Also, if the machine is
overloaded it is obvious that the
clothes won't get as clean as if the
proper amount were being washed.
I hope this encourages Mrs. ]. L. S.
An automatic machine really is won-
derful, saves lot of time and back
breaking labor as well as doing an
excellent job when properly used.
think shall look into the combina
ton washing machine and dish
washer, as I understand from a
friend who owns one that they are
de luxe.
doubt if a house without a base
ment would be practical in this
climate, but she'd better ask an
expert. I think I can tell her about
the storage space, however. Window
seats with storage space underneath
are practical. Also built-in closets
running the length of the wall are
excellent with shelves in convenient
places.
Venetian blinds are excellent
with heavy, drapes which can be
drawn all the way across In cold,
damp weather. They are nice-look-
ing, easy to clean and insure pri-
vacy without relinquishing light.
Also they prevent direct sunlight
from fading carpets, etc.
Steel-framed windows which swing
out (not in, SO as not to mess up
curtains, Venetian or what have
yoW are preferable, especially here
in Washington, as the usual wooden
lifted ones swell and warp.
hope have helped bit on these
interesting problems.
fFrom A. E. H., Mount Rainier, Md
Regarding Mrs. j. L. SIS inquiry
on house problems, if she will try
and get copy of Better Homes and
Gardens magazine, October, 1945,
issue and read the article beginning
on page 8, 'Booby traps to avoid
when you build or remodel" it will
give her very good answer to sew
eral of her questions.
X X X
SLAW DRESSING;
INK REMOVER.