Evening star., 1961-06-24

under certain conditions you
will have an excellent chance
of success without removing
the paint. If deck enamel was
used on the floor, there is no
alternative but to remove it.
If chlorinated rubber base
paint or one of the acrylic
concrete paints was used,
make the following test: Dis
solve 8 tablespoons of con-
centrated lye in a cup of hot
water. Apply this solution to
a dozen or more scattered
areas on the floor. After q
half hour examine these
areas. If none of them show
signs Of changing color or
Softening or bliStering, you
can be reasonably safe in
leaving the paint on the
floor.
Termite Utopio
II need about 18 inches Of
fill around my house. Some
people have suggested that /
use wood SawduSt as this is
plentiful here and it will hold
moisture so that grass will
grow better. Would this be
satisfactory" J. P. asks.
Answer - I do not know
anything about it making
the grass grow, but you will
certainly be operating the
best free lunch counter for
termites in the whole State.
Earth fill should be much
safer.
VoFnished Floors
There are dark areas on
my hardwood floors where
the varnish seems to have
been worn away. Please tell
me how can refinish these
spots" L. w. asks.
Answer - Vanished floors
cannot be patched. The dark
areas in traffic lanes is due
to dirt penetrating the wood
after the protecting coating
Of varniSh has been worn off.
The entire floor must be
Sanded and refiniShed. Next
time, try using q floor sealer
in place of varnish. This can
be patched.
More MiIdew Troubles
please tell me how to re-
move mildew stains from
white percale curtains" Mrs.
s. U. asks.
Answer-Mildew should be
treated before the mold
growth has a chance to weak
en- the fabric, otherwise there
is no point in doing anything
about it. On washable mate
rial, soap and water will re-
move fresh stains. Drying in
bright sunlight helps to
bleach the spots.
If this treatment does not
work, a bleach may be neces-
sary but first test this on q
hidden part Of the cloth for
color fastness. Slight stains
can be removed by moiSten-
ing the area with lemon juice
and then applying salt. Place
in the sun.
Old stains on cotton, linen
or rayon may be bleached out
with javelle water. Dip the
stain in javelle water for no
more than one minute, then
remove the chlorine from the
fabric with a sodium THO
sulphate solution. Rinse thor
oughly. This latter solution is
made by mixing one-half tea
spoon of sodium thioSulphate,
one or two teaspoons of vine
gar and one pint Of water.
Blond Not Preferred
"The doors in my home
are finished in natural color.
Is it possible to stain these a
darker color without remov-
ing the Shellac now on
them?" Mrs. P. B. asks.
AnSwer-They can be made
darker by applying varnish
stain. This is pigmented
varnish. It hides much Of the
natural grain and to my way
of thinking it does not make
an attractive finish. How
ever, it is the only way to
achieve the results you want
unless you remove all Of the
present finish so that a pene-
trating wood stain can be
used.
Wrong Wox
please tell me if anything
can be done to repair the
damage done to an asphalt
tile floor by the use of paste
wax" N. R. M. writes.
AnSwer-PaSte wax softens
asphalt tile and nothing can
be done to restore it to its
original condition. Only
water emulsion (self-polish-
inp) WAX should he used