HOUSEHOLD TIPS NOT FOUND IN WOMAN'S WEEKLY

[Bodger]

My mother when first married came from Sheffield to a hamlet called Barnsde, hot water was obtained from a boiler next to the fire, my mother asked a neighbour how do you get your hot water out of the boiler , the reply was, " i get the piggin", my mother was totaly confused , i'm sure someone with knowledge will explain that boars and sows had nothing to do with it!

[Stanley]

My understanding of piggin is that it was originally a small wooden vessel made like a barrel with staves and hoops but an open top and one stave was extended and shaped to make a handle, a bucket was made by extending two opposite staves and adding a rope handle. Ideal for dipping in a boiler with no tap to get water without getting scalded. Made of metal it became the lading tin with a brass hooked handle soldered on. They were used by milk retailers mainly to get milk out of open top kits when selling loose milk. These were measures and were checked by the inspectors and the approval seal punched into a small blob of soft solder on the side.

[Stanley]

Can you remember the days when the way to get whites white was to boil them in soap and water, rinse three times and put Dolly Blue in the final rinse?



That's right, I've got one! I think you can still get them at Shambles on the Square....

[Stanley]

I remember calling in at Mrs Robinson at Standridge Farm on Folly one day and she offered me a bowl of Irish Stew which was bubbling away on the stove. I declined because next to it was a pan full of handkerchiefs boiling as well and the froth was running over into the stew.

[Cathy]

Charming!! I'm sure these days housewifes would refuse to launder hankies, I certainly would.

[Stanley]

Boiling used to be the standard way of achieving very clean whites Cathy. It's still a good way of sterilizing nappies. I noted in Oz that there were cotton terry nappy services and they collected used ones from home. They boiled for cleanliness.

[David Whipp]

My two youngest (now knocking on 14 and 16) experienced the joys of disposable nappies; older daughter Emma, who is over 21, had terrys. Can you still get napisan?

[PanBiker]

Our Carla and Dan had terrys, I actually love the smell of Napisan, (am I weird), just Googled it and it is still available. Jack came later and by then we had disposed of the terry set and all the paraphernalia so he had first generation disposables which were a bit crap (sorry for the pun) to say the least. We had him potty trained quite quickly I seem to remember.

On the practical front and now the other side of dealing with three grandchildren using the latest technology, the disposables are now very convenient and efficient but we still find the various brands of wipes although again convenient sometimes can't do as good a job at cleaning as warm water and cotton wool balls as originally used for their mums and dads.

[Cathy]

My daughter (now 27) was a big user of disposable nappies (haha), I highly recommend them. Twice I tried her with cloth nappies and twice she developed a very nasty nappy rash, the doctor told me to go back to disposables for her (Iwould have done anyway). I understand that you are supposed to drop the solids into your toilet before wrapping the nappy to put in the bin - not sure that a lot of people do tho. Nappy San is great for soaking all sorts of clothing and adding into the machine with the normal wash.

[Stanley]

One great thing about Terry nappies is that they were environmentally friendly. I still have one that is used as a dishcloth. Are one time nappies biodegradable now? They didn't use to be. I have a snap somewhere of a washing line in Todmorden full of nappies but I can't find it! I remember Vera worrying the first time we went on a holiday with the three kids. 14 days in Ayr. She worked out that if we couldn't be sure of finding a laundrette we needed 75 pairs of knickers..... I managed to persuade her it would be all right!

[Stanley]

Putting the washing out in the orchard at Hey Farm in 1971. Cattle won't interfere with the washing but goats will! They eat the clothes, always bear this in mind,

[Stanley]

One of the oldest products still on the market is Manger's Sugar Soap. It was the standard way of cleaning paintwork in my youth and is still available. Often called 'the painter and decorator's trade secret'. A forgotten gem.....
At Sough we used to sell tins of 'blanket soap'. It was a very pure liquid soap containing flecks of camphor and was favoured for the annual washing of woollen blankets.

[Stanley]

Way back in time, lots of floors in houses were stone-flagged. Maintenance was a good scrub once a week and then a decorative pattern round the outside of floor sand. This wasn't water washed sand but crushed stone. The ordinary sand was rounded and slippy, crushed stone had sharp edges and apart from giving a good grip it cleaned the flags as it was trodden in.
Sawdust was often spread in pubs and the last time I saw it used was in a butcher's shop.

[Stanley]

It's funny how things stick in the back of your mind and can be triggered at any time, often the most trivial bits of memory. I was reading my sand and sawdust piece this morning and remembered an item from the Parish Magazine at St Paul's on Heaton Moor in Stockport where I was a choirboy. The minister Alfie Jeff was talking about the state of the separate Sunday School at the back of the church which had been requisitioned by the army for the duration of WW2. He said that there was rot in the wooden floors "due to the army methods of wet cleaning". Such a mundane memory but so strongly embedded. Strange and I wonder why this should be....

[Stanley]

Wallpaper could be cleaned using special cleansing blocks available from your local decorator's supply shop.

[chinatyke]

Wallpaper could be cleaned using special cleansing blocks available from your local decorator's supply shop.

That brought back memories of my Dad using one of those blocks. It was pink and sort of gelatinous or rubbery and had a peculiar smell.

[Stanley]

They were a sort of giant pencil eraser I think. They worked but I remember that in bad places like round light switches the pattern went with the dirt!
Another standby that is still used in proprietary cleaners but in those days was used neat is whiting, finely ground chalk, a mild abrasive.

[Stanley]

I recently found out that you can still buy Ajax cleaner at the Shambles on the Square. This and Vim were the standard cleaners and are still the best thing for stainless steel sinks!

[Cathy]

I always use Ajax powder cleanser on my shower floor. Is Vim the same as Jiff cream cleanser? It's good for the sink and oven trays.

[Stanley]

Cathy, Vim was a dry powder like Ajax and as you say, still a very efficient cleanser. Jiffy and similar products are simply fine abrasive in a liquid base and they charge more for them. Varying grades of abrasive are used and so they can sell a variety of products for all sorts of applications. The very finest are marketed as cleaners for ceramic hobs.
An old fitters trick was to have a bucket of fine sawdust next to the sink and you dipped your hands in after putting some Swarfgega on them. This got your hands wonderfully clean but played hell with your skin. I still have a touch of industrial dermatitis on my left hand cause by this. As a medic once said to me, it's like using paint stripper to wash yourself.... I fear he was right!

[Stanley]

Can any of you remember the luxury of a rug next to the bed so that when you got up you didn't have to suffer the shock of the cold lino on your feet?

[Cathy]

Apart from carpet we also have things called Slippers these days

[Moh]

My grandma used to make rag rugs - old clothes were cut up into small pieces and then threaded through a sacking material for the backing. My dad used to make rugs cutting up wool and working to a pattern. Both were lovely and warm instead of lino or bare boards. Strange how the modern way is to have bare boards again!

[PanBiker]

I can remember pegging rugs with my mum. Dad made a frame for the Hessian backing and we used cut up old woollen clothes into strips. We used to have a rag rug in front of the living room fireplace even after it had carpet fitted in the early 60's. Make do and mend attitude, my mum had the front room as her sewing room for dressmaking and alterations. She sewed curtains as well for a couple of shops in Barlick. It was packed with material so no shortage of makings as such. I still have her massive Victorian sideboard in our back room. It used to hold material, hundreds of different coloured threads and and all her patterns. She had a double draw leaf table in the front room as well for cutting out. She made all the Barlick Gala Queens and entourage dresses in the late 50's and early 60's

[Stanley]

Peg rugs are mentioned time and time again in the LTP. Made properly they wore well and if you have a very old one which has red in the pattern it is almost sure to be an old army uniform.



A patent needle for making peg rugs, very posh! Most people used a wooden peg.