HOUSEHOLD TIPS NOT FOUND IN WOMAN'S WEEKLY

[Cathy]

You and I live in different worlds Stanley

[Stanley]

It would be very boring if everyone was the same Cathy..... I rather like being an anachronism.
Today's tip is if a friend makes you some steel map weights, keep them polished with ordinary wax furniture polish. It'll stop them getting rusty. Same applies to any polished metal, nature never stops trying to destroy it!

[Tizer]

...as coin collectors are all too well aware! Wax protection is one of the recommended methods for copper coins. Verdigris is the bane of a collectors life. Once it starts you can't clean it off without damaging the coin, and it will always return. People talk about `bronze disease' too but that's supposed to be different from verdigris. Like they say about economists, ask two of them and you'll get three different answers.

[Stanley]

One thing that many people don't realise about verdigris is that it is very poisonous. I have had some nasty experiences after inhaling very small amounts of the dust. If you are going to do it use wet methods to avoid it getting airborne.

[Tizer]

Like many chemicals, it's the solubility in water that's important to how dangerous it is as a poison, combined with the particle size. Man-made verdigris is copper acetate and the natural substances are usually copper carbonates or copper chlorides. These are soluble enough to be a danger if ingested in quantity, whereas copper oxide is not soluble and therefore not dangerous. And as you know, it's the protective coating of copper oxide on the inside of copper pipes that makes them suitable for distributing potable water. I often handle malachite (copper carbonate) mineral specimens with bare hands with no problem but I would be very careful handling the powdered mineral. But you're right that not many people would realise there was a danger when they tried scrubbing verdigris off copper.

[Stanley]

Another hidden danger of course is the lead oxide in old paint. Always be very careful if you are cleaning old metal work using abrasive methods. Lead oxide undercoat was standard until the 1930s and 40s. I once poisoned myself cleaning wrought iron gates preparatory to repainting with a sanding disc on an angle grinder. Nasty, I will never do it again!

[Stanley]

Why do we almost all store poisonous cleaning chemicals under the sink in the kitchen where they are most accessible to kids? Worth thinking about it!

[Tizer]

There is advice on cleaning metal objects on the web page of the Victoria and Albert Museum: LINK

[Stanley]

We all depend on having sharp tools, even if they are as simple as knives in the kitchen. It makes life a lot easier if a bit of effort is put into sharpening them. I always say it took me 40 years to learn how to sharpen knives, a lot more to it than you would think but even a very imperfect attempt will make a world of difference. Time well spent....

[Stanley]

I keep my sharp knives on a magnetic rack high on the wall so that inquisitive children can't reach them. Even the two table knives are as sharp as razors....

[Stanley]

In case you are wondering, the fork is a very old one with a horn handle and is a lovely thing to use.... (Some 'clutter' is still useful!)

[Stanley]

If any of you took notice of making sure you had a bag of cooking salt about this might be the morning when it comes in handy. We could have snow showers this morning.....

[Stanley]

Never iron your kilt. If it needs cleaning or the pleats refreshing hang it under a cold shower for twenty minutes and then drip dry.

[PostmanPete]

I washed my kilt yesterday and now I can't do a fling with it...!

[Stanley]

I never even tried Pete! Today's tip is that if you have had a big day and you're as old as I am, have an easy day even if you feel fine. Nobody is pushing you for a deadline..... Main thing I have to do is hang the montage where it will be a constant reminder.....

[Stanley]

Heating your home costs money but as long as it is possible, don't skimp on heating when we have a cold day like today. My heart goes out to the people who can't do this, either because of poverty or bad housing. So today's tip is, when you turn the heating up a bit give a thought to those who are not as lucky as you!

[Stanley]

While you are earning buy clothes that will stand the test of time. When you sink into genteel poverty as a pensioner you will bless the day!

[Stanley]

I think I must have had a Senior Moment. I was on another topic and reposted the above because I thought it had gone AWOL. "Nurse, what day is it?"
This morning's tip is that it's surprising how quickly large items of washing like duvet covers will dry if hung in the stair well of the house. There is always a current of air going up there. In times gone by it was always seen as the best place to hang hams as they kept well there.

[Tizer]

Did you hear the Making History radio programme where they described how mummification of the dead was used in Britain, not just in Egypt? One of the ways they preserved their dead relatives was by smoking: "hanging grandma's body in the smoke from the fire".

[Stanley]

No I missed that! Mind you, I'll bet they didn't hang her at the top of the stairs when she was smoked!

[Tizer]

Not only did they smoke their grannies and keep the mummified bodies close by so they were still able to `be part of the family', they also made up composite mummies from different bodies. So if you lost granny's right leg you added a spare one from somewhere else!

[Whyperion]

I think I must have had a Senior Moment. I was on another topic and reposted the above because I thought it had gone AWOL. "Nurse, what day is it?"
This morning's tip is that it's surprising how quickly large items of washing like duvet covers will dry if hung in the stair well of the house. There is always a current of air going up there. In times gone by it was always seen as the best place to hang hams as they kept well there.

Wonderful, last two houses have had stairs, but have had the walls built hard against them, so no hanging space. Currently arguing with architects for some proposed new houses where the bedding drying area/s should be for a development of houses and flats.

[Stanley]

There was a comment on Steeplejack's Corner about my boots and it illustrates something I have said before many a time, if you can afford it, buy the best and this applies particularly to footwear. Men are luckier than women in this respect, they are not subject to the vagaries of fashion. The Tricker boots I bought for £14 forty years ago with my redundancy pay from Bancroft are as good today as they were then because I have looked after them. The same boots would cost £400, same goes for my brogues as well. Not a bad return for a bit of boot polish and elbow grease over the years. Well worth thinking about.....

[Stanley]

On-line shopping is a boon but if possible avoid being in the position where you have to sit in the house waiting for the courier! I am in that position today and I hate it!

[PanBiker]

Can you not track it Stanley?