HOUSEHOLD TIPS NOT FOUND IN WOMAN'S WEEKLY

[Stanley]

The old builders used what we call Blue Limestone as a base course and it was as hard as the hobs of hell and virtually waterproof.

[Tizer]

I wonder if that's `Irish Blue Limestone', which has a very low porosity of 0.1%? The blue colour is due to carbon in the stone.

[Stanley]

I don't know but it is very hard..... If you use a star drill on it dull red sparks fly out of the hole....

[Stanley]

If you are faced with blue limestone when running pipes or wires through a wall in an old building, dig down, there are no foundations, they didn't bother with them in those days because the walls were so thick the ground pressure was low and they got away with it. Easier to dig under the wall than go through it!

[Stanley]

Cast iron borings mixed with double boiled Linseed Oil results in a slow setting cement which dries out like cast iron. This was the basis of the notorious 'Beaumont’s Egg' which was used by iron founders to repair blow holes and flaws in castings. This practice was at the root of the failure of the Tay Bridge.... I came across it as the packing cement used by the engine makers to seal the gap between the cylinder and the valve chest of the Whitelees engine.

[Tizer]

Some of our old walls sit on nothing more than slate placed on top of compacted clay.

[Cathy]

WD-40 (my source from 2006) Did you know? About a million cans of WD-40 are produced each week in the USA alone. The secret recipe, which has had the same ingredients for over 50yrs, is known only by a handful of people with the company. A lone 'brew-master' mixed the basic ingredients together at corporate headquarters in San Diego.
It's said to be good for cleaning guitar strings by spraying onto a rag and wiping over the strings, removing strong glue from fingers and surfaces, for spraying onto new leather shoes to prevent blisters by softening the leather, also keeps the shoes waterproof and shiny (buff with soft cloth after spraying), removing tomato stains from clothing by spraying then washing clothing as usual, and it renew's the look of faded plastic furniture, spray and then wipe with a clean dry cloth. Also (just one more of many) it's said to deter animals from digging up garden beds, they hate the smell.

[Stanley]

Good post Cathy. WD 40 is wonderful stuff. When you've polished brasses or other metal objects spray lightly with WD and then polish. They won't need cleaning again for yonks.

[Tizer]

There have been a lot of myths about WD-40 oil. About 15 years ago a man wrote to the The Times saying how he rubbed it on his hands every day to ease his arthritis because it contains fish oil. I had to get them to publish a letter from me pointing out that it doesn't contain any fish oil, it's a petroleum oil, and the company advises users to avoid prolonged skin contact and to use soap and water to remove it from skin.

And talking about soap and water...I like this article about soap bars versus liquid soap. I would add one more important reason to their list of 5 - soap bars are much more cost effective, they last much longer.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazin ... r-31771436

[Stanley]

Nice to see that the science confirms my use of old fashioned bar soap! Used with cold water it lasts forever!

[Stanley]

A cheaper alternative to WD40 is 'Duck Oil'. If you search you'll find a supplier. Just as good, we used a lot at Ellenroad. Walker's used to make Centigard which is just as good but I don't know whether it is still available. I've just had a search and it is still available but the company has a different name, probably been bought out.

[Stanley]

Soling and heeling a pair of proper leather boots is an expensive business these day, £26 the last pair I had done a couple of weeks ago at Birro's but compared to the cost of 'trainers' I'm sure this is cheap and certainly better for your feet! I suspect, from observing what people wear, that it's only old farts like me who still believe in good shoes and boots. I wonder if their feet will be in as good nick as mime when they are 80?

[Stanley]

When I went in the engine house in 1972 I ditched the clogs and went into Doc Martin's. That was when I started to get hard skin on my heels... I wonder what trainers would have done?

[PanBiker]

I have worn trainers for quite number of years with no detriment whatsoever to my feet. My dad went into the Army A1 in 1940 and was medically downgraded to D4 due to the state of his feet by 1942 after two years in Army boots in Arctic conditions. I suppose a lot might depend on the state of your feet to start with.

[Tizer]

Trainers, like fleece jackets and waterproof anoraks, are high up in my ratings of great inventions benefiting mankind (and womankind). I still remember the first time I wore trainers, they felt sooo much more comfortable for outdoor wear than any shoes or boots I'd ever worn.

[Cathy]

I've heard before that wearing trainers for a while can make your feet spread. As a female I think it is more noticable when you then try to wear healed shoes.

[PanBiker]

If you are referring to high heeled shoes Cathy, I think they are about as unnatural as you can possibly get. Lets not forget our bodies have never evolved specifically to wear shoes they are a relatively new invention so the more natural to bare feet you can get the better I suppose.

[Stanley]

I always thought that the reason why clogs were so kind to your feet was because in effect you were always walking on a polished, solid wood floor...

[Stanley]

If a ladder starts in your tights or stocking put a dab of clear nail varnish on it. This will stop it for that day. I once met a coal chap at Causeway Foot on the way into Halifax from Keighley who had five daughters. He bemoaned the fact that when tights replaced stockings it meant that a snag on one leg made the good leg unusable so he made his daughters cut the bad leg off and wear two odd leg tights at once.... I don't know what effect this had on his daughter's intimate parts, a greater incidence of thrush?

[David Whipp]

Do folk still wear tights?

When working outdoors, if it was bitter cold, it wasn't unknown for me to don a pair (any excuse, I suppose...).

[Cathy]

I don't wear dresses, I'm a trousers girl... but speaking of thrush, it made me think of those that wear spanx. It can't be healthy for females or males.
Oh the things we do eh.

[Stanley]

I had to look Spanx up Cathy. You learn something new every day! I agree with you. Lots to be said for French knickers..... The more ventilation the better!

[PanBiker]

I had to look that up as well, goodness me that's assault! Very sad day when tights replaced a nice pair of stockings with appropriate suspension. I suppose they were a lot more convenient but did nothing for women's health.

Doubt if it will be the case in Oz but maybe in Winter the trend now seems to be leggings, which as far as I can see are just a heavy duty over engineered pair of tights (in many colours though). A bit like medieval hose, the fashions all seem to go in circles. Sooner or later the mass ladies market will rediscover proper lingerie.

[Tizer]

I'm reading a novel set in the 1700s and the dandy men in the towns are described by the women as wearing `very tight attire' on their legs and `leaving little to the imagination'. Meanwhile the women glide about like Daleks in their structurally engineered dresses.

[Cathy]

Gosh Panbiker you seem to know as much about ladies under 'things' as Stanley (don't worry its all good) I can remember suspenders and stockings from my teen years but by the time I started work it was all pantyhose/tights. Yes things have changed, even bras, we now have the Aah Bra which I think is called that because by the time a female actually gets it on all she can say is 'Aah'.
I can feel another google search coming on...