QUESTION: I enjoy your tips immensely and clip your column or parts thereof frequently. I have a problem I fear does not have a solution but here goes anyway. In starting a new plant off the mother plant and in letting roots grow on a baby spider, I foolishly used a small treasured crystal vase of my mother's. When I tried to clean it, there were etch marks that don't want to come out. Any suggestions? By the way, my current baby spider is sitting in a small leftover jar. Suzette, Winnipeg
ANSWER: I agree that the vase is etched; this may or may not be reversible depending on how deeply the etching has set in. Soak the glasses in hot vinegar or run citric acid through the dishwasher with the vase inside. Both options are effective solutions on etched glass. Another option (and this is my favourite) is to drop a denture tablet into the vase with a quarter teaspoon of dish soap and water. Leave overnight and rinse in the morning. You may need to gently rub the interior with an abrasive cloth.
QUESTION: I spilled oil-based paint on leather upholstery. Is there anything that will get it out? Thanks. Rick, Winnipeg
ANSWER: Paint that has dried for more than six hours is difficult to remove. There are commercial paint removers for leather but the success rate is not great. Some people have removed oil paint with pumice-free waterless hand cleaner or paint thinner while others say WD-40 and fine sandpaper is the best. In any case, use all solutions with caution; be careful that the leather dye is not disturbed.
QUESTION: My father recently handed down the bone china he and my mother received as a wedding gift. We used to live on an acreage and the water was iron heavy and stained some of the pieces. Is there a trick to removing it? I have tried scrubbing, but am scared I'll break the heirlooms if I get vigorous. Please help me out. Jesse, Winnipeg
ANSWER: Soak the dishes in the hottest water you feel comfortable putting them in with 3 cups vinegar and 2 tbsp. citric acid. Citric acid can be ordered at your local pharmacy. This recipe is similar to the recipe in my second book for discoloured Corelle dishes, Corellabunga. You may need to gently scrub the stain with an abrasive cloth after it has soaked for an hour.
Feedback from Smart Manitoban:
Dear Reena,
With regards to your article on borax. In an older book about agriculture put out by the University of Manitoba, it states that most diseases of vegetables are caused by lack of boron in the soil. This is remedied by spreading one cup of borax in your garden. Fruit-tree growers use it when trees fail to produce fruit in a similar way. Taxidermists use it to dry out and preserve pelts before mounting on foam supports.
Louis, St. Claude
Reena's Note: Thank you for the great information, Louis. Just want to caution readers to use borax at your own discretion and remember that borax on grass will kill it.
Fabulous Tips of the Week:
-- Soak fabrics in white vinegar before laundering to lock in colours. Submitted by: Margret, Winnipeg
-- Books and bookshelves infested with ants are difficult to conquer. Place a cotton ball soaked with lemon juice onto the shelf; the ants do not like the smell and will leave. Submitted by: Margret, Winnipeg
Reena Nerbas is the author of the national bestselling Household Solutions series. Her website is www.householdsolutions.org. You can contact her at Box 429, Blumenort, Man., ROA 0C0.
