Wednesday, July 22, 2009

TIPS FROM READERS

Several readers thought the Apollo silver holder (ezine, July 15) held toast. The best new suggestion was that it held upright silverware on a buffet.


Regarding how to clean stains from inside vases (ezine, July 8 and 15), J.S. wrote: "Remove the mess inside vases with warm water and a couple of Alka Seltzer tablets." E.T. from Vienna, Austria, offered a tip we have never tried: Put a handful of tiny paper chips from an old newspaper into the vase, add water, and let it stand overnight, swishing around the contents once in a while. The next day, remove the water with the dissolved newspaper in it; your glass container will be sparkling again. Use only old-fashioned, absorbent newspaper, not glossy magazines or plastified material.





5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Denture cleaner aldo works great!

Anonymous said...

......"Put a handful of tiny paper chips from an old newspaper into the vase, add water, and let it stand overnight, swishing around the contents once in a while."
____________________________________
I'm supposed to stay up all night just so I can swish newspaper chips around??????
I'm going with the denture cleaner!

Unknown said...

Try cream of tartar in a little warm water, swish and let set over night.

C.H.

Anonymous said...

I am sure most of you have noticed that sometimes pieces of pottery and glass that has a mat or satin finish there are lines that look like they were made with a lead pencil. Does anyone know how to remove them?

Lynette Smith said...

Regarding your comment, "Several readers thought the Apollo silver holder (ezine, July 15) held toast. The best new suggestion was that it held upright silverware on a buffet."

Yes, I suppose it could have held smaller silverware (although using a spooner would have made more sense), but it was definitely too small to have held toast.

I once had one like this (my mother's antique-store find that I later inherited, but without knowing what it was at the time), and the interior dimensions of the top opening did not exceed 1/2" x 2-3/4". (I sold it a couple of years ago, or I could be more exact; but I've always been good at estimating/recalling measurements.) On the other hand, this opening is just the right size to hold several then-standard-length cigarettes for an after-dinner smoke during the 1930s or 1940s.