Paying it forward with those green hands
My daughter got some pollen from a lily on her top and shorts. Please, could you tell me how to get this out? – DR, Port Elizabeth.
Pollen stains from lilies are quite terrifying in their intensity. They even stain the skin. Here is a method using turpentine that worked on a white woollen carpet.
Your daughter's clothing is probably made from cotton or a synthetic, and turps is quite safe for these fabrics.
But you don't mention the colour, so before starting with the cleaning, test first on an inconspicuous place.
Sponge the marks with a cloth wrung out in turps, ensuring that you use clean turps all the time.
Continue until the stains are gone. Then soak the garments in a generous solution of Omo and water to remove all traces of the treatment.
I have a rented property, and recently a workman parked his bakkie on the paved driveway. It was only the next day that I realised he had left behind a nasty oil stain. I tried to get rid of it by scrubbing with dishwashing liquid. It made little impression except that I now have dirty stains splashed onto the adjacent garage wall! How can I get rid of these oily marks before the owner comes around? – JO, Uitenhage.
This is not the first time this problem has come up, and by coincidence another query this week came from a reader wanting to know where to find Aquasolv – a product long recommended for treating oil and grease marks.
Originally it was sold by hardware stores in clear bottles, but then it got swallowed up by Plascon and was marketed in their Polycell range.
In recent years some Port Elizabeth users relied on an elderly shopkeeper, Fred, who had a hardware store in Walmer. He decanted bulk supplies into bottles for his clients, but has now moved elsewhere.
Anyway, I spoke to the Plascon helpline who assured me that the Aquasolv degreaser, with the code GR1, was readily available at major outlets, such as Builders' Warehouse.
Back to the driveway: If you give the paving, and the wall, a good scrub with this product they should clean up sufficiently not to upset the landlord.
In future, put sand on an oil stain, to absorb as much of the oil as possible. Leave it for a while before scrubbing.
I owe a "thank you" to Heather Hutchings for her gardening notes in the paper many years ago. I have followed her advice on fertilisers for potted bougainvillea for about 35 years. The flowers are so beautiful that people have knocked on our door asking for a "slip". I thought I would share Heather's advice with readers of your column.Every six weeks throughout the year sprinkle one tablespoon of 3.1.5 granules around the plant, fork in lightly and water. During summer, give an additional monthly treatment of two teaspoons of ammonium sulphate dissolved in five litres of water. – GR, Port Elizabeth.
As a longtime friend and fan of her column, I spoke to Heather. She was delighted to hear that the advice given so long ago was still proving its worth and that it was being shared again.
My baby son tore a page in a book. I don't want to spoil it with sticky tape. My Gran told me about using egg white to repair it, but she couldn't remember how. Can you help? – WT, Port Elizabeth.
It sounded ridiculous, but there on Page 291 of "One Thousand Handy Household Hints" was the answer. Place the pieces together on a smear of egg white, best done on a plastic kitchen chopping sheet. Cover lightly with more egg white and allow to dry thoroughly before moving. - At Your Service, with Gwen Bisseker
