Home Help: 17 January
Q I am having a tidy and I am searching for a decorative stand to store our boots in our hallway but in a design that doesn’t look ugly when they are removed.
JM, by email
A Increasingly, this kind of thing can only be bought from the internet. Tszuji is an online company that sells a steel welly-boot stand with prongs, topped with patterned ceramic balls. It costs £89.95.
Tszuji: 0845-224 6506, www.tszuji.co.uk
Q My grandchildren are soon coming to stay and I need a fireguard. I have looked for a few but they are not very attractive and none is high enough to stop a young child reaching over them. I remember my parents had an old-fashioned, curving black mesh guard, topped with a brass rail. Are they still made?
PV, Somerset
A This is known as a nursery guard, and originally dates from the Victorian period. Fortunately, Garden Requisites is still reproducing them. The guard comes in four lengths and the price starts at £250.
Garden Requisites: 01225- 851577, www.garden-requisites.co.uk
Q I have just retrieved some books from a shed that I thought was free of damp but, sadly, this has not been the case. Many of the books I had stored there are slightly damp with crinkled pages. I can’t afford to get them professionally restored, so what can I do?
E McN, by email
A For the hardbacks, soak up any excess moisture with a cloth, then you should be able to iron the pages individually. Place a clean, dry cloth over each crinkled page and gently press it with an iron on the lowest setting. If you’re worried about using an iron, try to flatten the pages by leaving the book under a heavy weight. But paperbacks would probably be unsalvageable.
Send your queries to the usual Bedford Street address or email Hugh St Clair at hughstclair@googlemail.com
JM, by email
A Increasingly, this kind of thing can only be bought from the internet. Tszuji is an online company that sells a steel welly-boot stand with prongs, topped with patterned ceramic balls. It costs £89.95.
Tszuji: 0845-224 6506, www.tszuji.co.uk
Q My grandchildren are soon coming to stay and I need a fireguard. I have looked for a few but they are not very attractive and none is high enough to stop a young child reaching over them. I remember my parents had an old-fashioned, curving black mesh guard, topped with a brass rail. Are they still made?
PV, Somerset
A This is known as a nursery guard, and originally dates from the Victorian period. Fortunately, Garden Requisites is still reproducing them. The guard comes in four lengths and the price starts at £250.
Garden Requisites: 01225- 851577, www.garden-requisites.co.uk
Q I have just retrieved some books from a shed that I thought was free of damp but, sadly, this has not been the case. Many of the books I had stored there are slightly damp with crinkled pages. I can’t afford to get them professionally restored, so what can I do?
E McN, by email
A For the hardbacks, soak up any excess moisture with a cloth, then you should be able to iron the pages individually. Place a clean, dry cloth over each crinkled page and gently press it with an iron on the lowest setting. If you’re worried about using an iron, try to flatten the pages by leaving the book under a heavy weight. But paperbacks would probably be unsalvageable.
Send your queries to the usual Bedford Street address or email Hugh St Clair at hughstclair@googlemail.com