THE LAUNDRY

at each end, running along the sides of the board. This strip i;» pushed down, one "flap" of the sliirt drawn through between it and tlie ©nd of the board, and then it is raised up so that its surface is again on a level with the board. It thus holds the shirt lirmly in position while it is being ironed and polished.

WashtJig Flannels. — Before washing flannels shake out dust and dirt and lint; use soft, dean, cold water, in winter merely taking the chill oil". Let the hard soap lie in water, but do not apply it to the clothes. Wash the white pieces first, throw articles as fast as washed into blued cold water, let them stand twenty or thirty minutes, wash them through this water after dissolving a little soap in it, wring hard, shake, and hang up. Wash colored flannels in the same way (but not in water used for white, or they will gather tlie lint), and rinse in several waters if inclined to '"run." When very dirty, all flannels should soak longer, and a little borax well dissolved should l)e added to the water, but the great secret of success is to "wash quickly, rinse (piickly and dry quickly."

Ironing Board. — A verj- handy boixrU for ironing dresses, shirts and in fact garments of all descriptions, can be made by any one who can handle a saw, plane and square. The illustration shows how the board is notched near the ends to allow of the tips of the chairs passing through. Place the clothes' basket on one of the chairs.

Extract of ,Soa/j.— The full title of wnicu is "con- centrated extract of soap." To those unacquainted with its properties, price, and form, we may add that it is a powder, is sold in convenient )<iR) packages, and should be kept in a dry place. For house cleaning it has no equal as yet, and for washing all kinds of clothes it is suitable and available, is cheap.

To Clean Black. Lace. — Take the lace and wipe off all the dust carefuiiy, with a cambric handkerchief. Then pin it out on a board, inserting a pin to each projecting point of the lace. Spot it all over with table-beer, and do not remove the pins until it is perfectly dry. It will look quite fresh and new.

To Make Soap to do au-ay with Rubbing. — Dissolve five bars of soap in four* gallons soft water, one and three-fourths i)Ounds sal-soda, and three-fourths pound borax ; stir while cooling. Use one cupful to make suds to soak clothes in ; wring out and put into boiler ; use same quantity of soap for boiling them.

Enamel for Shirt Bosoms. — Melt together with a gentle heat, one ounce wliite wax and two ounces spermaceti ; prepare in the usual way a sufficient quantity of starch for a dozen bosoms, put into it a piece of this enamel the size of a hazel-nnt, and in proportion for a large number. This will give clothes a beautiful polish.

To Remove the ('olor from Buff Calico. — If some kinds of buff calico are dipped in strong soda water, the color will be removed and the figures of other colors remain on a white ground. This is valuable sometimes, as buff calico spots easily. If pink calico be dipped in vinegar and water after rins- ing, the color will be brighter.

To Remove the Stains of Nitrate of Silver — from the flesh, or white goods of any kind, dissolve iodine in alcohol, and apply to the stain ; then take a piece

Ironing u^asii.

It has another, and bv no means trivial merit, it

THE LAUNDRY. 1089-

of cyanide potassium, size of a hickory-nut, wet in water, rub on tlie spot, and the stain will immediately disappear ; then wash the goods or hands in cold water.

Mother's Hard-times Soap. — Take all the hits of soap that are too small to be longer used, shave down, and let soak in soft water enough to <'over them over night ; in the morning add more soft soap, and boil until thoroughly melted and of the consistency of tafiy ; pour into moulds, and you have a nice cake of soap.

Coffee Starch. — Make a paste of two table-spoons best starch and cold water; when smooth stir in a pint of perfectly clear coffee (made by pouring boiling water on the grounds left from bi-eakfast and straining) boiling hot; boil five or ten minutes, stir with a spermaceti or wax candle, straiji, and use for all dark calicoes, percales, and muslins.

To Remove Iron-Rust. — "While rinsing clothes, take such as have spots of rust, wring out, dip a wet finger in oxalic acid, and rub on the spot, then dip in salt and rub on, and hold on a warm flatiron, or on the tin or copper tea- kettle if it have hot water in it, and the spot will immediately disappear ; rinse again, rubbing the place a little with the hands.

Evasive Fluid. — lor the removal of spots on furniture, cloth, silks, and other fabrics, when the color is not drawn, without injury. One ounce castile soap, four of aqua ammonia, one of glycerine, and one of spirits of wine ; dis- solve the soap in two quarts soft water, add the other ingredients, apply with a soft sponge, and rub out.

To Clean White Satin and Flovered Silks. — Mix sifted stale bread crumbs with powder blue, and rub it thoroughly all over, then shake it well and dust it well with clean, soft cloths. Afterwards where there are any gold or silver flowers, take a piece of crimson ingrain velvet, and rub the flowers with it, which will restore them to their original luster.

For Washing Goods that Fade, use crude ammonia instead of soap. Soiled neckties may be made to look like new by taking one-half a teaspoon of spirits of hartshorn to a tea-cup of water; wash well, and, if very much soiled, put through a second water, with less ammonia in. Lay it on a clean, white cloth, and gently wipe with another until dry.

To Clean Silk and Woolen Dress Goods. — Any silk or woolen goods may be washed in gasoline, rubbing as if in water, without injury. The dirt is quick- ly and easily removed, but no change takes place in the color of the fabric. Great care must be taken not to use the gasoline near a stove or light, as there is a gas arising from it which is very inflammable, and might take fire from a lamp set a foot or two distant.

To Wash Cashmere. — Make a strong tea from soap bark and soft water and add to water in which dress is to be washed till it is "soapy" ; then wash, I'inse well and let dry, being careful to iron it when it is yet slightly damp. Iron on the wrong side. Soop bark tea is nice for all woolens. For a com- mon dress the bark can be put right in the water in which you wash it, but it is not so nice.

In Washing the Dish-Wipers, do not boil them with the fine white dresses, shirts, table-cloths, sheets, pillow-cases, napkins or fine towels, but be as particular to have the suds nice and clean. It is better to remove a part of the suds, and add clean cold water, so that the wipers will not become yellow by boiling in too strong a suds. On each wash-day wash thoroughly all that have been used the previous week.

1090 THE LAUNDRY.

Silk and Thread Gloves are best Vi-ashed by placing them on the liands, and washini; in >)orax water or white castile soap-suds, the same as if wash- ing the hands ; rinse under a stream of water, and dry with a towel ; keep tlie gloves on until they are about half dried, take off carefully, and fold them up so that they will look as nearly like what they were when new as possible, and lay between towels under a weight.

To Clean Ribbons. — Dissolve white soap in boiling water; when cool enough to bear the hand, pass the ribbons through it, rubbing gently so as not to injure the texture ; rinse through lukewarm water, and pin on a board to dry. If the colors are bright yellow, maroon, crimson, or scarlet, adtl a few drops of oil of vitriol to the rinse- water ; if the color is bright scarlet, add to the rinse- water a few drops of muriate of tin.

Brown Linen — May be kept looking new until worn out if always washed in starch-water and hay tea. Make flour starch in the ordinary way. For one dress put on the stove a common sized milk pan full of timothy hay, pour on water, cover, and boil until the water is of a dark green color, then turn into the starch, let the goods soak in it a few minutes, and wash without soap ; the starch will clean the fabric and no rinsing is necessary.

To Wash Colored Muslin. — Wash in warm, not hot, suds, made with soft water and best white soap, if it is to be had. Do not soak them, and wash only one thing at a time. Change the suds as soon as it looks dingy, and i)ut the garments at once into fresh suds. Rinse first in clear water, tlien in slightly blued. Squeeze quite dry, but don't ivriiig the dress Hang in a shady place where the sunshine will not strike it, as that fades all colors.

To Wash Thread Lace. — Cover a bottle with white flannel, baste the lace carefully on the flannel, and rub with white soap; place the bottle in a jar filled with warm suds, let remain two or three days, changing the water sev- eral times, and boil with the finest white clothes on washing day; wlu-u cooled a little, rinse several times in plenty of cold water, wrap a soft, dry towel around it, and place it in the sun ; when dry, unwind, but do not starch.

Black Print or Percale Dresses, that have figures of white in them, may be washed nicely by putting them in the "boiling suds," after the other clothes have all been reinoved, and boiling for ten minutes; cool the suds, rub out quickly, rinse in lukewarm water, then in very J)lue col I water, and starch in cottee starch. After the dress is dried, it is to be dipped into cold water, passed through the wringer, rolled in a coarse towel or sheet and left for a couple of hours, then ironed on the wrong side.

A Polishing Iron. — Many housewives wonder why they cannot give to shirt collars, bosoms and ciifTs, the fine glossy surface that the laundress puts on. This polish is due not so much to any prepara- tion of the starch, as vigorous rubbing with an iron made for the purpose and shaped like the one in the cut. It is somewhat like a common flat-iron, but has no sharp cor- ners or edges, and has a britrhtly polished steel face. Af- ter the bosom or collar has been starched and ironed a da. np cloth is passed over them and then the polisher is applied, bearing on hard ami rubbing the surface raiiidly.

A Washing Fluid.^-T\\Q washing fluid made by the'fol- lowing rule is invaluable in cleaning woolen goods, in roll h .• .r..u. washing woolen tidies, or worsterl goods of any kind :

One-half bar of Babbitt's or Bell's soap, one ounce salti>etre, one ounce bo- rax, four quarts soft water. Dusolve all together over a fire ; when half cold,

THE LAUNDKY. ICOl

add five ounces spirits of ammonia. The compound may be bottled and is good for an indefinite length of time. It is used just as you would use soft soap.

To "Do Up'' Black Silk. — Boil an old kid glove (cut up in shred-s) in a pint of water till the water is reduced to a half pint ; then sponge the silk with it ; fold it down tight, and ten minutes after, iron it on the wrong side while wet. The silk will retain its softness and luster, and at the same time, have the "body" of new silk.

Or rip up and brush thoroughly, then sponge in ammonia water, and pin out perfectly straight, each width or piece where the sun will shine on it, and 'let dry.

Pocket for Clothes-pins. — A great convenience is the apron pocket for clothes pins. It takes nearly one yard to make it, the apron or pouch being fifteen inches in length, and nearly as wide. Round the corners at the lx)t- tom. At the top, on each side of the front, two inches from the middle, cut out a strip nine inches long, and one and one-half inches wide for pockets. Bind them with lighter colored fabric than the apron, that they may be readily seen. Gather into a band and button at the back, or put on strings and tie.

How to Wash Blankets. — All that is necessary is abundance of soft water, and soap without resin in it. Resin hardens the fibers of wool, and should never be used in washing any kind of flannel goods. Blankets treated as a- l)ove will always come out clean and soft. A little blueing may be used in washing white blankets. They should be shaken and snapped until almost dry ; it will require two persons to handle them. Woolen shawls, and all woolen articles, especially men's wear, are much improved by being pressed with a hot iron under damp muslin.

Gall Soap. — For washing woolens, silks, or fine prints liable to fade : One pint beef's gall, two pounds common bar soap cut fine, one quart boiling soft water; boil slowly, stirring oi'casionally until well mixed; pour into a flat vessel, and when cold cut into pieces to dry; or a more simple w^ay of using gall, is to get a pint bottle filled with fresh beef's gall at the butchers, cork tightly, add to the water when washing any material that is lialde to fade ; using more if articles are very liable to fade, and less if the liability is not great. When the bottle is empty or grows stale, get fresh.

Silk Underwear. — Make a suds of castile soap and let them soak an hour or two, then add warm water till the whole is luke-warm and wash and rinse in same temperature of water. When dry do not sprinkle, but iron by plac- ing over them a muslin cloth wet in water and over that a dry cloth. It is well to keep cloths just for this purpose.

Buckeye Cleaning Mixture. — One fourth cake Ivory soap dissolved in one quart rain water, one ounce each soda, borax and ether. Dissolve soap in water and add the salsoda and borax; then when dissolved add gallon rain water, after taking off stove put in ether. Use with scrub-brush for carpets, etc., and with sponge for fabrics, sponging off' with clean water afterward.

To Wash Delicate Colored Muslins. — Boil wheat bran (about two quarts to a dress) in soft water half an hour, let it cool, strain the liquor, and use it instead of soap-suds ; it removes dirt like soap, keeps the color, and the clothes only need rinsing in one water, and even starching is unnecessary. Suds and rinsewater for colored articles should be used as cold as possible. Another way is to make thick corn meal mush, well salted, and use instead 3f soap ; rinse in one or two waters, and do not starch.

101)2 THE LAUNDRY.

To Wash a Silk Dress. — To wash a silk dress with gall soap, rip apart and shake otf the dust ; have ready two tubs warm soft water, make a suds of the soap in one tub, and use the other for rinsing; wash the silk, one piece at a time, in the suds, wring gently, rinse, again wring, shake out, and iron with a hot iron on what you intend to be the wrong side. Thus proceed with each piece, and when about half done, throw out the suds and make suds of the rinsing water, using fresh water for rinsing.

To Take Out Scorch. — If a shirt-bosom, or any other article has been scorched in ironing, lay it where bright sunshine will fall directly on it. Peel and slice two onions, extract the juice by pounding and squeezing; or cut up half an ounce of tine white soap, and add to the juice ; two ounces of fuller's earth and half i)int of vinegar. Boil all together. When cool spread over the scorched linen, and let dry on ; then wash and boil out the linen, and the spots will disappear unless burned so badly as to break the threads.

Fruit Stains. — Colored cottons or woolens stained with wine or fruit should be wet in alcohol and ammonia, then sponged oil" gently (not rubbed) with alcohol ; after that if the material will warrant it, washed in tepid soap- suds. Where white are used the stains may be easily removed by using boiling water before the stains are soaped or wetted; pour it on until they mostly disappear, and then let goods stand in it covered till cold. Peaches, some kinds of pears, and sweet api)les make the worst stains ; and if ])oiling water is not sufficient, a little javelle water may be used and. if skillfully managed, will not need to be used often. Silks may be wet with this prep- aration when injured by these stains.

The Use of Turpentine in Washing. — Tur{)entine should never be used when washing is done with the hands, as it is very injurious to the health ; but when the clothes are pounded in a barrel in the old fashioned way, or when the rubbing is done by a washing-machine, a tablespoon of turpentine added to a pint of soft soap, taking enough of the mixture to make a good suds for eacli lot of clothes aids in removing the dirt. Care must be taken not to handle the turpentine with the hands, or to breathe the fumes of it, as it is very injurious to some persons, and great care should be taken to rinse the clothes verj' thoroughly, or the clothing may retain enough of the turpentine to be injurious, when worn next the skin.

To Wash Flannels in Tepid Water. — The usefulness of litjuid ammonia is not as universally known among housewives as it deserves to be. If you add some of it to a soap-suds made of a mild soap, it will prevent the flannel from becoming yellow or shrinking. It is the potash and soda contained in sharp soap which tends to color animal fibn's yellow ; the shrinking may also ])e partially due to this agency, but above all to the exposure of the flannel while wet "to the extremes of low or high temperatures. Dipping it in boil- ing water or leaving it out ki the rain will also cause it to shrink and become hard. To preserve their softness, flannels shoiild be washed in tepid suds, rinsed in tepid water, and dried rapidly at a moderate heat.

To Wash Lace Ruchings. — Wash with tlie hands in warm suds (if much soiled, soak in warm water two or three hours), rinse thoroughly, and starch in thick starch, dry outdoors if the day be clear ; if not, place between drv cloth, roll tightly and put away till dry; then, with the fingers, open eacK row and pullOut smoothly (have a cup of clear water in which to dip the fingers or dampen the lace) ; then pull out straiglit the outer edge of each with the thumi) and finger, and draw the binding over the point or side with a hot iron. If the ruche is single or only two rows, it can be ironed after be- ing smoothed (the first process). Blonde or net that has become yellow cau ix' bleached by hanging in the sun or laying out overnight iu the dew.

THIS LAUN»RY. 1093

To Make Fine Starch. — Wet the starch smooth in a little cold water, in a large pan, pour in a quart boiling water to two or three tablespoons starch, stirring rapidly all the while ; place on stove, stir until it boils, and then oc- casionally. Boil from tive to fifteen minutes, or until the starch is perfectly clear. Some add a little salt, or butter or pure lard, or stir with a sperm, candle.; others add a teaspoon kerosene to one quart starch ; tliis prevents the stickiness sometimes so annoying in ironing. Eitlier of the above in- gredients is an improvement to flour starch. Many, just before using starch add a little blueing. Cold starch is made from starch dissolved in cold water, being careful not to have it too thick ; since it rots the clothes, it is not ad- visable to use it — the same is true of potato starch.

For Washing the Lighter Woolen Fabrics thatenter into tlie composition of summer dresses, borax is one of the most useful articles for softening the water and cleansing the material. This is used in the proportion of a table- spoon to a gallon of water, and, if dissolved in hot water, it makes a better lather. Of course, no thoughtful person will attempt to wash a woolen dress without first havingripped it apart, picked out all tlie threads, brushed the dustout, and marked the particularly soiled places by running a thread around them. Wash one piece at a time, roll up and squeeze, orpass through a wringer instead of twisting through the hands. Wash in several changes of borax water, and rinse in clear water, in which a well-])eaten egg has been mixed ; shake thoroughly, and fold in sheets until evenly damp all through, then iron the wrong side with an iron hot enough to smooth nicely without scorching.

Wash Silk Handkerchiefs by laying them on a smooth Ijoard, and rub- bing with the palm of the hand. Use either borax or white castile soap to make the suds; rinse in clear water, shake till nearly dry, fold evenly, laj^ between boards, and put a weight on them. No ironing is required. Silk hose and ribbons may be treated in the same way ; if there are colors that run, put as much sugar of lead as will lie on a quarter dollar, into a half gal- Icni of water, and soak the goods half an hour, stirring frequently, then wash as al'ove, and rinse in several clear waters, using sugar of lead in the last. Or wash in cold rain water with a little curd soap ; then rinse them in rain- water— cold — slightly colored with stone blue ; wring well and stretch them out on a mattress, tacking them out tightly. They \\'ill look good as new if carefully w^ashed.

To Wash Black Lace. — Have a smooth, clear, round bottle ; one with a good deal of bodv and not much neck, is preferable to any other. Dip lace into a little ale, and after pressing out the moisture a little, wind it smoothly and carefully — picking out the edges and points — round and round bottle. Cover it up, or put where no dust can reach till dry, when it will look new. Use no soap, only ale or beer. Either removes rH.s^'H.''.ss, and veils, (black net, or lace) dipped in beer for an instant, fahlrd smootlih/, pressed free of moistiire in a cloth, and then hung for a" couple of min- utes before the fire will become stiff, fresh, and nice, without ironing. The bottle is also nice to use for white lace, but do not use the ale or beer.

Washing Light Colored Prints and Cambrics. — Take a tablespoon of alum, and dissolve it in enough luke warm water to rinse a print dress. Dip the soiled dress into it, taking care to wet thoroughly every part of it, and then wring it out. Have warm, not hot, suds all ready, and wash out the dress quickly ; then rinse it in cold water. (AVhite castile soap is the best for colored cottons, if it can b« commanded.) Have the starch ready, but not

1094 THE LAUNDRY.

too hot ; rinse the dress in it, wring out, and hang it wrung side out to dry, but not in the sun. Place it where the wind will strike it rather than the sun. "When drv, iron directly. Prints should never be sprinkled; but, if allowed to become too dry, they should be ironed under a damp cloth. It is better to wash them sonie day by themselves, when washing and ironing can be done at once.

To Wash Flannels in Boiling Water.— ^l-dke a strong suds of boiling water and soft soap— hard soap makes flannels stitF and wiry— put them in, j.rcssingthem down under the water with a clothes-stick ; when cool enough rub the''articles carefully between the hands, then wring — but not through till! wringer — as drv as possible, shake, snap out, and pull each piece into its oriiriiuvl size anil shape, then throw immediately into another tub of boiling waFcr, in which you have thoroughly mixed some nice blueing. Shake them HI) and down in tliis last water witha clothes stick until cool enough for the haiids,then rinse well, wring, shake out and pull into shape— the snapi)ing iiiid pulling are as necessary as the washing— and hang in a sunny i)lace wlu-re they will dry quickly. Many prefer to rinse in two waters with the bhiing in the last, and this 'is always advisable when there are many flannels.

Care of Irons. — When irons become rough or smoky, lay a little tine salt on a flat surface and rub them well ; it will prevent them sticking to aii\- thing starched, and make them smooth ; or scour with bath brick before li("atin<r,'and when hot rub well with salt, and then with a small piece of bccswcix tied up in a rag, after which wipe clean on a dry cloth. A piece of tine sandpaper is also a good thing to have near the stove, or a hard, smooth lioard covered with brick dust, to rub each iron on when it is put back on the stove, so that no starch may remain to be burnt on. Put beeswax be- t ween pieces of paper or cloth and keep on the table close by the flat-iron stand, If the irons get coated with scorched starch, rub them over the pa- ]K-r that holds the beeswax and it will all come off. Rubbing the iron over the waxed paper, even if no starch adheres, adds to the glossiness of the linen tliat is ironed. Washing them well in soap suds, wiping dry and wrap- l-ing in lirown paper will keep them nicely when not in use. Do not keep on stove after through using them as it soon burns them out.

Wa.ohing Lace. — To make the starch properly, mix the dry particles with (•nou"h cold water to make a smooth paste, add cold water until it looks like niilk'and water, and boil it in a smoothly glazed earthen vessel until it is i.crfectly transparent. While it is cooling, squeeze the laces through a soap- suds, and rinse them in clear water. If you wish them clear white, add a little bluing; if ivory white, omit'the blueing, and if yellow-tinged add a few ti^aspoons clear coflfee to the starch. Run through the starch, squeeze, roll up in towels, and clap each piece separately until dry; pull gently into shape, from time to time, with the fingers, and pin on the ironing table or bosom-board or upon the pillows in the "spare" bedroom. When dry, press between tissue paper with a hot iron, punch the openings with an ivory stiletto, and pick each pearl or loop on the edge with a coarse pin until it looks like new lace.

Lavn and ifusUn dresses that have fadea may be whitened in the boiling suds, and bleach«l on the grass, and, when done up, are quite as pretty as dresses made of new white material. Delicate hued muslin and cambric dress- es uiny he washed nicely l>y the following process : Shave half a pound of com- iiionlianl soap into a gallon of boiling water ; let it melt, turn it into a tub of Inkewanii water; stir a quart of wheat bran into a second tub of lukewarm water, and have reaily a third tub with clear water ; put the dress into the first tub of' suds, rub gently, or rather "souse" it upand down, audsqueezeituut ;