To WasH FLANNELS IN TreprIp WaterR.—The usefulness of liquid 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 tocolor animal fibers yellow; the shrinking may also be 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 boiling water or leaving it out in the rain’ will also cause it to shrink and become hard. To preserve their softness, flannels should be washed in tepid suds, rinsed in tepid water, and dried rapidly at a moderate heat. To WasH Lace Rucuines.—Wash with the hands in warm suds (if much soiled, soak in warm water two or three hours), rinse thoroughly, and starch in thick starch, dry out.doors if the day be clear; if not, place between. dry - cloth, roll tightly and put away till dry; then, with the fingers, open each row and pull out smoothly (have a cup of clean water in which to dip the fingers or dampen the lace); then pull out straight the outer edge of each with the thumb and finger, and draw the binding over the point or side of < hot iron. If the, ruche is single, or only two rows, it can be ironed after being smoothed (the first process). Blonde or net, that has become yellow, can be bleached by hanging in the sun or laying out over night in the dew. To MAKE Fine Starcu.—Wet the starch smooth in a little cold water, in a large tin pan, pour on a quart boiling water to two or three table-spocus starch, stirring rapidly all the while’; place on stove, stir until it boils, and then occasionally. Boil from five 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 tea-spoon kerosene✪ Starch to one quart starch ; this prevents the stickiness sometimes so annoying in ironing. Either of the above ingredients is an improvement to flour starch. Many, just before using starch add a little bluing. 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 advisable to use it—the same is true of potato starch. For WasHiInG THE LigHTER WooLEN Faprics that enter into the compo- sition of summer dresses, borax is one’ of the most useful articles for soften- ing 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 having ripped it apart, picked out all the threads, brushed the dust out, and marked the particularly soiled places by running a thread around them. Wash one piece at a time, roll up and squeeze, or pass 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-beaten egg has been mixed; shake thoroughly, and fold in sheets until evenly damp all through, then ie the wrong side with an iron hot enough to smooth nicely without scorching... THE LAUNDRY. 449:

AI-modernized reading of the original text

TO WASH FLANNELS IN TEPID WATER.—The usefulness of liquid 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 tocolor animal fibers yellow; the shrinking may also be 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 boiling water or leaving it out in the rain’ will also cause it to shrink and become hard. To preserve their softness, flannels should be washed in tepid suds, rinsed in tepid water, and dried rapidly at a moderate heat. TO WASH LACE RUCHES.—Wash with the hands in warm suds (if much soiled, soak in warm water two or three hours), rinse thoroughly, and starch in thick starch, dry out doors if the day be clear; if not, place between dry cloth, roll tightly and put away till dry; then, with the fingers, open each row and pull out smoothly (have a cup of clean water in which to dip the fingers or dampen the lace); then pull out straight the outer edge of each with the thumb and finger, and draw the binding over the point or side of a hot iron. If the ruche is single, or only two rows, it can be ironed after being smoothed (the first process). Blonde or net, that has become yellow, can be bleached by hanging in the sun or laying out over night in the dew. TO MAKE FINE STARCH.—Wet the starch smooth in a little cold water, in a large tin pan, pour on a quart boiling water to two or three table-spoons starch, stirring rapidly all the while; place on stove, stir until it boils, and then occasionally. Boil from five 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; this prevents the stickiness sometimes so annoying in ironing. Either of the above ingredients is an improvement to flour starch. Many, just before using starch add a little bluing. 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 advisable to use it—the same is true of potato starch. FOR WASHING THE LIGHTER WOOLEN FABRICS that enter into the 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 having ripped it apart, picked out all the threads, brushed the dust out, and marked the particularly soiled places by running a thread around them. Wash one piece at a time, roll up and squeeze, or pass 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-beaten 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.. THE LAUNDRY. 449:

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