The best housekeepers contend that clothes should not be soaked
over night, because it gives them a gray look, and the soiled parts
lying against the clean portions streak them. Before beginning to
wash, the clothes should be assorted, and the fine ones kept separate all
through the washing. Rub the clothes in warm — not hot — water. Hot
water sets, instead of extracting, the dirt. Turn them and rub them till
perfectly clean in the first water. If the water becomes much soiled,
throw it out and take fresh, for if the water is allowed to become very
much soiled, the clothes will be dingy. The clothes should then be
rubbed out as thoroughly in the second as in the first water. No
amount of rinsing or boiling will ever make clothes white which have
not been thoroughly rubbed out.
After the second rubbing, put the clothes in cold water to boil,
without rubbing soap on them or putting soap, in the water; they arc
soapy enough. Too much soap makes clothes yellow and stiff. As
soon as they begin to boil, remove them to the " sudsing "-water.
If they boil long, they will be yellow. Let each article be well
" soused " up and down in the sudsing-water, rubbing them out
thoroughly with the hands to get the suds out; wring dry and throw
in the " rinsing-water," which is the last water. Let this be slightly
blued. Excessive bluing is the careless washerwoman's refuge. The
rinsing is to be as thorough as the sudsing.
After rinsing, starch. The old-fashioned idea, that clothes require
to be dried before being starched, is not sustained by intelligent ob-
servation. Dip the articles in boiling hot starch, plunging the hands
constantly into cold water to prevent their being scalded, and rubbing
the starch well in.
Next hang out, and be sure to stretch every inch possible to the
292 THE hearthstone; or, life at home.
sun and the wind. Garments hung double, or in bunches or festoons,
will not bleach.
Wash flannels in lukewarm water, and rinse in water of the same
temperature. Avoid rubbing soap upon the flannels. Stretch them ;
when thoroughly clean, snap them energetically, and hang them up
immediately — by the fire if the weather is bad. Two waters are
enough for flannels. •
Bleaching Flannels. — A solution of one and one-quarter of a
pound of white soap and three-eighths of an ounce of spirits of
ammonia, dissolved in twelve gallons of soft water✪ Bleaching Flannels, will impart a
beautiful and lasting whiteness to any flannels dipped in it, no matter
how yellow they have been previous to their immersion. After being
well stirred round for a short time, the articles should be taken out
and well washed in clean, cold water.
When sprinkling clothes, dip collars, cuffs and shirt-bosoms in
cold starch, made so thin as to look like water with a little milk in
it. Clothes starched thus need no wax, lard, nor other preparation
to make them iron easily. A smooth, dead white is generally more
highly esteemed now than the glazed look which shirt manufacturers
give to their linen.
Page 190 · 1 recipe record on this page
Presented as published in 1883. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
The best housekeepers contend that clothes should not be soaked over night, because it gives them a gray look, and the soiled parts lying against the clean portions streak them. Before beginning to wash, the clothes should be assorted, and the fine ones kept separate all through the washing. Rub the clothes in warm — not hot — water. Hot water sets, instead of extracting, the dirt. Turn them and rub them till perfectly clean in the first water. If the water becomes much soiled, throw it out and take fresh, for if the water is allowed to become very much soiled, the clothes will be dingy. The clothes should then be rubbed out as thoroughly in the second as in the first water. No amount of rinsing or boiling will ever make clothes white which have not been thoroughly rubbed out.
After the second rubbing, put the clothes in cold water to boil, without rubbing soap on them or putting soap, in the water; they arc soapy enough. Too much soap makes clothes yellow and stiff. As soon as they begin to boil, remove them to the " sudsing "-water. If they boil long, they will be yellow. Let each article be well " soused " up and down in the sudsing-water, rubbing them out thoroughly with the hands to get the suds out; wring dry and throw in the " rinsing-water," which is the last water. Let this be slightly blued. Excessive bluing is the careless washerwoman's refuge. The rinsing is to be as thorough as the sudsing.
After rinsing, starch. The old-fashioned idea, that clothes require to be dried before being starched, is not sustained by intelligent observation. Dip the articles in boiling hot starch, plunging the hands constantly into cold water to prevent their being scalded, and rubbing the starch well in.
Next hang out, and be sure to stretch every inch possible to the
292 THE hearthstone; or, life at home.
sun and the wind. Garments hung double, or in bunches or festoons, will not bleach.
Wash flannels in lukewarm water, and rinse in water of the same temperature. Avoid rubbing soap upon the flannels. Stretch them ; when thoroughly clean, snap them energetically, and hang them up immediately — by the fire if the weather is bad. Two waters are enough for flannels. •
Bleaching Flannels. — A solution of one and one-quarter of a pound of white soap and three-eighths of an ounce of spirits of ammonia, dissolved in twelve gallons of soft water, will impart a beautiful and lasting whiteness to any flannels dipped in it, no matter how yellow they have been previous to their immersion. After being well stirred round for a short time, the articles should be taken out and well washed in clean, cold water.
When sprinkling clothes, dip collars, cuffs and shirt-bosoms in cold starch, made so thin as to look like water with a little milk in it. Clothes starched thus need no wax, lard, nor other preparation to make them iron easily. A smooth, dead white is generally more highly esteemed now than the glazed look which shirt manufacturers give to their linen.
Records on this page
Bleaching Flannels