The household (of the Detroit free press)

To Wash Black Lace — Carefully sponge the lace with gin or green tea; wind around a bottle to dry. By filling the bottle with warm water it will dry more quickly. Don't put near the fire, or it will have a rusty appearance. To Wash Fascinators — Make strong ammonia water ; take the article, dip it up and down a few times and it will be clean, besides the colors will be freshened. Ammonia renews ribbons too. By putting a few teaspoonfuls of ammonia in the washtub with the first water, the clothes will require less rubbing. To Renovate Black Grenadine, take strong, cold coffee, and strain it, wring the grenadine out of it, quite tightly, after which shake out and fold up. Iron with a moderately hot iron, over a piece of old black material. To Take Out Grease Spots from Cloth, make a weak dilution of ammonia and rub gently on the spot ; then lay a blotting paper over the place ; press a warm flat-iron on it, and it will disappear. Common Starch, prepared as for regular washing, makes an excellent paste for scrap-books. That which is left over from the washing is just as good as if freshly prepared. When color on a fabric has been destroyed, sponge it with acid ammonia, after which an application of chloroform will restore the original color. Ink, if washed out or taken from the carpet with milk immediately it is spilled, can be almost entirely removed. Ink spots on floors can be extracted by scouring with sand wetted in oil of vitriol and water. When the ink is removed rinse with strong potash water. A few drops of ammonia on a wet towel gently pressed on the edge of a soiled collar will whiten it. This is well to remember when traveling, where one cannot get a change of linen. 'Cold Starch is much improved if made with soap-suds of white toilet soap. Ripe tomatoes will remove stains from white cloth, also from hands. A teaspoonful of turpentine boiled with white clothes will aid materially in the bleaching process, An Ox's Gall will set any color — silk, cotton or woolen. One spoonful of gall put into a gallon of warm water is sufficient for the above purpose. This is also excellent for taking out spots from bombazines, and after being washed in it they look about as good as new. It must be thoroughly stirred into water, and not put upon the cloth. It is used without soap. After being washed in it, cloth which you want to clean should be washed in warm suds, without using soap. Housekeepers who are limited in their supply of good washing water, can make it do double duty by dissolving alum in hot water, and throw it into the tub of soap-suds. In a moment the soap will curdle, and, accompanied by muddy particles, will sink to the bottom, leaving the water perfectly clear and devoid of the smell of soap. This water can be used for washing a second time if poured off the sediment. Where water is scarce, this fact is invaluable. Windsor Toilet Soap — Cut some nice white bar soap into thin slices, melt it over a slow fire, scent it with oil of lavender ; when all dissolved pour it into a mold and let it remain a week, then cut it into the required size. Shaving Soap — A very fine shaving soap solution may be made by taking a quarter of a pound of white castile soap in shaving, one pint