Lemon Syrup.
One pound of loaf or crushed sugar to every half pint of lemon juice. Let it stand twenty-four hours, or till the sugar is dissolved, stirring it very often with a silver spoon. When dissolved, wring a flannel bag very dry in hot water, strain the syrup, and bottle it. This will keep almost any length of time.
Another without lemons.
Put six pounds of white sugar to three pints of water, and boil five minutes. Have ready the beaten white of an egg mixed with half a pint of water, and stir it into the boiling mixture. In a few minutes a scum will arise, and the kettle must be set off from the fire, and stand five minutes; then remove the scum. When it is almost cold, measure it, and to a gallon of syrup put three ounces of tartaric acid, dissolved in half a pint of hot water; add at the same time a large teaspoonful ofthe oil of lemon. When it is cold, bottle it. The goodness of the syrup (and it is an excellent imitation of the genuine), depends on the oil of lemon being fresh. If this is in the least rancid, it will spoil the syrup.
Raspberry Vinegar.
To two quarts of raspberries, put a pint of cider vinegar. Let them lie together two or three days; then mash them up and put them in a bag to strain. To every pint, when strained, put a pound of best sugar. Boil it twenty minutes, and skim it. Bottle it when cold.
Currant Wine.
Use sugar, water, and currant juice in these proportions, viz., one quart each of juice and the best of sugar, and two of water. Put the mixture into a tight keg with a faucet. Leave out the bung for two or three weeks, and then put it in loosely, so that if it continues to ferment longer, the keg will not burst. After a few days more put in the bung tight. Let it stand a year, and then draw it off and bottle it.
Another.
To one gallon of currant juice, put nine pounds of the best of sugar, and two gallons of water. Set it where it wont be disturbed, and bottle it at the end of the year.
Currant Shrub.
Boil currant juice five minutes with loaf or crushed sugar—a pound of sugar to a pint of juice. Stir it constantly while cooling, and when cold, bottle it. A spoonful or two in a tumbler of water affords a refreshing beverage.
Sarsaparilla Mead.
Three pounds of sugar, three ounces of tartaric acid, one ounce of cream tartar, one of flour, one of essence of sarsaparilla,and three quarts of water. Strain and bottle it, then let it stand ten days before using it.
English Ginger Beer.
Pour four quarts of boiling water, upon an ounce and a half of ginger, an ounce of cream of tartar, a pound of clean brown sugar, and two fresh lemons, sliced thin. It should be wrought twenty-four hours, with two gills of good yeast, and then bottled. It improves by keeping several weeks, unless the weather is hot, and it is an excellent beverage. If made with loaf instead of brown sugar, the appearance and flavor are still finer.
Maple Beer.
To four gallons of boiling water, add one quart of maple syrup and a small table-spoonful of essence of spruce. When it is about milk warm, add a pint of yeast; and when fermented bottle it. In three days it is fit for use.
Spring Beer.
Take a handful of checkerberry (wintergreen), a few sassafras roots cut up, a half a handful of pine-buds, while they are small and gummy, and a small handful of hops.[18]Put all these into a pail of water over night, and in the morning boil them two or three hours; fill up the kettle when it boils away. Strain it into a jar or firkin that will hold a half a pailful more of water. Stir in a pint and a half of molasses, then add the half pailful of water, and taste it. If not sweet enough add more molasses. It loses the sweetness a little in the process of fermentation, and should therefore be made rather too sweet at first. Add two or three gills of good yeast, set it in a warm place, and let it remain undisturbed till it is fermented. Whenthe top is covered with a thick dark foam, take it off; have ready clean bottles and good corks; pour off the beer into another vessel, so gently as not to disturb the sediment; then bottle it, and set it in a cool place. It will be ready for use in two days. The sediment should be put into a bottle by itself, loosely corked, and kept to ferment the next brewing.
Spruce and Boneset Beer.
Boil a small handful each of hops and boneset for an hour or two, in a pailful of water; strain it, and dilute it with cold water till it is of the right strength. Add a small table-spoonful of essence of spruce, sweeten, ferment and bottle it, like the spring beer.
The essences of hops, checkerberry, ginger, and spruce, put into warm water in suitable proportions, then sweetened, fermented, and bottled, make good beer.
Rennet Wine.
Wash a third, or half of a salted rennet; wipe it dry and put it into a bottle of wine. The wine will be fit to use for custard the next day. To keep the remainder of the rennet till more is needed, put it into a strong brine and cover it close.
To Boil Cider.
Take cider which has been made but a day or two, and boil it nearly half away. Skim it often. It will keep good a long time, and is useful in making mince pies, and to flavor pudding sauce. Bottle it and cork it well. A mould will form over the top, but will not injure the cider.
Cologne Water.
To one gallon of alcohol, put twelve drachms each, of oil of lavender, oil of bergamot, and essence of lemon; four drachms of oil of rosemary, and twelve drops of oil of cinnamon.
Indelible Ink.
To make the ink, put into the small bottle six cents worth of lunar caustic, and fill it with rain water.
To make the wash, nearly fill the largest bottle with soft water, and add gum arabic enough to make a thin solution—about a teaspoonful of the lumps. Then put in a drachm of salt of tartar. If the ink spreads, add more gum-arabic to the wash.
To prevent Books, Ink, Paste, &c., from moulding.
A drop or two of oil of lavender on a book, and a single one in a pint bottle of ink, will prevent mould.
Tooth Powder.
Two ounces of Peruvian bark, two of myrrh, one of chalk, one of Armenian bole, and one of orris root.
Rose Butter(a good substitute for rose water).
Gather every morning the leaves of the roses that blossomed the day before, and put them in a stone jar in alternate layers with fine salt. After all the leaves are gathered, put a saucer or small plate into the jar, and lay in a pound of butter, for cake or pudding sauce. It is a very good way of obtaining the flavor of roses, without expense.
To keep Parsley.
Gather fresh sprigs, and after washing them, chop them fine, and work them into as much butter as will be needed for boiled poultry, lamb, and fish, before the next summer. Put the butter into a stone jar, and cover it with a brine made with nice salt.
To keep Suet.
Pull off the skin or membrane from fresh suet, sprinkle salt upon it, tie it up in a cloth or bag, and hang it in a cool, dry place. It will keep sweet the year round.
To keep Eggs.
To four quarts of air-slacked lime, put two ounces of cream of tartar (that is, two table-spoonfuls), two of salt, and four quarts of cold water. Put fresh eggs into a stone jar, and pour the mixture over them. This will keep nine dozen, provided they are all good when laid down; and after many months, the yolks will be still whole, and the whites stiff and clear as at first. The water may settle away so as to leave the upper layer uncovered. If so, add more. Cover them closely and keep them in a cool place.
Eggs should be laid down when they are at the lowest market price.
To cleanse a Calf's Head and Feet.
Take them as soon as the animal is killed, wash them clean, and in order to remove the hair, sprinkle pulverized rosin over them and dip them for an instant in scalding water. The rosin will dry immediately, and they can be easily scraped clean. Soak them from one to three days in cold water, changing it repeatedly.
To kill Cockroaches and Beetles.
Strew the roots of black hellebore, at night, in the places infested by these vermin, and they will be found in the morning dead, or dying. Black hellebore grows in marshy grounds, and may be had at the herb shops.
To drive away Ants.
The little red ants will leave closets where sea-sand is sprinkled, or where oyster shells are laid.
Scatter sprigs of wormwood in places infested with black ants.
To secure Woollens, Furs, Furniture, etc., from Moths.
Carefully shake and brush woollens early in the spring, so as to be certain that no eggs are in them; then sew them up incotton or linen wrappers, putting a piece of camphor gum, tied up in a bit of muslin, into each bundle, or into the chests and closets where the articles are to lie. When the gum is evaporated it must be renewed.
A lady put up her blankets and carpets in this way before going to Europe, and on her return, three or four years after, found every article safe from moths.
Furs should not be hung out in the sun in the spring before being put away for the season. The moth miller will be likely to visit them when thus exposed. They should be put into a close box with a piece of camphor, and the box tied up in a pillow case or bag.
Blankets that are in use only occasionally during the summer, should be laid when not wanted, under a mattress in constant use, or in a trunk where there are pieces of camphor gum, or cedar chips. It would be a most convenient arrangement for housekeepers to have a closet with shelves and draws made of cedar boards.
It is more difficult than it used to be, to preserve woollens, furs, carpets, and furniture from being injured by moths. Thirty years since it was regarded as an indication of very negligent housekeeping to have a moth-eaten carpet. Now, the utmost care will not always preserve carpets from being injured in this way. Perhaps the reason may be, that in general, warehouses and dwellings are warmed throughout, during the winter, by furnaces. New stuffed and cushioned furniture is sometimes found to contain moths. To destroy them, pour burning fluid plentifully upon the cushions, sofas, &c. If it is fresh, it will leave no stain, and the disagreeable odor will soon pass away. To preserve a carpet that cannot be often shaken, draw out the tacks twice a year, turn back the edges a quarter of a yard all around, brush out the dust, and then with a painter's brush put new spirits of turpentine upon the boards as far as the carpet is turned back; then return it immediately to its place, and put in the tacks.
The floors of some houses have moths in the cracks. In thiscase, cedar saw-dust sprinkled over the floor before laying down the carpet, will protect it from these diligent mischief-workers. If this cannot be had use tar-paper.
To kill Moths.
Take furs or pillows infested with moths, and put them into a brick oven which has just been used for baking. Let them remain over night, and the next day beat them well in the open air.
To remove the Bad Odor from New Feathers.
Make a cover for the bed of some coarse material, or a couple of old sheets; get a baker to put it into his oven one or two nights. A better way, when it can be done, is to send the feathers in bags to a baker's oven, before they are put into the tick.
To purify a Sink or Drain.
Dissolve half a pound of copperas in two gallons of water, and pour in half one day, and the remainder the next.
To take out Mildew.
(This and the next receipt were furnished by a chemist.)
Obtain the dryest chloride of lime that can be bought, and for strong fabrics dissolve four table-spoonfuls in a half a pint of water. Let the mildewed article lie fifteen minutes in this solution. Then take it out, wring it gently, and put it immediately into weak muriatic acid—one part of the acid and four parts soft water.
For delicate fabrics, laces, muslins, &c., the solution of lime should be diluted by the addition of three or four times the measure of water. Let the article lie in it five minutes; then put it into the muriatic acid.
To take out Iron Mould.
Dissolve a teaspoonful of salts of tin in two table-spoonfulsof water. Dip the iron-mould into the solution, and let it remain five minutes. Then dip it into a mixture of equal parts of muriatic acid and water. Dip the mould spots alternately into these mixtures, or make the first one stronger with the salts of tin, and apply it with a soft rag on the end of a stick. Last of all, rinse the articles very thoroughly in cold water.
A simpler method of removing iron-mould succeeds well, provided it is recent, and not very dark. Tie up a teaspoonful of cream of tartar in the moulded place, and put it into cold water without soap, and boil it half an hour.
To take out Ink.
Turn boiling water upon it immediately, in this way: spread the cloth over a pitcher or basin, with the ink-spots in the centre, and while you hold it in its place, let another person turn the boiling water on the spots. This is better than to put the article into boiling water, as the whole will then be tinged with the ink. If the spots are still visible, tie up a teaspoonful of cream of tartar in the places where they are—more for a large stain, less for a very small one—then put the cloth into cold water without soap, and boil it half an hour. If it is not convenient to put boiling water at once on the stains, put them in cold water; do not let them become dry.
Articles that have been stained with ink or fruit, should not be put into soap suds until the stains are removed. Soap will tend to make them permanent.
To take out Fruit Stains.
Tie up cream of tartar in the spots, and put the cloth in cold water, to boil; or if the stains are much spread, stir the cream of tartar into the water. If they are still visible, boil the cloth in a mixture of subcarbonate of soda a small table-spoonful to a pail of water.
To take out Grease or Fresh Paint.
Rub grease spots with chloric ether. To remove paint, theether should be applied on the other side. The ether carries off the oil by evaporation, and leaves the lead of which the paint was composed, dry. New turpentine will remove fresh paint.
To remove rust from Iron Ware and Stoves.
New stove or range furniture is sometimes so much rusted as to make the use of it very inconvenient. Put into a rusty kettle as much hay as it will hold, fill it with water and boil it many hours. At night set it aside, and the next day boil it again. If it is not entirely fit for use, repeat the process. It will certainly be effectual.
Rub the rusty spots on a stove with sand-paper, and then with sweet oil.
To take off starch or rust from Flat-irons.
Tie up a piece of yellow beeswax in a rag, and when the iron is almost, but not quite hot enough to use, rub it quickly with the wax, and then with a coarse cloth.
To prevent Glass, Earthen, Potter's and Iron Ware from being easily broken.
Put dishes, tumblers, and other glass articles into a kettle; cover them entirely with cold water, and put the kettle where it will soon boil. When it has boiled a few minutes, set it aside, covered close. When the water is cold, take out the glass.
Treat new earthen ware in the same way. When potter's ware is boiled, a handful or two of bran should be thrown into the water, and the glazing will never be injured by acids or salt.
Cast-iron stoves, and iron ware should be heated gradually the first time they are used.
A permanent Cement for Glass, China, and Wood.
Steep Russian Isinglass twenty-four hours in white brandy, gently boil and stir the mixture until it is well compounded, and a drop of it, cooled, will become a very thick jelly; then strain it through a linen cloth, and cork it up closely. A gentleheat will dissolve it into a colorless fluid. Broken dishes united with it, will break elsewhere, rather than separate in the old fracture. To apply it, rub the edges, place them together, and hold them two or three minutes.
To preserve steel Knives from Rust.
Never wrap them in woollen cloths. When they are not to be used for some time, have them made bright, and perfectly dry; then take a soft rag, and rub each blade with dry wood-ashes. Wrap them closely in thick brown paper and lay them in a drawer or dry closet. A set of elegant knives, used only on great occasions, were kept in this way more than an hundred years without a spot of rust.
To prevent Ivory Knife Handles from being cracked.
Never let knife blades stand in hot water as is sometimes done to make them wash easily. The heat expands the steel which runs up into the handle a very little, and this cracks the ivory. Knife handles should never lie in water. A handsome knife, or one used for cooking is soon spoiled in this way.
To remove spots from Furniture.
Paint or white spots occasioned by spilling medicine or setting something hot upon furniture, can be removed by rubbing them with camphene.
To remove Mortar or Paint from Windows.
Rub the spots of mortar with a stiff brush dipped in sharp, hot vinegar, and paint spots with burning fluid or camphene and sand.
To clean Paint with Pumice-stone.
Use powdered pumice-stone instead of whiting or sand. It cleans paint very quickly, and without injuring it. But very little should be put on the cloth at once. A pint of it is enough to clean the paint of a large house. It is well to keep it on hand, as it is often needed for removing spots from paint, and for cleaning closet shelves.
To polish unvarnished Mahogany Furniture.
First take out ink stains, if there are any, by touching them with spirits of salt. Do it with a sponge tied upon the end of a stick; then wash the spots instantly with vinegar, and make the whole surface to be polished, clean with it. Then rub on the following preparation with a woollen cloth:—
Melt together in an earthen pot two ounces of beeswax, and half an ounce of alconet root; then take it from the fire and add two ounces of spirits of wine, and half a pint of spirits of turpentine. Polish with a soft silk cloth.
To clean Silver and Plated Ware.
Use fine whiting, and wet it with hartshorn instead of water. The spots that make their appearance upon silver or plated-ware that is not in constant use, are quickly removed by this mixture. Silver is injured by coarse whiting; therefore it is well to sift it through a piece of muslin.
It is a good way to boil half an ounce of hartshorn powder in a pint of water, and put into it clean linen or cotton rags enough to absorb the whole of the mixture; then dry them, and keep them to clean silver and plate. Wash leather should be used afterwards.
To clean Paper Hangings.
Put a clean soft bag, or an old pillow-case over a new broom, and gently brush the dust from the paper; then take crusts of stale bakers' bread, and wipe it down lightly, beginning at the top. If you rub it, the dirt will adhere to the paper. After thus brushing all around the upper part of the walls with the bread, begin just above where you left off, and go round again. Do thus until you have finished the paper. The dust and crumbs will fall together. Whenever a room is cleaned it is a good way, before the paint and windows are washed, to wipe the paper with a covered broom as above directed.
To prepare earth for House Plants.
Put together equal parts of the three following things—soilfrom the sides of a barn-yard, well-rotted manure, and leaf mould from the woods, or earth from the inside of an old tree or stump. Add a small quantity of sand. For Cactuses, put as much sand as of the other materials and a little fine charcoal.
To raise Hyacinths in Winter.
When they are put into the glasses or earth, set them into a dark closet until they sprout. If they are in glasses, do not let the water touch the bulb, by an inch. When the roots have shot down to the water, fill the glass, put in a piece of charcoal, and set them in the sun.
Soot Tea for Roses.
Get soot from a stove or chimney where wood is used for fuel, put it into an old pitcher, and pour hot water upon it. When cool, use it to water your plants every few days. When it is all used, fill up the pitcher again with hot water. The effect upon plants, especially upon roses that have almost hopelessly deteriorated is wonderful in producing a rapid growth of thrifty shoots, with large thick leaves, and a great number of richly-tinted roses. Never despair of a decayed rose till this has been tried.
To destroy Grass in Gravel Walks.
Scatter the cheapest coarse salt along the edges, and where-ever the grass is springing.
Even the Canada thistle can be rooted out by cutting off the stalks very near, but not below the surface of the ground, and putting salt on them. Old brine, not fit for any other purpose, is good for this.
Use to be made of Ashes, Sawdust, etc.
To spread ashes upon grass makes it thrifty, and of a richer green. Those which have been first used for making soap, are as good for the purpose as new ashes. Let them be scattered just before a rain.
If you cultivate raspberries and blackberries, have sawdust from the wood-house put around them once a year. Where these berries grow wild, the largest ones are found near decayed stumps and logs.
To purify a Well.
When a well is cleared out, if any offensive substance is found in it, have the bottom sprinkled with two or three quarts of quick-lime.
As a general rule, it is most economical to buy the best articles. The price is, of course, always a little higher; but good articlesspendbest. It is a sacrifice of money to buy poor flour, meat, sugar, molasses, butter, cheese, lard, &c., to say nothing of the injurious effect upon the health.
Of West India sugar and molasses, the Santa Cruz and Porto Rico are considered the best. The Havana is seldom clean. White sugar from Brazil is sometimes very good. Refined sugars usually contain most of the saccharine substance, therefore there is probably more economy in using loaf, crushed, and granulated sugars, than we should at first suppose.
Butter that is made in September and October is best for winter use. Lard should be hard and white, and that which is taken from a hog not over a year old, is best.
Rich cheese feels soft under the pressure of the finger. That which is very strong is neither good or healthy. To keep one that is cut, tie it up in a bag that will not admit flies, and hang it in a cool, dry place. If mould appears on it, wipe it off with a dry cloth.
Flour and meal of all kinds should be kept in a cool, dry place.
The best rice is large, and has a clear, fresh look. Old rice sometimes has little black insects inside the kernels.
The small white sago, called pearl sago, is the best. The large brown kind has an earthy taste. These articles, and tapioca, ground rice, &c., should be kept covered.
The cracked cocoa is the best, but that which is put up in pound papers is often very good.
Shells are apt to be musty. Try a quarter of a pound before buying a quantity.
To select nutmegs, prick them with a pin. If they are good, the oil will instantly spread around the puncture.
Keep coffee by itself as its odor affects other articles. Keep tea in a close chest or canister.
Oranges and lemons keep best wrapped close in soft paper, and laid in a drawer of linen.
When a cask of molasses is bought, draw off a few quarts, else the fermentation produced by moving it will burst the cask.
Bread and cake should be kept in a tin box or stone jar.
Salt cod should be kept in a dry place, where the odor of it will not affect the air of the house. The best kind is that which is called Dun, from its peculiar color. Fish-skin for clearing coffee should be washed, dried, cut small, and kept in a box or paper bag.
Soft soap should be kept in a dry place in the cellar, and should not be used till three months old.
Bar soap should be cut into pieces of a convenient size, and laid where it will become dry. It is well to keep it several weeks before using it, as it spends fast when it is new.
Cranberries will keep all winter in a firkin of water in the cellar.
Potatoes should be put into the cellar as soon as they are dug. Lying exposed to the sun turns them green, and makes them watery. Some good housekeepers have sods laid over barrels of potatoes not in immediate use. To prevent them from sprouting in the spring, turn them out upon the cellar-bottom.
To thaw frozen potatoes put them in hot water. To thawfrozen apples put them in cold water. Neither will keep long after being frozen.
Cabbages should be buried in sand, with the roots upward.
Celery should also be buried in sand.
Turnips and beets should be put in a dry part of the cellar. Carrots keep anywhere. Onions keep best spread, and in a cool place, but should not freeze. Parsnips are best buried in a pit in the garden, and not opened till March or April, in cold parts of the country.
Squashes should be kept in a dry place, and as cold as may be without freezing.
Apples should remain out of doors in barrels till the weather becomes too cold. They should not be headed up immediately after being gathered, as a moisture accumulates upon them which causes them to decay. When brought in, set them in a back room, until the weather requires their being put into the cellar. A linen cloth laid over them will keep them from frost till very cold weather. Many good housekeepers prefer not to have apples headed up at all. There is an advantage in being able to pick them over several times in the course of a winter, as one defective apple injures all its neighbors. If they are moist, wipe them.
Herbs should be gathered when just beginning to blossom; as they are then in their perfection. Medicinal herbs should be dried, put up in paper bags, and labelled. Those used in cooking should be pounded, sifted, and put into labelled boxes or bottles. Herbs retain their virtue best, to be dried by artificial heat. The warmth of an oven a few hours after the bread is drawn, is sufficient.
Inspect every part of your house often, and let every place be neatly kept. Habits of order in housekeeping save a great deal of time and trouble, and the most thorough way of doing every thing, is the most economical of labor and money, in the end.
Every thing used in the preparation of food should be kept clean. A half washed pot or saucepan, or a dingy brass kettle,will spoil the articles cooked in them. A lady should accustom herself to such habits of attention to her household concerns, that careless ways on the part of those who serve her, will not escape her observation. Unfaithfulness in servants is the sure result of ignorance or negligence in the housekeeper.
The design of these directions is to assist the inexperienced; to teach those who are unacquainted with the business of washing, how to do it, and those who can afford to employ others, how to direct them; and also to discover where the fault lies when it is not done well.
As I write only for the uninitiated, I shall be excused for being very minute; and for giving some preliminary hints, needed only by learners.
For the family wash, good water, and good soap are indispensable. Rain, river, or spring water is best, but in some places the well-water is soft, and good for washing. Clothes washed repeatedly in hard water with common soap, will soon become too yellow to be worn, and can never be made white again. As the supply of soft water sometimes fails where a cistern is depended on, it may be well to mention that hard water can be made to answer the purpose, temporarily, by dissolving in it the sub-carbonate of soda, commonly called washing-soda. Put a large table-spoonful into three or four pails of water while it is heating, and then use the olive-soap both for rubbing and boiling the clothes. Remember that soda must not be used in washing calicoes or flannels. It will spoil both. Here it may be well to say that white clothes which are constantly washed with soda, will, when laid aside a few months become of a deep yellow color, not easily removed by any ordinary bleaching process.
Provide a wash bench of convenient height, three tubs, one a large one for rinsing,[19]a water ladle, a pail to be kept for use about the washing alone, a washing board, a clothes stick, clothes pins, a line and two baskets; one cheap coarse one in which to drain the clothes, when taken from the boiling-kettle, and a better one for taking them to the line, and for laying them in to when folded for the ironing. Have good soft soap, which, if you cannot readily procure at the manufactory, you can make with very little trouble.[20]Bar-soap is not necessary for white clothes, provided the soft is of a nice quality. The olive soap is a great improvement on the common yellow soap. If it is several months old, it spends economically, cleanses quickly, and is not sharp to the hands.
When clothes are very much soiled, they should be put into a tub of warm suds over night.
Borax soapis so effectual in cleansing soiled clothes, that the use of it essentially diminishes the labor of washing. To prepare it, put together bar soap, borax, and hot water in the following proportions,—a pound of the soap, cut into small pieces, an ounce of powdered borax, and a quart of hot water. Mix the ingredients together over the fire, but see that it does not boil. When it is cold, cut it up in cakes, and use it like common hard soap. Put the clothes which are most soiled, or if you choose, all the white clothes of the wash into quite a warm suds made with this soap, and let them remain from Saturday evening untilMonday morning. This method is recommended by very good housekeepers.
To do the Washing.Sort the clothes, putting the finest and cleanest by themselves, to be washed first and the coarse and more soiled ones together. Where there are white clothes enough to make two or three boilings, sort them accordingly; always boil coarse towels by themselves. If there are fine calicoes, nice ginghams, or delicate printed muslins, separate them from the common ones, and also the white flannel, angola, or merino articles from the colored woollens.
The tub should be a third full of water, not hot, but very warm. Stir in soap enough to make a weak suds, and put in the nicest clothes. Rub handkerchiefs, night-caps, and other fine articles between the hands, using a little soap. Never rub them on a washboard. As fast as they are washed, wring and shake them open, and put them into an old pillow case or white bag, else they will be liable to be torn by the weight of the larger articles when taken out of the boiling kettle. Some persons keep a large bag in which they boil all the white clothes together; if the kettle is a nice one, so that there is no danger of iron mould, or any kind of stain, it is better to boil them without it. Use a wash-board for the large articles, and for those which are not easily made clean, and use more soap than for the fine things, taking special pains with places that are most soiled. All articles worn upon the person should be washed on both sides, and special pains taken with seams and hems. If there are streaks which you cannot entirely wash out, rub soap on them after you have wrung out the article ready for the boiling.
Lay all the washed clothes together in an empty tub or the draining basket, until you have enough for the first boiling. Then dip out all the hot water from the kettle into a tub, and cover it over with a thick cloth, in order to keep it hot for washing more clothes. Put a pail or two of cold water into the kettle, and a large spoonful of soft soap—more if the kettle is a large one. Shake open and lay in the clothes, and add enough more water to cover them. Do not crowd the boiler very full;the clothes will not look as well, and beside, the water will be continually boiling over. Have a good fire, push the clothes down often with the stick, and let them boil steadily, half an hour. Set the draining basket upon a tub, with two or three strips of board laid across, to keep it up. A little frame, somewhat like the cheese ladder used in a dairy, is more convenient. Place the tub near the boiler, and take out the clothes with the stick. When this is done, dip out part of the boiling suds, cover it, and set it aside to be used as occasion requires. Add cold water to the kettle, and put in more clothes. Continue washing until all the white clothes are rubbed, remembering to dip out part of the dirty water from the tub now and then, and add some of the boiling suds which you have kept covered. When the clothes in the basket are well drained, put them into a tub of clean cold water, and take more clothes from the boiler into the draining basket. When all the white clothes are rubbed, and while the last of them are still boiling, get the second rinsing water ready in the largest tub. (Some people have an idea that clothes look best rinsed in hard water, because rain-water is not so white as the other. But rain-water is the best, because it takes out the soap more thoroughly.) Fill the rinsing tub two thirds full of water, squeeze the blue-bag in it two or three times, and stir till the water is equally blue.[21]
When you wring the clothes from the first rinsing-water, see whether the streaks you could not rub out have disappeared. If not, they can probably be removed quickly now. Wring the clothes dry, else the suds remaining in them will make the last rinsing water soapy. If the wash is large, dip off part of the water, when half of the clothes are wrung out, and add clean water, and a little more blueing. Strength, and some practice are necessary, to wring large articles dry, and the appearance of the clothes will but poorly pay for the labor bestowed, if this part of the work is not well done. Perhaps it is the most fatiguing part of washing. The inventor of a good machine for wringing clothes will deserve and have, the thanks of many a toil-worn woman.
When the white clothes are upon the line, take boiling suds and wash the coarse towels; boil them in a clean water, or in some of the last rinsing-water. Wash them thoroughly as the table-cloths; not negligently because they are coarse. If the weather is wet, let the clothes lie in the rinsing-water till a fair day, but omit the blueing, as it will be apt to settle in streaks upon them; or some of the articles will be very blue, while others will not be so at all. If the weather threatens to be rainy, better not put them out, as they cannot be taken in half dry, and carried out while damp to be put on the line again, without getting more or less soiled. If the wind is violent, let them lie in the water even if it is fair (unless they can be hung up in an attic or wood-house chamber or in a yard sheltered from the wind), as the hems will very likely be snapped from the corners of the sheets and table-cloths, and all the clothes will be more worn (even if they are not torn) by being blown half a day, than by two months' use from week to week. In the winter when they will freeze stiff in a few minutes, and there is a strong wind, they are liable to be torn. I have known a large and new table-cloth, cracked completely across, in a few minutes after being hung out. Small and fine articles, like caps, collars, handkerchiefs, and baby's dresses should be dried in the house in severe winter weather. Clothes are made very white by the night frosts, and where the yard is sheltered from the wind it is well to leave them out sometimes for that reason, provided there is no danger of their being stolen.
When the last boiling is done, dip out all the water and saveit as before. Heat clean water for the flannels and other woollens. These should be washed in quite warm water with good soft soap. Bar-soap makes woollens hard and wiry. Wash the finest and most delicate articles first. If they are much soiled use considerable soap so as to get them clean quickly without much rubbing, for it is this which fulls up flannels, as we may know from the fact that it is by a similar process cloth is made thick at the fulling-mill. As fast as they are done throw them into a plenty of scalding water. If they lie in a pile until all are washed, they will shrink. When you can bear your hands in the water, wring them and throw them into another; from this last water wring them dry, snap them well, and hang them out. Few people rinse flannels twice, but they look enough better to pay for the trouble. If the soap is not rinsed out, they will shrink, and also become yellow. The water used for the white flannels is fit for the colored ones, and for mixed footings, or calicoes. All sorts of stockings should be washed first on the right side, and then upon the other.
Red flannel preserves the color best, and is softest, washed in hard water. A sailor's red flannels, that have been, during a long voyage, often tied to a rope and towed through the waves, look better and feel softer than those washed at home. A word here in regard to the purchase of flannels, will not be out of place. It is the best economy to buy those made of soft wool. They will shrink very little, while coarse wool flannels will grow small and thick every week, and no pains-taking can prevent it.
After hanging out the woollens, wash the calicoes in clean water, with hard soap, and rinse them twice. Have the starch[22]ready, and dip them before they are hung up. Calicoes should be thrown into the rinsing water as fast as they are washed. Even firm colors are injured by lying. If the weather is not fair leave them in the second rinsing, but put the light and dark ones into separate tubs, unless the colors are perfectlyfast. Put a little salt into the water. They will not be injured any more than white clothes, by lying in the water over night. Nice calicoes and ginghams should be dried in the shade, and so put upon the line as to dry quickly. Hang a dress in an angle of the line near the post, with the waist down; put one pin at the turn of the line, and one on each side, a few feet from the angle, so that the hem of the skirt will form a triangle. When the skirt is dry, except near the waist, shake open the waist and sleeves, and reverse the dress, pinning the shoulders to the line.
Calicoes should not be sprinkled till the morning of the day they are ironed. The colors sometimes run together when they are folded over night, and in very warm weather, the starch in a dress that is sprinkled in the evening will become sour by the next morning. In July and August, damp clothes that lie folded together two nights, are very liable to become mildewed. Care should be taken that soiled articles are not put aside in a damp state, during the week, for the next wash. Sad accidents have occurred through want of care in this particular.
For the assistance of ladies who are not able to detect the reasons, if their clothes do not come from the laundry in good order, I will specify a few particulars as to the causes.
If good water and soap are provided, and yet the white clothes look badly, it is owing to one, or possibly, all, of the following things—their not being well assorted, the coarse clothes, and those most soiled being washed and boiled with the best ones; or perhaps those places which required special care, had no more rubbing than other parts. If the seams of underclothes are not clean, it is because they are not turned, after being washed on the right side, and well rubbed on the other. If the clothes look yellow, perhaps the washer uses too small a quantity of water, and neglects to dip off, often, that which is cool and dirty, and add more which is hot; and very likely too many are crowded into the boiler at once. If they are not wrung dry from the first rinsing-water, before being thrown into the second, they will be yellow; and lastly, if they are notwell wrung out of the second, they will have soapy streaks in the gathers and hems. If spots of iron mould appear, perhaps the washer is not careful to avoid touching the clothes while wet, to the wire handles of the tubs or pails. If the calicoes fade more than you had reason to expect, very likely they are washed in boiling suds. The soft soap in it will spoil them; and besides, it is never clean enough for nice calicoes. It is a good way to have calico dresses washed on some other day by themselves; it will be easier to have them done well. If the flannels are becoming dingy, it may be that they too are washed in the water in which the white clothes were boiled, and then rinsed but once. If they shrink, although made of fine wool, probably the soap is not all rinsed out, and that they were laid together in a pile, and became cold before they were thrown into scalding water. If they retain the wrinkles after being ironed, they were not well shaken out (or snapped) before being put out to dry. They should not be sprinkled; but if laid in the basket over night with the folded white clothes, they will be just damp enough to iron smooth. If the toes of the footings, and woollen stockings feel stiff, they were not washed clean.
Some domestics bestow great care upon the nicest articles, and take no pains with common ones. This is neither neat or economical. All clothes that are both washed and ironed well, keep clean longest.
There are some advantages in a lady's taking the clothes from the bars, after they are ironed, herself. She sees at once whether they are well washed without the trouble of unfolding them to examine, and all those which need mending can then be most conveniently laid apart from the rest. I will only add to these minute directions, that the boiler should be left perfectly dry, and the tubs, &c., rinsed and put away clean. It is good economy after the usual cleaning is done, to save all the suds to water the garden and trees. The good effects will soon reward the trouble.
Starching, Ironing, and Polishing Gentlemen's Linen.
To make the Starch—Dissolve three table-spoonfuls of the best of starch in cold water, and stir it very fast into a quart of boiling water, and boil it half an hour. Five minutes before it is done, put in a piece of spermaceti the size of a large walnut, and stir until it is well mixed. Dip the linen as soon as you can bear your hands in the starch, and see that every part is thoroughly wet, or you will have what are called blisters. Fold the collars in a dry towel. Fold the shirts through the middle up and down, so as to bring the two parts of the bosom together, that the starch may not get on any other part of the shirt. Let them lie over night.
A bosom board is indispensable. Have a piece of board eight inches by eighteen; cover one side with three thicknesses of flannel; fasten it at the edges with small tacks. Then cover both sides with three thicknesses of cotton, sewed on tight and perfectly smooth.
Iron a shirt completely (the bosom upon the side of the board where the flannel is), then hang it on the bars to air. After about an hour, lay the bosom on the hard side of the board, dip a soft towel in cold water, wring it dry, and brush the bosom until it looks a little damp. Then lay it upon the softest side and use the polishing iron quickly, pressing with all your strength. The polishing iron is very different from the common flat-iron, and far better for this use. It is oblong, and rounded at each end. They are to be found at all the hardware stores, and are not expensive. If there is any roughness upon the iron, touch it when nearly hot with bees-wax tied up in a rag.
A porcelain, or tin saucepan should be kept for making starch, and used for nothing else. The linen ironed by the lady who furnished these directions, was an ample recommendation of them.
To wash Calicoes, the colors of which are not Fast.
Pare and cut up a dozen or fifteen potatoes, and boil them in five or six quarts of water. Strain off the water through a hairsieve, and when it is cool enough to put your hands in it, wash the dress without soap. The starch imparted to the water by the potatoes will cleanse it, and also make it stiff enough without other starch even after passing through the rinsing water. If there is green in the calico, dissolve a piece of alum half as large as an egg, in a pailful of water to rinse it. If there are grease spots upon a dress, a thread should be run around them before it is washed, so that those places may receive special care, else they will be as distinct as ever, after being ironed. If washing does not remove them, use chloric ether, or new spirits of turpentine. Some very nice managers use beef's gall in washing calicoes to prevent their being faded. It is good for the purpose, but the odor is unpleasant, and will be perceptible when the dress is worn, unless it is used sparingly. A table-spoonful of the gall, to a pailful of suds is enough. Put what you do not use into a bottle, with a large table-spoonful of salt, and cork it tight. It is very useful in removing grease from woollens, and cleaning the collars of coats.
To wash Mourning Calicoes, Muslins, and Lawns.
Wash them in perfectly clean water; and if the color comes out, soak them until the water is clear, even if it should require two or three days, changing the water twice a day. A black calico that parts with much of the dye in washing, will have rusty streaks in it, and look like an old thing, if it is dried without being soaked. But in the way directed, a dress of good quality can be done up many times without losing its beauty, as experience amply proves. Such dresses should not be sprinkled over night, before being ironed.
To Wash, Starch, and Iron Muslins, Laces, etc.
Soiled muslins should be looked over and mended before being washed. Embroidered articles should be basted in exact shape upon a piece of flannel or other soft cloth. The muslin will be less liable to be frayed or torn by the weight of the needlework. Common laces should be folded evenly togetherinto many thicknesses, and then basted through and through around the edges, with a fine needle and thread. Soak these various articles in warm water with Castile or olive soap in it. After a few hours, or the next day, squeeze them dry (never rub or wring them); put on more soap, pour on hot water, and let them stand another day. Then squeeze them dry, and examine them. If they are not white, lay them loosely into a broad dish or platter, with warm suds in it, and set them in the sun a day or two; or, put them into a large white glass bottle, with a wide mouth, fill it with warm suds and set it in the sun. Turn the muslins over now and then, and also turn the bottle round, so as to give every side the benefit of the sun. This is a very good way where there is no grass-plot which can be used for bleaching. There can be no better way of whitening muslins than to dip the articles in soap suds, spread them on clean grass and let them lie two or three days and nights, wetting them once or twice a day with suds. When you take them from the grass rinse them twice in a plenty of water, the last time with blueing in it. Squeeze them dry as possible, then dip all in fine starch, except those articles which should be very stiff, and they should be dried before being starched. Sort them, dip those which need most stiffness first, then add hot water enough to make the starch thinner for the next, and lastly still more, for dipping those which need very little stiffness. Hang them all out of doors to dry, unless the weather is cold enough to freeze. When dry, sprinkle them very wet, or squeeze them in cold water, pull them out a little, and lay them two or three double in a sheet—a linen one if they are to be ironed in an hour or two; a cotton one if they are not to be done till the next day—this, because they keep damp much longer in cotton than in linen. To wash elegant, expensive laces, sew a piece of white flannel closely around a common junk bottle, and wind the lace round and round perfectly smooth, and with a fine needle and thread, baste it enough to keep it in place. If the lace is pointed, pass the needle and thread through each point; put the bottle into a jar or deep pitcher filled with warmsuds. Change the water once a day for two or three days; then put the bottle into the boiler with the finest white clothes on washing day; as soon as it is taken from the boiler, and cooled a little, rinse it again and again in a plenty of cold water, then wrap a soft, dry towel around it to press out the water, and set it in the sun. When the lace has become entirely dry, take out all the threads, unwind it, and wear it without starching.
Our grandmothers would have thought an elegant lace nearly spoilt by being washed in any other way than this, and a very nice way it is. Having once tried it, you will prefer to wash your laces yourself, rather than pay a French laundress for doing them not half as well.
When you iron muslins, pull them gently into shape, fold and lay them on a plate, and cover them with a bowl, to keep the edges from getting too dry. Have clean irons, and rub each one before using it with a bit of wax or spermaceti tied up in a piece of cotton, and wipe it on a clean rag. This is to prevent the starch from sticking to the iron. Lay the muslin upon the ironing board, the wrong side up, and always move the iron in the direction of the threads. The article will be out of shape, and look badly, if ironed diagonally. Bobbinet laces, if ironed at all, should be ironed diagonally, as in this way only can the mesh retain its shape. Dip them in stiff starch, and after drying them, dip them again, then pin them out upon a bed. They will dry soon, and will need only to be folded even, and a warm iron set upon them to press the folds flat. Whether pressed or not they will look like new bobbinet, and this is a very convenient way when a lady is so situated that she cannot iron her own kerchiefs, or get them done to her liking by others.
To iron lace or edging, carefully pull into shape the points or scollops, and pearling; lay it the wrong side up with the wrought edge from you, pass the iron along the edge nearest you, and then, beginning at the right hand end, move it out from you. Do this the whole length or a yard at a time, then adjust every part even, and pass the iron over it again and again until it is dry. Lay every piece, as you finish it, upon a waiter or dish,so that you will not have occasion to handle it again till you lay it in its place.
Needlework should be ironed upon clean flannel, and be long enough under the iron to dry it, as it will look ill if laid away damp.
Wrought collars, so much worn as to be easily torn by being washed, if they are not badly soiled, may be squeezed out of cold water, rolled in a dry cloth for a few minutes, and then ironed. The same may be done with plain muslins that are only tumbled. Sometimes it is convenient to be able to produce a clean collar in a few minutes.
It is convenient to have a board expressly for ironing caps, collars, cuffs, laces, and other small articles. It should be about two feet long, a foot and a half wide, covered on one side with four or five thicknesses of cotton cloth sewed on tight and perfectly smooth, and covered with white flannel.
To make fineStarch.
There is a great difference in the quality of starch. It is but labor lost to make use of that which is not good. There is so much difference in the quantity ofglutenin this article, that no precise measure can be given. Those who are least experienced will soon learn the proportion needed for any given number of articles.
A small sauce-pan or porringer should be kept for boiling starch, and used for nothing else. Boil the water in the porringer, wet the starch smooth in a little cold water, and pour it in slowly, stirring steadily till it has become of equal thickness. Leave it to boil moderately eight or ten minutes. If starch is pure, and well made, it need not be strained. The leg of a fine cotton stocking makes a very good strainer.
To make Flour Starch.
Wet white flour smooth in cold water, and pour it into boiling water, just like the fine starch. Some people do not boil it; others think dresses retain the stiffness longer if it is boiled. Itshould be so made as to have no lumps in it, and if it is not, it should be strained through a fine colander. Allow a table-spoonful of flour, and nearly three pints of water for a dress. If there are several dresses and skirts to be dipped, divide the starch into two or three parcels, because the first article put into it will take too large a proportion of the stiffness, and leave what remains too thin for the rest. Reserve those which need least stiffness to be starched last.
To Whiten or Bleach.
The best time in the year is the month of May. The dew at that period has a peculiar efficacy for bleaching. In the country, where clean grass plots are accessible, it is a good way to take all the white clothes of the week's wash, from the first rinsing water, or from the boiling suds, and lay them on the grass. After two or three nights take them up before they are dry in the morning, rinse them well, and put them on the line. Their improved appearance will pay for the trouble. In August, clothes should never be more than one day and night upon the grass, lest they become mildewed. In the winter, they will whiten fast, in sunny weather, upon clean snow; and leaving them on the line in the frost over night, after being washed makes them white.
To wash Thibet Cloths, Bombazines, Mouslin de Laines, and Plaids.
If you wish to make over a dress before it is badly worn or soiled, rip it, and sponge it in warm water with Castile soap in it. Sponge a piece at a time, on the side which is to be out, and iron it on the other side, until perfectly dry. The irons should be quite hot but not so as to change the color. If it is hung upon the bars or laid away, damp, it will curl and look old.
Thibet cloths of good quality last so long that they are worth being done up twice. After doing good service, till parts of the waist and sleeves are worn out the dress should be rippedand washed (sponging will not answer), and if it is of a color that fades at all, wash with it any new pieces that you may have to use in making it over. Wash it just as you would a nice flannel, with Castile or olive soap, and then rinse it in two clear warm waters. Remember not to wring it either time as it is almost impossible to iron out the wrinkles. Squeeze out the suds a little before you rinse it. Let it drip as it hangs upon the clothes line, for twenty minutes or half an hour; and before the upper edge begins to dry, and while the lower edge is still wet, turn the lower edge up over the line, and the dry edge down, and let it hang a few minutes, then fold each piece, and lay them in a pile with a damp cloth round them. Have a steady good fire, and several irons, and press them upon the wrong side until dry.
Bombazines if not badly soiled, can be sponged, in the same way as the Thibet cloths. If they are to be made up the same side out as before, sponge that side, and iron on the other. If they need to be washed, it is usually best that they should be made up the inside out, and of course should be ironed on what has been the right side. Wash them just like Thibet cloth. The black bombazines, and other similar fabrics worn in mourning, all wash well, and can be done repeatedly, and each time look so well as to reward the trouble.
Wash de laines and plaids in the same way. It is safe to use the genuine olive soap for those of the most beautiful colors; they will remain unchanged.
To wash Shawls.
Almost all kinds of shawls bear washing; and they should be done as the Thibet cloths and de laines, except that when there is much white in them, or they are composed chiefly of delicate colors, there should be a very little blueing in the last rinsing water, and after being fifteen minutes on the clothes line, they should be laid perfectly smooth into a sheet, which should then be folded up (notrolled, because that will make wrinkles), and as soon as the water is absorbed, so that the shawl remains onlyvery damp, iron it on the wrong side, until it is dry, then fold it, making the creases as when it was new.
To wash Colored, Plaid, Black, and Raw Silks and Ribbons.
For a single dress, pare four or five good-sized potatoes, slice them thin and lay them in a quart of cold water for a few hours; then, if the silk is much soiled, sponge both sides freely, rubbing the soiled places with most care. Sponge one piece at a time, and iron it dry upon the side that is to be the inside, moving the iron up and down, or straight across—never diagonally. Have the irons quite hot, yet not so as to scorch, or change the color. If they are too cool, they will draw up or crimp the silk in very minute gathers, and it will be nearly impossible to make such places smooth again. The effect of the starch from the potatoes is to cleanse the silk, and also give it a little stiffness, and even plaid silks of the most delicate colors are made to look new in this way. If a silk is not much soiled, sponge it only on what is to be the outside, and iron it on the other. A good black silk may be made to look "amaist as weel's the new," again and again by this process, and those who have never tried it, would be surprised at the renovating effect.
Good ribbons, black, white, or colored, are made fresh and handsome in precisely the same way. To iron them, set the iron across one end, on the wrong side, and while you press it hard, draw the whole length of the ribbon under it with the other hand.
Raw silks should be washed in potato water, as directed for calicoes that are liable to fade; and after being rinsed once, and hung without wringing upon the line, long enough for the water to drip off, they should be rolled for fifteen minutes in a sheet, and then ironed dry, on the wrong side.
To renovate black Veils and Lace.
Make a very weak solution of gum arabic, so that it will barely be distinguishable from pure water; lay the veil or lace upon an ironing, or other smooth board, and apply the gum-waterwith a sponge. See that the article to be sponged lies straight and even; and when you have wet it perfectly smooth, let it remain untouched till the next day. This is the way that ladies who embroider their own veils give them their finish. If the gum water is too thick, there will be danger of tearing the lace in taking it off.
To renovate Velvet.
Wet a clean sponge in warm soap suds, squeeze it very dry in a cloth, and wipe the velvet with it. Then pass the velvet over the edge of a hot iron, turned down side-ways—the wrong side of it next to the iron.
Another very good way is to hold the velvet in the steam of boiling water, and then pass it over the edge of an iron.
To wash English Blankets.
If care is taken to keep them clean, they will seldom need to be washed. New ones ought not to need washing for several years. Those which are not in constant use, should be kept where they will not be exposed to moths or dust, in a closet, pinned close in a cloth, or under a mattress. A chamber-maid or a domestic who does the general house-work, should keep a large apron to be worn only while she makes beds. Blankets, counterpanes, and even bed-ticks sometimes have to be washed in consequence of negligence on this point.
If there are soiled spots on a blanket, baste a thread around them, or else wash those places before it is put into the tub. Then put a handful of soft soap into the water, and begin to rub at one end of the blanket, using more soap, and slipping it along as fast as it is washed, from one end to the other; and as it is not possible to rub the whole width of a large blanket at once,—after it is washed along one side, taking it up to the middle, wash along the other side, just as in washing sheets. It takes two persons to wring a blanket or counterpane well. Have ready a large tub of as hot water as you can bear your hands in and put them as soon as they are washed into it; rinse themin this, and still in another warm water; and after wringing them dry as possible, have the person who assists you take one end, and taking the other yourself, open and snap them several times. This will take out the wrinkles, so that if the day is fair with a good breeze, the blankets will look almost as smooth as if they were pressed. If there are several to be washed, cover the rinsing tubs, so as to keep the water warm, and have some hot water ready to add, when that in the tubs becomes cool.
To wash white Counterpanes and Calico Quilts.
Wash them in the same way as blankets only with hard soap, and rinse them in cold water. If convenient, it is the best way to take them to a pump; and pump upon them and pour off the water again and again, till it is clear; then wring them and hang them on the line. In this way one wringing is saved, which is well, for it is some of the hardest work that is done. The heaviest kind of counterpanes, especially if they are large, should be rinsed at a pump, and taken in the tub to the clothes line, and put upon it without wringing.
To wash the Tick of a Featherbed, or Pillow.
Have it washed very thoroughly and rinsed in a plenty of water. When it is entirely dry, melt together bar soap and beeswax in the proportion of two parts soap, and one of wax. Mix it well, and then, having laid the tick, inside out, upon a large table or ironing board, spread the soap and wax on it with a knife, as thinly as possible. Even a thick tick, when it is washed, does not hold the feathers as securely as before, and the use of this mixture is to remedy the defect.
The odor of the soap soon passes away.
To wash Worsted Table-covers.
Wash them in quite warm water with olive soap. If this is not to be had, soft soap, if it is of the best kind, is better than common bar soap. This last, always has rosin in it, and sometimes there is so much as to make woollens washed with it feelgummy; and no pains-taking will entirely remove the bad effect. If there are grease spots, they should be first taken out with chloric ether or spirits of turpentine. Make a suds, wash the cloth very thoroughly in it, and then in another; then rinse it twice in warm water. Do not wring it when you put it from one water into another, but drain it, and very gently press the water out. Hang it a short time upon the line, until the water has almost ceased dripping from the lower edge; then reverse it, putting the lower edge up on the line. Have the irons hot, and the ironing-board ready, and make up your mind to iron patiently a long time. A medium-sized broadcloth table cover, such as used to be in fashion, required to be ironed two hours and a half. A less time is necessary for the thinner fabrics; but whatever the texture is, if it has wool in it, it must be pressed until it is dry, else it will not look well. Faded table-covers, having one color only, mingled with white, may be dyed with advantage. I have seen one that was originally green and white, that after being in constant use many years, was sent to a dye-house, and came back transformed into a maroon and white cloth, and was as good as when it was new.
To wash Carpets.
According to the experience of many persons, the Kidderminster carpets, and others of like fabric, are as well washed at a fulling-mill as at a dye-house, or by a professed carpet-cleanser. They are washed whole, and if the colors are good, they are returned with a good degree of their original beauty; and I have never known one to be torn or injured in any way. The charge for washing a large carpet, does not exceed a dollar and a quarter, and for medium-sized and small ones, proportionately less. After a carpet has been in hard service, if it is worth being made over, or thoroughly repaired, it is also worth being washed; and a person who has spent two or three days in mending an old, unwashed carpet, will appreciate the assertion.
The directions for removing oil and grease from carpets nothaving been inserted in the appropriate place, they are given here.
When oil is spilled on a carpet, put on a plenty of white flour, and do it as quickly as possible, in order to prevent it from spreading. If the oil is near a seam, but does not reach it, rip the seam in order to stop it. Put flour on the floor under the oil spot. The next day take up all the flour from the carpet and floor, with a dust-pan and a very stiff clothes broom, and put on fresh flour, and a plenty of it. It will not be necessary to do it a third time. To take out grease spots, rub them with a bit of white flannel, dipped in new spirits of turpentine; and if they again become visible, rub the spots again, on both sides of the carpet, when it is taken up and shaken. If there are oil or grease spots on the floor, they should be covered with thick paper before the carpet is again laid down. Scouring will not entirely remove them.