It is often best to dry-clean fine laces, as they thicken slightly in washing. To wash them, a warm neutral soap-solution should be used to which has been added ammonia or borax. The dirt is squeezed out by pressing the lace in the hands but should not be rubbed; rubbing breaks the delicate threads. A good way to wash fine lace is to baste it to strips of cheese-cloth, being careful to catch down all its points. It should then be put to soak overnight in warm soapy water containing a little borax or ammonia. It should be washed by squeezing, then rinsed free of soap. Old yellow lace may be bleached by stretching it, while wet, around a bottle, and standing it in the sun, rewetting the lace occasionally. Javelle water may be used to bleach lace. Lace may be stiffened by rinsing in a mixture of two tablespoons of alcohol to one cup of water; by rinsing in borax water, two tablespoons to a cup; or by using gum arabic, one-eighth teaspoon to a cup of water. If a yellow color is desired, the lace may be dipped in coffee or tea.

Black lace should be cleaned by squeezing it repeatedly in a mixture of one cup of strong coffee and one tablespoon of ammonia. It should be rinsed in gum arabic water made with coffee, to give natural stiffness.

Lace curtains should be washed with as near an approach to the care given to lace as is practicable. They should be clearstarched, stretched, and pinned out on sheets, one curtain over another. If available, it is better to use curtain-stretchers than sheets, but if care is taken to square off the first curtain and stretch it straight and even, good results may be obtained by pinning the curtains to sheets.