How To Wash A Book Muslin Dress

Make a strong suds with white soap and warm water. Put in the dress and wash it well; squeezing and pressing rather than rubbing it; as book muslin tears easily, and, without great care, will not last long. Wash it through a second suds, and then pass it through two rinsing waters; adding a very little blue to the last. Then open out the dress; and while wet, run it through a thin starch, diluted with water either warm or cold. Stretch it, and hang it in the sun to dry. Afterward, sprinkle it and roll it up in a clean fine towel, letting it lie for half an hour or more. Then open it out, stretch it even, and clap it in your hands till clear all over. Have irons ready, and iron it before it is too dry on the wrong side, whenever practicable. Take care that the irons are not too hot, as it will scorch easily. When done, do not fold the dress, but hang it up in a press or wardrobe. In ironing, be very careful to get the hem even. Many persons, previous to having them washed, rip out the hems of their thin muslin dresses, afterward running them over again. This is a good plan, if you are willing to take the trouble.

How To Make Washing Fluid

Add one pound of unslaked lime, to three gallons of soft, boiling water. Let it settle and pour off. Then add three pounds of washing soda, and mix with the lime water. When dissolved, use a large wineglassful to each pailful of water. Add one gill of soft soap to a pailful of water.

How To Wash Blond Lace

The French blond lace may be washed by sewing it round a bottle, as in the direction for thread lace on page 618. Then place the bottle upright in a strong lather of white soap and clear soft water. Set it in the sun, and rub the lace gently with your hands. Repeat the process every day for a week, keeping it in the sun, and rubbing the lace gently every time the lather is renewed. Then unfold the lace from the bottle, and pin it on a large pillow or cushion tightly, using a separate pin for every scallop, and placing it very straight and even. Let it dry perfectly on the pillow; then unpin and take it off; but do not starch, iron, or press it; fold it loosely and put it by.

How To Take Out Mildew From Linen, No. 1

Two tablespoonfuls of soft soap and the juice of a lemon. Lay it on the spots with a brush, on both sides of the linen. Let it lie a day or two till the stains disappear.

How To Take Out Mildew From Linen, No. 2

Take soap and rub it well; then scrape some fine chalk, and rub that also in the linen; lay it on the grass; as it dries, wet it a little, and it will come out at once.

How To Wash Thread Lace

Having ripped the lace from the article to which it was attached, and carefully picked out the loose bits of thread, roll the lace very smoothly and securely round a clean black bottle, which has been covered with new white linen, sewed on tightly. Tack each end of the lace with a needle and thread, to keep it smooth; and in wrapping it round the bottle, take care not to crumple or fold in any of the scollops or pearlings. Pour into a saucer a very little of the best sweet oil, and, dipping in your finger, touch it lightly on the lace while proceeding to wind it on the bottle - too much oil will make it greasy. Have ready awash kettle, a strong, cold lather made of very clear water, and white Castile soap. Having filled the bottle with cold water to keep it from bursting, set it upright in the suds, and tie a string round the neck, securing it to the ears or handle of the kettle, to prevent its knocking about and breaking while over the fire. Let it boil in the suds for an hour or more, or till the lace is clean and white all through. Then take it out, drain off the suds, and set the bottle in the sun, for the lace to dry on it. When it is quite dry, remove the lace from the bottle, and roll it round a wide ribbon block, if vou have one; otherwise, lay it in long folds, place it within a sheet of smooth white paper, and press it in a large book for a day or two. By this simple process, in which there is neither rinsing, starching, nor ironing, the lace will acquire the same consistence, transparency, and tint that it had when new, and the scollops at the edge will come out perfectly even. We can safely recommend this as the best possible method of doing up thread lace, and as the only one which gives it a truly new appearance. It is well not to put the oil on the lace till you have the soapsuds ready in the kettle, so that the bottle may go in immediately; as if allowed to stand, much of the oil will run down and drip off.

How To Clean White Feathers

Draw the feathers gently through a warm soap lather several times, then pass them through tepid, and finally through cold water, to rinse them. Then hold them a short distance from the fire, and curl the separate parts of the feather as it dries by holding a steel knitting pin in the hand, and drawing each portion of the feather briskly between the pin and the thumb.