489. To Prepare Ox-gall for Washing Colored Articles

489.    To Prepare Ox-gall for Washing Colored Articles. Empty the gall in a bottle, put in it a handful of salt, and keep it closely corked. A tea-cupful to 5 gallons of water will prevent colored articles from fading.

490. The French Method of Washing Colored Muslins, Piques, etc.

490.    The French Method of Washing Colored Muslins, Piques, etc.. Prepare some rather warm (not hot) lather, made with soft water and the best white soap; wash the dresses one at a time, but do not soak them. As soon as the first lather looks soiled, squeeze the dress from it, and at once wash it again in a fresh lather. When thoroughly clean, rinse in pure cold water, lastly in water slightly blued; squeeze (not wring) the water completely from the dress, and hang it in a shaded place to dry; if wet weather, dry it by the fire. The best prints will fade if hung in the sunshine.

491. To Bender the Colors of Cotton Fabrics Permanent

491.    To Bender the Colors of Cotton Fabrics Permanent. Dissolve 3 gills of salt in 4 quarts of water; put the calico in while hot, and leave it till cold, and in this way the colors are rendered permanent, and will not fade by subsequent washing.

492. To Wash Chintz, so as to Preserve its Gloss and Color

492.    To Wash Chintz, so as to Preserve its Gloss and Color. Take 2 pounds of rice and boil it in 2 gallons of water, till soft; when done, pour the whole into a tub; let it stand and cool till about the usual warmth for colored linens; put the chintz in, and use the rice instead of soap; wash it in this till the dirt appears to be out; then boil the same quantity as above, but strain the rice from the water, and mix it in warm water. Wash it in this till quite clean; afterwards rinse it in the water the rice was boiled in; this will answer the end of starch, and no dew will affect it, as it will be stiff while it is worn. If a dress, it must be taken to pieces, and when dried, hang it as smooth as possible; when dry, rub it with a smooth stone, but use no iron.

493. To Wash Flannels or other Woolen Articles

493.    To Wash Flannels or other Woolen Articles. Have the suds ready prepared by boiling up some good white soap in soft water, but do not use the suds when boiling; let them be as hot as the hand will bear when the articles are put in. The flannels should not be rubbed with soap, nor should the material itself bo rubbed, as in washing linen, etc., rubbing knots the fibres of the wool together; hence the thickening of the fabric and consequent shrinking in its dimensions. Sluice the articles up and down in plenty of suds, which afterwards squeeze (not wring) out. The patent clothes - wringers are a great improvement upon hand labor, as, without injury to the fabric, they squeeze out the water so thoroughly that the article dries in considerably less time than it would do even after the most thorough hand wringing. After rinsing, squeeze out the water, and dry in the open air, if the weather is such as to admit of the articles drying quickly; if not, dry in a warm room, but avoid too close proximity to a fire. Let any dust or mud be eaten out or brushed off prior to washing. All flannels should be soaked before they are made up, first in cold and then in hot water, in order to shrink them.