prevents them from running into each other. All coloured fabrics should be dried in the shade and as quickly as possible.
To Wash Blues and Greens.—Never soak any coloured things likely to run. Wash as quickly as possible, have some alum water handy and rinse in it. If the green runs or blurs rinse again in saltpetre and water, about one ounce to a good sized pail full of water.
To Wash Coloured Flannels.—Dressing gowns, &c., &c., of coloured flannel should be washed as quickly as possible in two lathers of warm water and soap jelly. Do not rub soap on the flannel on any account. Rinse in warm water in which put a handful of salt or two tablespoonsful of vinegar. Pass through a wringer if possible or failing that wring as dry as you can by hand, and then wring again in a thick towel and dry in the shade as quickly as possible and press with a very hot iron over a damp cloth.
How to Wash Blankets. No. 1.—Put one pint of household ammonia into sufficient warm water to cover the blanket. Have the blanket well shaken and beaten to remove all dust. Then place it in a tub and pour the warm water and ammonia over it, working it about with the hands till every part is covered and wet, flop it about or better still tramp it for some minutes. Rinse in the same way in warm water, and wring carefully and hang out in the wind to dry, the quicker it dries the better. Another blanket must not be put into the same water or it will receive all the dirt of the first.
To Wash Blankets No. 2.—Mix two tablespoonsful of ammonia to one of turpentine in a bottle. Then prepare a lather by shredding some soap into boiling water in a large tub, or it can be mixed in the boiler and transferred to the tub. Pour in the ammonia and turpentine directly it is off the boil, stirring well. Let it stand a few minutes and then soak in your blankets and leave them till the water is about milk warm, then rince twice
in clear warm water and dry as soon as possible. Tweed suits can be washed in exactly the same manner, and if properly done will look as clean and as well as if new. Homespun, dresses, cashmeres, &c., can also be done in this way.
To Wash Black Lace.—Dissolve a piece of ammonia the size of a walnut in about a teacupful of water and sponge the lace with it. Do not make it too damp, spread it out carefully between two sheets of thin paper and iron in this way.
STARCHING.
About Starching Shirts.—Shirts and collars must be quite dry before starching, and cold water starch is the best to use. For strong starch allow four ounces or about three tablespoonsful of starch to one quart of water. To make it properly, pour a little water on and let it dissolve into a paste, then add the rest by degrees stirring continually. Dissolve half a teaspoonful of borax in a little water, and add it to prevent the iron sticking. Another way to mix cold water starch is to boil the required quantity of water with a few shreds of common soap, let it stand till quite cold and then make the starch. This is an excellent way as I have tried it constantly, and never found the irons stick; but all these devices, and, as I once heard a laundress call them, fiddy-faddy ways are only required by the amateur laundress, an experienced hand either has her own dodges, which are often trade secrets, or uses nothing at all but her hot iron and elbow grease. For boiled starch a little sperm from the candlestick is generally used to prevent the iron sticking, or a teaspoonful of the universal home requisite, kerosene—best of all I think is a teaspoonful of salt. But, as in everything else, each person has their own way of working ship, and as the old sailor said “Lay aft there and haul the jib down.”
To Make Collars and Cuffs Stiff and Glossy.—Professional laundresses
