Enquire Within Upon Everything Part 205

Wash them in pure water, scrubbing them with a brush. Then put them into a box in which has been set a saucer of burning sulphur. Cover them up, so that the fumes may bleach them.

2729. Clothes b.a.l.l.s.

Take some fullers' earth, dried till it crumbles to powder: moisten it with the juice of lemon, add a small quant.i.ty of pearlash, work and knead carefully together till it forms a thick paste; make into b.a.l.l.s, and dry them in the sun. Moisten the spot on clothes with water, then rub it with the ball. Wash out the spot with pure water.

[O HEART! BUT TRY IT ONCE;--'TIS EASY TO BE...]

2730. To Wash China Crepe Scarves, &c.

If the fabric be good, these articles of dress can be washed as frequently as may be required, and no diminution of their beauty will be discoverable, even when the various shades of green have been employed among other colours in the patterns. In cleaning them, make a strong lather of boiling water; suffer it to cool; when cold or nearly so, wash the scarf quickly and thoroughly, dip it immediately in cold hard water in which a little salt has been thrown (to preserve the colours), rinse, squeeze, and hang it out to dry in the open air; pin it at its extreme edge to the line, so that it may not in any part be folded together: the more rapidly it dries the clearer it will be.

2731. To Wash a White Lace Veil.

Put the veil into a strong lather of white soap and very clear water, and let it simmer slowly for a quarter of an hour; take it out and squeeze it well, but be sure not to rub it: rinse it twice in cold water, the second time with a drop or two of liquid blue. Have ready some very clear weak gum arabic water, or some thin starch, or rice water; pa.s.s the veil through it, and clear it by clapping; then stretch it out evenly, and pin it to dry on a linen cloth, making the edge as straight as possible, opening out all the scallops, and fastening each with pins. When dry, lay a piece of thin muslin smoothly over it, and iron it on the wrong side.

2732. Blond Lace.

Blond lace may be revived by breathing upon it, and shaking and flapping it. The use of the iron turns the lace yellow.

2733. Was.h.i.+ng Bed Furniture, &c.

Before putting into the water, see that you shake off as much dust as possible, or you will greatly increase your labour. Use no soda, or pearlash, or the articles will lose their colour. Use soft water, not hot, but warm: have plenty of it. Rub with mottled soap. On wringing out the second liquor, dip each piece into cold hard water for finis.h.i.+ng. Shake out well, and dry quickly. If starch is desired, it may be stirred into the rinsing water.

2734. Was.h.i.+ng with Lime (1).

Half a pound of soap; half a pound of soda; quarter of a pound of quick-lime. Cut up the soap and dissolve it in half a gallon of boiling water; pour half a gallon of boiling water over the soda, and enough boiling water over the quick-lime to cover it. The lime must be quick and fresh; if quick, it will bubble up when the hot water is poured over it. Prepare each of these in separate vessels; put the dissolved lime and soda together, and boil them for twenty minutes; then pour them into a jar to settle.

2735. Was.h.i.+ng with Lime (2).

After having made the Preparation, set aside the flannels and coloured articles, as they _must not_ be washed in this way. They may be washed in the usual way while the others are boiling. The night before, the collars and wristbands of s.h.i.+rts, the feet of stockings, &c., should be rubbed well with soap and set to soak. In the morning pour ten gallons of water into the copper, and having strained the mixture of lime and soda well, taking great care not to disturb the settlings, put it, together with the soap, into the water, and make the whole boil before putting in the clothes.

A plate should be placed at the bottom of the copper, to prevent the clothes from burning. Boil each lot of clothes from half an hour to an hour, then rinse them well in cold blue water. When dry they will be beautifully white. The same water will do for three lots. Wash the finer things first.

2736. Was.h.i.+ng. (_Supremacy of Soapsuds over Lime_).

To save your linen and your labour,--pour on half a pound of soda two quarts of boiling water, in an earthenware pan; take half a pound of soap, shred fine; put it into a saucepan with two quarts of cold water; stand it on a fire till it boils; and when perfectly dissolved and boiling, add it to the former. Mix it well, and let it stand till cold, when it will have the appearance of a strong jelly. Let your linen be soaked in water, the seams and any other soiled part rubbed in the usual way, and remain till the following morning. Get your copper ready, and add to the water about a pint basin full; when _lukewarm_ put in your linen, and allow it to boil for twenty minutes.

Rinse it in the usual way, and that is all which is necessary to get it clean, and to keep it in good colour. Housekeepers will find the above receipt invaluable.

[...BUT TO APPEAR SO, WHAT A STRAIN AND MISERY!]

2737. Hard Water.

When water is hard, and will not readily unite with soap, it will always be proper to boil it before use; which will be found sufficiently efficacious, if the hardness depends solely upon the impregnation of lime. Even exposure to the atmosphere will produce this effect in a great degree upon spring water so impregnated, leaving it much fitter for lavatory purposes.

In both cases the water ought to be carefully poured off from the sediment, as the neutralized lime, when freed from its extra quant.i.ty of carbonic acid, falls to the bottom by its own gravity. To economize the use of soap, put any quant.i.ty of pearlash into a large jar, covered from the dust, in a few days the alkali will become liquid, which must be diluted in double its quant.i.ty of soft water, with an equal quant.i.ty of new-slacked lime. Boil it half an hour, frequently stirring it; adding as much more hot water, and drawing off the liquor, when the residuum may be boiled afresh, and drained, until it ceases to feel acrid to the tongue.

2738. Was.h.i.+ng Machines.

Much labour in was.h.i.+ng has been saved by the introduction of was.h.i.+ng machines, by which the toil of was.h.i.+ng day, formerly so severe, has been much abridged. Suitable machines for was.h.i.+ng, wringing, and mangling may be purchased at comparatively low prices of any of the makers of what is termed "labour-saving machinery," such as Kent, Bradford, Twelvetrees, &c. Preparations for softening water, and facilitating the process, exist in the Extract of Soap, and the various was.h.i.+ng powders now to be purchased of most grocers and oil and colourmen. Cold water soap, too, has achieved considerable popularity, for by its use a lather can be quickly produced, even in the hardest water.

2739. Save Soap and Labour.

Soap and labour may he saved by dissolving alum and chalk in bran water, in which the linen ought to be boiled, then well rinsed out, and exposed to the usual process of bleaching.

2740. Hardly Any Soap.

Soap may be dispensed with, or nearly so, in the getting up of muslins and chintzes, which should always be treated agreeably to the Oriental manner; that is, to wash them in plain water, and then boil them in rice water; after which they ought not to be submitted to the operation of the smoothing iron, but rubbed smooth with a polished stone. This work, which is known as "calendering," is very heavy and laborious, and is done by men.

2741. Improvements.

The economy which must result from these processes renders their consideration important to every family, in addition to which, we must state that the improvements in philosophy extend to the laundry as well as to the wash-house.

2742. Gum Arabic Starch.

Procure two ounces of fine white gum arabic, and pound it to powder.

Next put it into a pitcher, and pour on it a pint or more of boiling water, according to the degree of strength you desire, and then, having covered it, let it set all night. In the morning, pour it carefully from the dregs into a clean bottle, cork it, and keep it for use. A tablespoonful of gum water stirred into a pint of starch that has been made in the usual manner will give to lawns (either white or printed) a look of newness to which nothing else can restore them after was.h.i.+ng. It is also good (much diluted) for the white muslin and bobbinet.

[LIFE'S BUT A MEANS TO AN END...]

2743. Mildew out of Linen.

Rub the linen well with, soap; then sc.r.a.pe some fine chalk, and rub it also on the linen. Lay it on the gra.s.s. As it dries, wet it a little, and the mildew will come out with a second application.

2744. To Render Linen, &c., Incombustible.

All linen, cotton, muslins, &c., &c., when dipped in a solution of tungstate of soda or common alum, will become incombustible.

2745. Sweet Bags for Linen.