[Sidenote: Soap and Ammonia with Gasoline]
Only the best and purest benzine, naphtha, gasoline, and turpentine should be used for cleaning garments. For removing paints from coa.r.s.e cloth, pure turpentine is useful, while for silks, velvets and woolens, benzine, naphtha and gasoline are to be preferred. The secret of success in the use of any of these cleansing agents lies in immersing the garments in _large quant.i.ties_ of the liquid. Not less than a gallon should be used for a waist and two gallons will do the work far more satisfactorily. An effort should be made to remove all the worst spots before immersing the whole garment. Those which have not disappeared should then be marked with white thread, colored thread may leave a mark. It is a good plan to enclose the spot with a line of basting. Soak the garment for some time in the liquid, then soap all spots thoroughly and rub gently between the hands until they disappear. Finally wash and rinse the garment in clear liquid and hang in the open air until all odor has pa.s.sed away. Soap may be used freely with gasoline with good effect. Some professional cleaners use a little of the strongest ammonia in their gasoline tanks. The goods should be shaken well and all folds pulled out straight with the threads of the goods. Velveteen, corduroy, and like piled fabrics can be cleaned successfully if not too much worn, but no amount of cleaning will restore the pile that is worn off.
If allowed to stand until the impurities have settled and the clear liquid poured into clean bottles, it may be used for a number of times.
This should always be done in the open air.
Chloroform may be used for cleaning the most delicate silks, though this is rather expensive.
[Sidenote: Absorbing Pad]
Whenever any of these liquids are used to remove spots alone, the spots should be placed upon a soft pad of several thicknesses of old cloth or blotting paper to absorb the surplus liquid and the spot should be rubbed from the outside towards the center. A hole may be cut in very soft cloth or blotting paper and placed around the spot to absorb the solvent around the stain and prevent the dark ring being formed. The cloth should be rubbed lightly and briskly until it is dry. If the fabric is light colored, a sponge or a soft piece of light cloth should be used, while for dark fabrics, the cloth used for rubbing the spot should also be dark and free from lint. The rubbing should be done lightly so as not to wear or injure the texture of the fabric. The blotting paper or cloth underneath should be changed frequently until the spot has entirely disappeared.
[Sidenote: Cleaning Velvet]
Velvet hats and bonnets, after all tr.i.m.m.i.n.g is removed, may be cleaned by repeated dippings in benzine or gasoline. The vessel used should be large enough to hold a sufficient quant.i.ty of the liquid to completely cover the hat. Of course all dust should be carefully brushed off and all folds ripped and loosened before putting the hat into the liquid.
The secret of success lies in having the article entirely free from dust and using a large quant.i.ty of the benzine or gasoline.
[Sidenote: Before Sending to Cleaners]
Before sending out garments to be dyed or cleaned, be sure that they are in good condition. All worn places should be mended carefully and all b.u.t.tons should be removed. Garments that are ripped should have all cut threads pulled out and be free from dust. Dust silk fabrics with a piece of clean flannel and woolen material with a brush or broom.
REPAIRING
[Sidenote: Economical Mending]
Fabrics are so much cheaper and so much easier to obtain that patching has almost become one of the lost arts. The twentieth century woman feels that her time is too valuable to be spent in mending the old clothes and that she can better afford to buy new. However that may be, no one disputes the utility of mending. Like so many other duties, mending is half done when well begun. A well made garment of good material should not be discarded when slightly worn, for a patch well put in or a neat piece of darning detracts in no way from the value of a garment and may even be a work of art. The children"s clothes particularly should be kept in good order, for they are made uncomfortable by wearing garments that are out of repair, to say nothing of the demoralizing effect upon their characters.
[Sidenote: Laundering and Repairs]
Laundering is the great ally to tears and not only doubles the size of the hole, but pulls the threads apart so that it is impossible to make the mended place neat and smooth, therefore all clothing should be mended before washing. Stockings and woven underwear are much worn by the rubbing on the washboard and thin places going into the washing frequently come out as holes, so that it is true economy of effort and time to "run" or darn the thin places before they are worn through. It requires much less time and the garments last longer.
It is a good plan, especially in knees of stockings and knitted underwear, to baste a piece of fine net over a worn or broken place and darn over it. (See Darning.) Thread used for darning should be as near as possible the size of the threads in the garment. Darning cotton, linen, wool, and silk of all shades can be bought, so that the problem of matching is no longer a difficult one.
[Sidenote: Boys" Trowsers]
In mending the knees of boys" trousers a round patch should never be used. The seams should be ripped and the piece set in then, if the seams are pressed well, the patch will scarcely be noticeable.
[Sidenote: Sleeves]
When bodices are worn under the arm, rip the seams and set in a new "under arm" piece. A good plan for one whose dresses are apt to wear through quickly is to have the under arm pieces and the adjacent parts of the front made of two thicknesses of the goods; then, as the outside wears through, the edges can be hemmed down or taken into the seam.
[Sidenote: Table Cloths]
When table cloths begin to wear in the middle fold or along the edge of the table, a few inches cut off one end and one side of the cloth will change the fold and the place where it falls over the table and give it a new lease of life. If the hem is turned down once and cat st.i.tched, it will resemble the selvage more than a twice turned hem.
[Sidenote: Lengthening Garments]
In repairing or lengthening garments that have become too short, much can be done by adding to the bottom of the skirt and sleeves material of different texture. A cloth or serge skirt may be lengthened by facing with velvet of the same shade, covering the line of sewing with cord, braid, or pa.s.s.e.m.e.nterie of the same shade or black. There should be an underfacing of light-weight crinoline to make the bottom of the skirt firm and to give strength. The same facing and pa.s.s.e.m.e.nterie may be used at neck and sleeves.
[Sidenote: Extension Hem and Tucks]
Thin gowns of lawn, dimity, etc., can be lengthened with a faced or extension hem, the line of sewing to be covered with feather st.i.tch or any of the fancy st.i.tches of white or colored thread. If the lawn or dimity has a colored figure, the embroidery silk or cotton may match this. Under skirts and drawers may be lengthened in the same way or rows of tucks may be added.
[Sidenote: Waist Repairing]
In waist repairing, the sewing silk should match the material. Set the patch into the seams when possible and trust to careful pressing. If the material begins to wear near the end of the bones, cut off the bones an inch and take in the dart or seam. If the silk wears off around the hooks and eyes, move them along ever so little. Make a virtue of worn out seams by taking them in and covering them with fancy st.i.tching. If the garment is lined, the outside should be carefully basted to the lining before st.i.tching to take in the seam. It has been said that silk waists are serviceable as long as the upper parts of the sleeves remain good.
If garments have not been well cared for from the first and beyond a certain point, "making over" is poor economy. Never attempt cleaning and making over old clothes unless the material is good enough to make it worth while to do the work well.
[Sidenote: Mending Baskets]
The mending basket is an important adjunct of mending and should be well supplied with darning cotton of all colors and sizes, good English tape, black and white, of different widths, linen tape, bias tape, different kinds and sizes of needles,--sewing, darning, shoe, carpet, and tape needles.
[Sidenote: Use of Tape]
For repairing bands and facings, where b.u.t.tons have been torn off by wringer or iron, and for strengthening weak places, tape is invaluable.
It saves the time required to turn in the edges of the cloth and is less clumsy and bungling.
[Sidenote: Use of Judgment in Mending]
The mender should use good judgment as to the amount of work to be applied to each garment. She should subst.i.tute the machine needle whenever possible and not put tiny st.i.tches by hand into half worn garments or in unseen places. Ripped tucks and bands can be sewed in a few minutes on the machine. Serviceable darning can be done on the machine.
Before putting away freshly laundered clothes it is a good plan to take out the clothes already in the drawers and lay the ones washed last on the bottom, thus all garments will wear alike, each article in its regular turn.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Home and School Sewing, Frances Patton, ($.60, postage 6c).
School Needlework, Olive C. Hapgood, ($.75, postage 6c).
Sewing Course for Schools, Mary Schenck Woolman, ($3.50, postage 20c).
Progressive Lessons in Needlework, Catherine F. Johnson, ($.90, postage 8c).
Sewing and Garment Drafting, Margaret L. Blair, ($1.25, postage 10c).
Manual of Exercises in Hand Sewing, Margaret L. Blair, ($1.25, postage 10c).
Dressmaking Up to Date, b.u.t.terick Pub. Co., ($.25, postage 8c).
Note: The above books may be borrowed, one at a time, by members of the School. Send the postage given with request. They may be purchased if desired.