The removal of stains from white goods is comparatively easy. Fruit and wine stains are removed by stretching the fabric over a bowl and pouring boiling water through the stain, repeating until it disappears.
Boiling milk is sometimes applied successfully to wine stains in the same way. A thick layer of salt rubbed into the stained portion and followed with the boiling-water treatment is also effective. Obstinate fruit stains yield to a thorough moistening with lemon, a good rubbing with salt (a combination which is to be found all prepared at the drug store under the name of Salts of Lemon), and the application of boiling water. When nothing else avails, immerse the stained portion in a weak solution of Javelle water--one half cup to one pail of boiling water--allow it to soak a few minutes, and then rinse thoroughly.
Javelle water can be procured of the druggist, but is as well prepared at home by dissolving four pounds of ordinary washing soda in one gallon of water, boiling ten minutes, and then adding to it one pound of chloride of lime. It should be kept well corked, and resorted to in extreme cases alone, as it is violent in its action on the clothes.
For this reason special care must be given to rinsing after its use.
Tea and coffee stains usually surrender to boiling water, but if they prove obdurate rub in a little powdered borax and pour on more boiling water. Chocolate stains can be removed in the same way. Sprinkling the stain with borax and soaking first in cold water facilitates the action of the boiling water.
Rub iron rust with lemon and salt, and lay in the sun, repeating until the spot disappears. This is usually all that is necessary, but if the stain is very stubborn, spread over a bowl containing one quart of water and one teaspoonful of borax. Apply hydrochloric acid, drop by drop, to the stain until it brightens, then dip at once into the water.
If an ink stain is fresh, soak in milk, renewing the milk when it becomes discolored. If very dry and well set use lemon and salt or the Javelle-water treatment.
Mildew, which results from allowing damp clothes to lie in the basket for a length of time, is obstinate and difficult to remove. Boil in salted b.u.t.termilk; or wet with lemon juice and stand in the sun. If these treatments are ineffectual, resort to diluted oxalic acid or Javelle water, a careful rinsing to follow the application. Gra.s.s stains may be treated in a like manner, or washed in alcohol. Ammonia and water, applied while the stain is fresh, will often remove it.
Remove paint stains with benzene or turpentine, machine oil with cold water and Ivory soap, vaseline with turpentine.
Peroxide of hydrogen applied to blood stains while they are still moist causes them to disappear at once. Soaking in cold water till the stains turn brown, then washing in warm water with soap is the usual treatment. If the stain is on thick goods, make a paste of raw starch and apply several times.
Pencil marks on linen should be rubbed off with an eraser, as hot water sets them.
Soap and water is the best agent for removing stains from colored goods, _provided the color is fast_. Moisten the article, soap the stain, and after a few minutes wash alternately with oil of turpentine and water. If not satisfactorily removed make a mixture of yolk of egg and oil of turpentine, spread on the stain, allow to dry, sc.r.a.pe off, and wash thoroughly in hot water. Tampering with stains on garments which are not warranted "fast color" is very risky, and often leaves the second state of the garments worse than the first.
SOAKING AND WASHING
The prologue of sorting the clothes and removing the stains being at an end, we are ready for the real "business" of the wash day--the washing itself--unless the laundress prefers to soak the clothes overnight. If so, dampen, soap well, particularly the most soiled spots, roll up and pack in the bottom of the tub, pour over tepid water, and leave till morning. Only the bed and body linen need be subjected to this treatment, as the table linen is rarely sufficiently soiled to require it, and the colored clothes and the stockings must never, under any circ.u.mstances, be allowed to stay in water beyond the time necessary to wash and rinse them. The water, if only hard water be obtainable, may be softened by the addition of a little ammonia or borax. Water which has been discolored by soil after heavy rains or by the repairing of water pipes, should be strained through Canton flannel before use.
After soaking, the linen should be put through the wringer, which will take away much of the soil with the water, and then washed. As to the way in which this should be done there are various opinions, most methods in use by experienced laundresses being reliable. Each, however, usually has her favorite method of procedure which it is perhaps as well to allow her to follow. Pity "tis, "tis true, that many housekeepers are so ignorant of how the wash-day programme should really be conducted that they are incapable of directing the incompetent laundress. The mistress of the house needs also to be mistress of the laundry, guiding operations there as elsewhere, seeing to it that body and table linens are not washed together, flannels boiled, clothing rotted by overindulgence in sal soda, nor any other crimes committed against law and order in the laundry.
WASHING POWDERS AND SOAP
If bleaches of any kind are to be used--washing powders, sal soda, borax, and the like--it must be in either the soaking water or the boiler, and _very_ sparingly. Indeed, the use of bleaches at any time is a custom more honored in the breach than the observance. Though there is no hard-and-fast rule as to the order of precedence, it is well to wash the woolens first, after shaking them free from lint and dust. Prepare two tubs of lukewarm suds, the second very light, adding a little borax dissolved in boiling water to each. Never apply soap directly to the flannel, nor rub on a board, which mats the wool, but rub with the hands, squeezing and dipping up and down in the first water till clean, rinse in the second water, which should be of about the same temperature as the first, put through the wringer, shake well, pull into shape, and hang in the shade to dry.
WASHING WOOLENS
Woolens must never hang in the sun nor near the fire, as the too-quick drying causes them to shrink and harden. When nearly dry, press on the wrong side with a moderately hot iron. The rinsing water may be used for the first cotton wash. If both colored and white flannels are to be washed, the former should be done first, thus avoiding the lint washed from the latter. Drying can be accelerated by pressing repeatedly between soft cloths. If the ordinary washing fails to remove any of the spots, spread on a smooth board and rub with a soft, wet, soapy brush.
WASHING THE WHITE CLOTHES
Next comes the washing of the table linen, then the body linen, and then the bed linen, the process for each being the same, though the table linen requires the least rubbing. Wash in hot water in which the hand can be comfortably borne, soaping each piece well before it is rubbed, and paying particular attention to the hems of the sheets; drop into a second tub of clear, hot water, rinse, and wring into a boiler about half filled with cold water to which has been added one tablespoon of kerosene and sufficient soap chips to produce a good suds. Bring the water to a boil and boil ten minutes, stirring occasionally with the clothes stick, Too long boiling yellows the clothes, and crowding the boiler is to be avoided. From the boiler the clothes are lifted to a tub of clear, cold water, thoroughly rinsed, transferred to the tub of bluing water where they are well and evenly saturated, wrung out, and those which are not to be starched hung on the line where sun and breeze are most active. The bluing must be thoroughly mixed with the water. Clothes which have been carefully washed and rinsed need but little bluing. Hang sheets and tablecloths out straight and stretch the selvages even. Pillowcases should be hung by the seam opposite the hem.
STARCH
Prepare the starch by dissolving one half cup of starch in cold water, pour on this one quart of boiling water, and boil till clear and white, stirring constantly. When nearly ready to take from the stove add a little borax, lard, b.u.t.ter, or white wax. A teaspoonful of granulated sugar is believed by many to be the most desirable addition. This will be of the right consistency for ordinary articles--skirts, ap.r.o.ns, etc.
The same degree of strength in starch will not suit all kinds of fabrics, collars, cuffs, etc., requiring the stronger solution made by doubling the amount of starch; thin lawns and other fine materials the weaker produced by doubling the amount of water. Dip each article in the hot starch, those requiring the most stiffening being dipped first, because it is necessary to thin the starch. See that the starch is evenly distributed, press out as much as possible with the hands, put through the wringer, shake out all creases, and pin evenly on the line.
Additional stiffness is given by dipping the already starched and dried article in raw starch, which is made by moistening a handful of starch in a quart of cold water and rubbing in enough Ivory or other fine white soap to produce a very slight suds. Squeeze out the superfluous moisture, roll in a clean white cloth, and leave for half an hour.
Iron while still damp. In stiffening pillowcases dilute the starch until it is of the consistency of milk. Mourning starch should be used for black goods. Never hang starched things out in freezing, damp, or windy weather.
COLORED CLOTHES
Colored articles must be washed, starched, dried, and ironed as speedily as possible. Prepare warm suds with Ivory or Castile soap and add to it a handful of salt to set the color. Wash each piece through this, and rinse through two clear waters to which just enough vinegar to taste has been added, the latter to brighten the color, then stiffen in cool starch and hang in the shade. When washing delicate colored fabrics a tablespoon of ox gall may be subst.i.tuted for the salt.
STOCKINGS
Last come the stockings, which should be washed in clean water, first on the right side, then on the wrong, special care being bestowed upon the feet. Rinse in clear water, with a final rinsing in hot water to soften the fiber, and hang on the line wrong side out, toes up. Woolen stockings are washed in the same way as flannels.
DAINTY LAUNDERING
The dainty task of laundering centerpieces and doilies usually devolves upon their owner, unless the laundress has demonstrated her ability to cleanse and iron them properly. Wash in warm Ivory or Castile soapsuds, squeezing, dipping, and rubbing between the hands until clean, rinse thoroughly--otherwise the soap will yellow--bluing the last rinsing water very slightly, squeeze out (never wring) as much moisture as possible, and hang on the line, in the shade if out of doors. While still very damp lay face down on a thick flannel pad covered with a white cloth, and iron till dry. If the piece is large it can be turned and ironed lightly on the right side where there is no embroidery. Colored embroideries must never be sprinkled and rolled.
Iron the linen of large lace-trimmed centerpieces, then lay on a bed or other flat surface, and stretch the lace by carefully pinning down each point.
The cleansing of laces is best accomplished by basting on strips of cheesecloth, fastening down each point, and soaking for some time in warm, soapy water. Squeeze out and put into fresh soapy water, repeating the process until the lace is perfectly clean, then rinse in clear boras water--four teaspoonfuls to one pint. Place the cheesecloth, lace down, on a flannel or other soft pad, and iron until dry.
HOW TO WASH SILK
Put white and light-colored silks and pongees through strong, tepid white soapsuds, then through a second weaker suds, rinse, press out the water with the hands, shake out all wrinkles, spread on a clean sheet, and roll tight. Cover with a cheesecloth and iron while still damp with a not too hot iron. No portion of silk should be allowed to dry before ironing. If this occurs do not sprinkle, but dampen by rolling in a wet cloth. In laundering pure white silk, slightly blue the rinsing water. A slight firmness can be imparted to any silk by the addition of one teaspoon of gum arabic to each pint of the rinsing water. Silk hose are laundered just as other silk, except that instead of being rolled they must be dried as quickly as possible and ironed under a damp cloth.
WASHING BLANKETS
Do not allow blankets to become very much soiled before laundering, When this becomes necessary, put to soak for fifteen minutes in plain warm water--soft, if possible. Then prepare a jelly with one pound of soap to each blanket, and boiling water, pour into a tub of warm water and lather well, wring the blankets from the soaking water into this and let soak for ten minutes, then rub between the hands, bit by bit, until as clean as possible, wring into the first rinsing water, which should be just warm, then rinse a second time in tepid water, and dry well without exposing to great heat. Instead of being hung, blankets can be dried on curtain stretchers. When dry rub with a piece of rough flannel; this makes them fluffy and soft.
WASHING CURTAINS
Curtains and draperies should be shaken and brushed free from all the dust possible, before washing. Lace curtains, and especially those which are very fine or much worn, need dainty and careful handling.
Soak for an hour or two in warm water containing a little borax, then squeeze out the water and drop into a boiler half filled with cold water to which have been added one half bar of soap, shaved thin, two tablespoonfuls of ammonia, and one of turpentine. Bring to a boil and let stand at the boiling point, without boiling, for half an hour, stirring occasionally with the clothes stick, rinse thoroughly, starch well with thick boiled starch, and stretch on frames to dry. If frames are not available, pin to a carpet which has been smoothly spread with a clean sheet. When a pure white is desired, add a little bluing to the starch water. Water tinted with coffee will produce an ecru effect, while tea will give a more decided hue. Muslin curtains are laundered like any other fine white goods.
TIDYING UP AND SPRINKLING