Miss Leslie's Lady's New Receipt-Book Part 26

The heat of a grate may be considerably diminished by standing up the blower against it; the bottom of the blower resting on the hearth. To lessen the heat of a close-stove, leave open the large door of the stove. In the same manner diminish the heat of a furnace.

LAUNDRY-WORK, NEEDLE-WORK, ETC.

SODA SOAP.--Take six pounds of the best brown soap, and cut it into pieces. Put it into a large wash-kettle, and pour on seven gallons and a half of clear soft water. Next stir in six pounds of washing-soda, (sub-carbonate,) set it over the fire, and let it boil two hours after it has come to a boil. Then strain it into stone jars; cover it, and put it away. It must be used for _white clothes only_, as it will fade coloured things. Put the clothes in soak the night before, in tubs of cold water; having first rubbed the grease spots with wet fuller's earth, (sc.r.a.ped fine,) and the stains with wet cream of tartar. Allow a pound of the soda soap to a bucket of water, and put it over the fire in a wash-kettle. When the water is warm, put in as many white clothes as convenient; seeing that there is water enough to cover them well. Boil them an hour; occasionally moving them up and down with the clothes-stick. Then take them out, and finish washing them in the usual way. The soda soap will whiten them very much; but if used in a larger quant.i.ty than the above proportion, it will injure them greatly. We do not recommend any soda preparation for washing, unless it can be used under the immediate inspection of a good housekeeper; most servants and washerwomen being very apt to employ it too freely, if left to themselves.

SOFT SOAP MADE WITH POTASH.--Put twelve pounds of potash into a barrel, and then pour in water till the barrel is half full. Stir the potash several times, while it is dissolving in the water. Have ready twelve pounds of good soap-fat, and melt it over the fire in a large kettle.

Then stir it, gradually, into the barrel with the dissolved potash.

After standing a quarter of an hour, fill up the barrel with cold water; and stir it hard. This process will form an excellent soft soap.

COLD STARCH FOR LINEN.--Take a quarter of a pint, or as much of the best raw starch as will half fill a common-sized tumbler. Fill it nearly up with very clear cold water. Mix it well with a spoon, pressing out all the lumps, till you get it thoroughly dissolved, and very smooth. Next add a tea-spoonful of salt to prevent its sticking. Then pour it into a broad earthen pan; add, gradually, a pint of clear cold water; and stir and mix it well. Do not boil it.

The shirts having been washed and dried, dip the collars and wristbands into this starch, and then squeeze them out. Between each dipping, stir it up from the bottom with a spoon. Then sprinkle the shirts, and fold or roll them up, with the collars and wristbands folded evenly inside.

They will be ready to iron in an hour.

This quant.i.ty of cold starch is amply sufficient for the collars and wristbands of half a dozen shirts. Any article of cambric muslin may be done up with cold starch made as above.

Poland starch is better than any other. It is to be had at most grocery stores.

Cold starch will not do for thin muslin, or for any thing that is to be clapped and cleared. It is very convenient for linen, &c., in summer, as it requires no boiling over the fire. Also, it goes farther than boiled starch.

TO WASH WHITE SATIN RIBBON.--Make a strong lather of clear cold water and the best white soap. Squeeze and press the ribbon through this, till it looks quite clean; but do not rub it, as that will cause it to fray.

Then make a fresh lather of white soap and cold water, and squeeze the ribbon through that. Do not rinse it, as the suds remaining in the ribbon will give it the proper stiffness. Pull and stretch it evenly; and then iron it on the wrong side while it is still damp. When quite dry, roll it on a ribbon-block; wrap it closely in coa.r.s.e brown paper; and put it away till you want to use it. None but plain unfigured white satin ribbon of very good quality, can be washed to advantage. The day before washing it, rub some magnesia upon any grease that may be on the ribbon, and some cream of tartar on the stains.

In winding several pieces of ribbon on the same block, always put the end of each successive piece _under_ that of the last, instead of _over_ it; and wind the whole tight and smoothly. Secure the last end with two very small minikin pins; as large pins will make conspicuous holes all through, and probably leave a bra.s.sy or greenish stain. The ribbon-block should on no account be narrower than the ribbon.

A small white silk handkerchief may be washed as above, if thick and unfigured.

TO CLEAN SILK SHAWLS OR SCARFS.--Mix together a quarter of a pound of soft soap; a tea-spoonful of brandy; and a pint of whisky or gin; stirring them hard. Spread the shawl on a clean _linen_ cloth, and with a clean sponge dipped in the mixture, go carefully over it on both sides. The shawl should be kept even, by placing weights along the edges. Dry it in the shade. Then wash (or rather squeeze it) in two or three cold waters without soap; stretch it, and hang it out again; and when almost dry, iron it.

TO CLEAN A SILK DRESS.--Rip the dress entirely apart. Take large raw potatoes, and allow a pint of cold water to each potatoe. Having pared the potatoes, grate them into the basin of water. Cover it; and let it stand three hours, or more. Then pour it carefully off, into a broad pan; leaving the sediment or coa.r.s.e part of the grated potatoes at the bottom of the basin. Having spread a clean linen cloth on a large ironing table, and put some irons down to the fire, lay the silk (a breadth at a time) upon the cloth, and with a clean sponge dipped in the potatoe-water, go all over it, on the wrong side. Then hang that breadth out upon a line; stretch it evenly, and leave it to dry. Take another breadth; sponge it with the potatoe-water; hang it out; and proceed in the same manner till all the silk is done. By the time the whole has been sponged and hung out, the first breadths will in all probability be dry enough to iron. It must be ironed on the wrong side.

The sleeves must be taken out and ripped open, before sponging them.

Each piece of the body must, of course, be done separately.

FRENCH METHOD OF WASHING COLOURED SILK CRAVATS, SCARFS, SHAWLS, &c.--Make a mixture of the following articles in a large flat dish. A large table-spoonful of soft soap, or of hard _brown_ soap shaved fine, (white soap will not do,) a small tea-spoonful of strained honey, and a pint of spirits of wine. Have ready a large brush (for instance a clothes-brush) made perfectly clean. Lay the silk on a board or on an ironing-table; stretching the article evenly, and securing it in its place by weights set round upon its edges. Then dip the brush into the mixture, and with it go all over the silk, lengthways of the texture; beginning at that part of the silk which is least seen when worn; and trying a little at a time till you have ascertained the effect. If you find the colour of the silk changed by the liquid, weaken it by adding a little more spirits of wine. Brocaded silks cannot be washed this way.

Having gone carefully over the whole of the article, dip it, up and down, in a bucket of clean water, but do not squeeze or wring it. Repeat this through another clean water, and then through a third. Afterwards spread it on a line to dry, but without any squeezing or wringing. Let it dry slowly. While still damp, take it down; pull it, and stretch it even; then roll or fold it up; and let it rest a few minutes. Have irons ready, and iron the silk; taking care that the iron is not so hot as to change the colour.

The above quant.i.ty of the washing-mixture is sufficient for about half a dozen silk handkerchiefs; for a silk ap.r.o.n; or for one shawl; or for two scarfs, if not very long. If there is fringe on the scarfs it is best to take it off and replace it with new; or else to gather the ends of the scarfs, and finish them with a ta.s.sel or ball.

Gentlemen's silk or chaly cravats may be made to look very well washed in this manner. Ribbons also, if thick and rich. Indeed whatever is washed by this process should be of excellent quality. A dress must be previously taken apart.

This is also a good method for washing a white blond veil or scarf; using a soft sponge instead of a brush, and making the mixture with rather less soap and honey. When dry, lay the blond in smooth even folds, within a large sheet of smooth nankeen paper. Press it for a few days in a large quarto or folio book. Do not iron it.

TO MAKE THREAD LACE LOOK ALWAYS NEW.--Thread lace should never be sewed fast, or washed upon the article of which it forms the tr.i.m.m.i.n.g. It should be merely run on, or basted with short st.i.tches; so as to draw out the thread easily, when the lace is taken off for washing. The trouble is nothing in comparison to the advantage. In the first place, thread lace, to look well and last long, should never be touched with starch. Starching thread lace injures the texture, (causing the threads to break,) and gives it a hard, stiff appearance. If sewed fast, and washed and done up with the muslin collar or pelerine, it shrinks and thickens up among the gathers, and partakes of the starch that has been used for the muslin; and, of course, can have no resemblance to new lace that has never been washed at all. Again, it will not last half so long, as if always taken off, and done up separately from the muslin.

Every lady should have at least two lace bottles, as it is not well to wind more than three or four yards of lace upon one bottle. They should be straight black bottles of the largest size, and it is well to buy them new for the purpose; otherwise something of their former contents may come out when boiling, and injure the lace. Also there may be remains of wax, rosin, or some other cement, lingering about the place where the cork was; and this will melt in the water, and cause the lace to look streaked. The bottles being perfectly clean, (inside and out,) cover them with thick, strong, new white linen, sewed on tightly and smoothly, with coa.r.s.e thread. When not in use, keep them wrapped up in clean paper.

Having taken off the lace from the article on which it was basted, begin near the bottom of the bottle; tack one end of the lace with a needle and strong thread to the linen; and wind it smoothly round with the edge downward; and all the scollops smooth, so that none may be creased or curled inward. Wind the lace on the bottle in such a manner as to leave the scolloped or pattern-edge visible all round; and finish just below the neck of the bottle. Then tack down with the needle and thread the last or terminating end of the lace. Early in the evening put the bottle with the lace into a clean _earthen_ or white-ware vessel, filled with clear cold water, and let it soak till bed-time. Then change the water, and let it soak all night.

In the morning, fill a clean porcelain kettle, or a deep earthen pipkin, with a strong suds of clear soft water and the best white soap. Into this, put the bottle with the lace on it; having tied a twine string round the neck of the bottle so as to make it fast to the handles or the rim of the vessel, that it may be kept as steady as possible while boiling. It must on no account be boiled in a tin or iron vessel, as the lace will then certainly be discoloured. Set the vessel over hot coals or in a stove; and keep it boiling regularly till the lace looks quite white. If very dirty, it will be necessary to change the water for a clean fresh suds. It may boil from an hour to an hour and a half; but take it out as soon as it looks clean and white. Then turn up the bottle to drain off the suds, and set it (without rinsing) in the sun. Keep it in the sun till the lace dries on the bottle. When _quite_ dry, take it off; stretch or pull down each scollop separately with your thumb and finger; and then wind the lace evenly and smoothly on a ribbon-block of somewhat broader width. You can get ribbon-blocks at the stores where ribbons are sold, and you will find them very useful. Wrap the block with the lace on it in soft _brown_ paper, and put it away till you want it for use. If you have no ribbon-block, fold or roll up a piece of smooth clean paper, and roll the lace round it. Never wrap any thing in printed paper.

The above method of cleaning thread lace, (without rubbing, squeezing, rinsing, starching, or ironing,) as it is the most simple and easy, is also the most certain of success. In fact we can confidently a.s.sert that there is no other so good; and we only ask a trial of its efficacy; well-a.s.sured that every lady who has once had her lace washed in this manner will continue it; as it makes it look always new. Of course, it should be done on a clear bright day, and the hotter the sun the better.

If you have more than one lace bottle to boil, they may be put into a bra.s.s or bell-metal wash-kettle, (previously made very clean,) but remember that no tin or iron must be used for this purpose. If the coating or lining of an enamelled or porcelain kettle is the least cracked or scaled off, do not boil the lace in it, or it will be stained with iron mould.

Thread lace done _exactly_ according to these directions, has the look, feel, transparency, and consistence of new lace that has never been washed at all; and may easily be mistaken for it. Drying in the soap-suds gives it just the right stiffness, and it will last much longer than if washed in the old manner with squeezing, rinsing, starching, clapping, and ironing.

Before your lace is sewed on the bottle, look over it, and see if it requires any mending. There is a lace-st.i.tch done with _very fine_ thread, that, when neatly executed, renders a mended place imperceptible. It may be learned in a few minutes by seeing it done, but cannot be described intelligibly. Those who have had no opportunity of learning this st.i.tch may mend lace very neatly by darning it with the finest possible thread; taking care not to make the darn too thick, or close, but imitating as nearly as possible the open texture of the lace.

In quilling or setting on the lace, endeavour to conceal the darns under the pleats.

Cotton lace cannot be cleaned in the foregoing manner, as it is too soft and fuzzy, and shrinks up too much. It requires squeezing, starching, clapping, and ironing.

WASHING BLACK LACE.--Every description of black _silk_ lace (or of black Scotch blond) may be made to look extremely well by the following process; either veils, shawls, scarfs, capes, sleeves, or tr.i.m.m.i.n.g-lace.

A black lace dress, must be previously taken apart, and all the loose threads or st.i.tches carefully picked out. We will suppose the article that requires washing to be a veil that has been worn long enough to look soiled and rusty. By exactly observing the following directions, it may be made to appear fresh, new, and of an excellent black; provided always that it was originally of good quality, with no mixture of cotton in it. All lace articles of that brownish black, falsely called jet, are now mixed with cotton; and frequently have no silk at all about them.

In a large clean earthen pan, or a small tub, make a strong lather of white soap and clear soft water, warm but not hot. Mix with the suds a large table-spoonful of ox-gall. No family should be without a bottle of ox-gall, which can always be obtained from the butcher at a very trifling cost. The gall as soon as brought home should be opened, its liquid poured through a funnel into a clean black bottle, and tightly corked. You may perfume it by putting in a grain of musk. It is useful in washing all sorts of coloured things, as it materially a.s.sists in preventing them from fading. Having stirred the gall well into the suds, put in the black lace veil, and work and squeeze it up and down through the lather for five minutes or more; taking care not to rub it. Then squeeze it out well, open it loose, and shake it a little. Next, transfer it to a second suds of clean warm water and white soap; adding a tea-spoonful of gall. Into this second lather infuse _a large quant.i.ty_ of blue, pressed into the water from the indigo bag, and well stirred in. Having worked the veil up and down through this second suds for about ten minutes, alternately loosening it out, and squeezing it up, but not rubbing it. Squeeze it finally as dry as you can, and then open it out widely.

Have ready in another pan some glue-stiffening, made as follows: On a bit of glue about the size of a shilling pour two jills, or a half-pint, of boiling water, and let it dissolve. After the glue is entirely melted, add to it a quart of _cold_ water; and then make it _very blue_ by squeezing into it a large portion of indigo from the blue-bag. Stir it well, and then put in the veil, rinsing and squeezing it up and down through the stiffening water. Having done this sufficiently, squeeze out the veil as dry as you can get it; then open it, stretch it, and clap it all over. Next, fold it evenly; roll it up in a thick clean towel; and let it rest for a quarter of an hour or more.

Spread a large clean _linen_ cloth on your clothes-line, and hang the veil (well spread out) upon the cloth. When nearly, but not quite dry, take down the veil, and clap and stretch it again. Have warm irons ready. Lay a clean linen cloth over your blanket, and press the veil smoothly on the wrong side; first trying the irons on an old piece of thin black silk, c.r.a.pe, or gauze; lest they should be too hot for the lace, and scorch or discolour it.

The foregoing process (followed exactly) will restore to any article of _good_ black silk lace that has become brown and soft by wearing, the deep black colour and consistence it had when new.

Be careful not to have too much glue, and to put plenty of indigo-blue into the second suds and into the stiffening water.

Before washing the veil, rip open the casing at the top, and remove the string. Afterwards, make a new case, and draw it with a new ribbon.

TO WASH A WHITE LACE SCARF.--Fold up the scarf, and lay it in a thin cambric handkerchief, folded over so as to enclose the scarf, and secured by basting it slightly with a needle and thread. Dip it in cold water. Make a strong lather with white soap and warm water; put the scarf, &c., into it, and let it rest all day. In the evening, make a fresh lather, and leave the scarf in it all night, (having first squeezed it well.) Next morning, make some thin starch. Shave small a quarter of a cake of white wax, and put it into two quarts of soft water; adding six lumps of loaf-sugar, and a table-spoonful of thin-made starch. Put these articles into an earthen pipkin or a porcelain kettle, and set it over the fire. On no account use, for this purpose, a vessel of any sort of metal, as it will discolour the lace. When the mixture has come to a boil, put in the scarf, (still folded in the handkerchief,) and boil it ten minutes. Then take it out, open the handkerchief, and if you do not find it perfectly white, return it to the pipkin, and boil it longer. Afterwards, take it out of the handkerchief, and throw the scarf into cold water. Squeeze and press it, till it drips no longer. Then open it out; stretch it even; and hang it in the sun. When almost dry, take it in, and iron it carefully on a linen cloth.

A veil, a shawl, or a pelerine of white lace may be washed in this manner.

TO CLEAN GOLD OR SILVER EMBROIDERY.--Warm some spirits of wine, and apply it with a bit of clean sponge. Then dry it, by rubbing it with soft, new canton flannel. Gold or silver lace may be cleaned thus. Also, jewelry.

WASHING AMERICAN CHINTZES.--American chintzes, of good quality, (such as are sold at twelve or fourteen cents per yard,) can be washed so as to retain their colours, and look as bright as when quite new. The water must be quite clean, and merely warm, but by no means hot. Rub the soap into the water, so as to form a strong lather, before you put in the dress. Add to the lather a handful of fine salt. Wash the chintz through two warm waters, making a lather in the second also, and adding salt.