If washed clean,
simply scalding is all that is required.
If delicate curtains, either lace or muslin, are to be washed, allow a
tablespoonful of powdered borax to two gallons of warm water, and soap
enough to make a strong suds. Soak the curtains in this all night. In the
morning add more warm water, and press every part between the hands,
without rubbing. Put them in fresh suds, and, if the water still looks
dark after another washing, take still another. Boil and rinse as in
directions given for other clothes. Starch with very thick hot starch, and
dry, not by hanging out, and then ironing, but by putting a light common
mattress in the sun, and pinning the curtain upon it, stretching carefully
as you pin. One mattress holds two, which will dry in an hour or two. If
there is no sun, lay a sheet on the floor of an unused room, and pin the
curtains down upon it.
In washing flannels, remember that it must be done in a sunny day, that
they may dry as rapidly as possible. Put them into hot suds. Do not rub
them on a washing-board, as this is one means of fulling and ruining them.
Press and rub them in the hands, changing them soon to fresh hot suds.
Rinse in a pail of clear hot water; wring very dry; shake, and hang at
once in the sun.
Pages:
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75