A manual of home-making

Fork and spoon. — With many desserts it is desirable to iri^** both a spoon and a fork* For sample, if pie is served ^viu" cream, both are needed. If baked apple or prun^ are servcvl^ the fork helps to steady the food on the plate while the siii^ flesh is being removed from the core or seeds. This avoids W removal of prune seeds from the mouth* The glass, — Before drinldag, the lips should be wiped ^vjt * a napkin. Otherwise the number of sipe may register theJ"* selv^ on the side of the glass* I CHAPTER XII THE LAUirDRY* By Flora Rose Washing has a threefold purpose: to remove dirt and thus it'open the pores of the cloth, to dry the cloth so as to renew its power of absorption; aod to destroy any bacteria that may be in it. PABBIC3 A first step toward gaining necessary knowledge of laundry methods is to learn something of the nature of the fabrics to be thundered and how they respond to the cleansing agents or solvents generally used in the laundry (p, 305). The common fiiiers used for clothing are of vegetable and animal origin. The rhtef vegetable fibers are cotton and linen; the animal fibers, wool and silk. Among the common laundry cleansing agents, railed reagents, are two claases of chemicals known as acids and bases^ or alkalis. Even cold dilute mineral adds may seriously injure cotton and linen if allowed to dry on the materiaL Fruit acids have no action on cotton and linen unless allowed to dry and then moistened and ironed diy. Dilute acid does not affect wool, but it weakens silk. Weak alkalis, such as dilute washing-soda solution, borax, and soap, have little or no harmful action on cotton and linen, but lye is more destructive. Dilute solutions of borax or a tnild soap, if only lukewarm, have but a slightly injurious ao tioQ on wool, but they weaken silk and des/roy its luster. k ♦Prom Cbmell Eesdiog^CoiirBe far the Farm Home, Bull. 11 249 k THE LAUNDRY 263 selves, and should be separately washed and boiled for twenty minutes. The garment to be soaked should be wet^ the more soiled part rubbed with soap solution, and that part folded in. Each garment should be folded and rolled separately and packed into the tub with the other garments. Folding and rolling prevents the dirt in the soiled parts from spreading. The clothejs are then covered with warm soapy water, to which may have been addeci an alkali such as borax or ammonia, and an oily substance, perhaps turpentine, kerosene, or benzine. Directions for making soap solutions are given on page 256. The tub should lie covered, and if possible the clothing allowed to soak in it during several houi"s or overnight. If colored clothes are to be soaked, they should be covered with warm water or with water verj' slightly soapy. No alkali should be used with the colored clothing. No arbitrary order can l>e recommended for washing clothes, but fiamiels, wliite goods, and colored goods should be washed separately as the washing process differs somewhat for each ca,se.