A manual of home-making

To wa^sh flannels, two receptacles should be used. Into one of them water tint too hot for the hand to bear comfortably should be pourefl and enough soap solution made from a neu- tral or mild soap or a wool soap added to make a good suds. If the water is hard, or the clothing is very much soiled* a table- spoon of borax or anuiionia should be addeil for eacli gallon of water used, the garment shaken or bnished free from dust, and put into the water to soak for ten or fifteen min- utes. Before t>eginning to wash the flannels, a second tub of ■ water should lie prepared having the same or a slightly higher temperature than tliat of the tirst. One garment should be washed at a time by firawing it thmugh tlie hands anfl wash ing it up and down in the water; rubbing should be avoided if possible since this mats the fibers. The garments are passed 270 A MANUAL OF HOME-MAKING from the first to the second water; the second water should be a suds if the first suds has oat removed all the aoiL 7'hey should be rinsed free of soap in several waters, the temperature being kept constant. They are then wrung through a loosely set wringer. They should l)e turned wrong side out and hung in a warm place, but not near a tire an heat will cause shrinkage. When nearly dry, they should be turned. When dridng they must he shaped by pulling and stretching. It is a mistake to ascribe all the shrinkage in woolen garments to washing. The moisture, heat, and movements of the body may cause a marked shrinkage. If flannels are to be pressed^ they should l>e allowed to dry first and should then Ik? covered witli a slightly dampened piece of cheese-cloth and ironed with a moderately hot iron. The cheese-cloth draws up the fibers of the flannel, giving it the fluffy appearance of a ne%v garment. Underwear and woolen stockings should be tst retched into shape and should not be ironed. For very soiled garments the soap formula given on pai^ 256 will be useful. Blankets are washed in the same way as other woolen articles, except that, because of their size, only two blankets or only one pair of them is wa8hed at a time, and frc^h water is tised for each pair. After wringing, they may lye stretched and dried on curtain stretchers. If strt^tchers are not available, blankets should hang on the line until perfectly dry» and occasionally the water shoukl be squeeaed from the hanging ends. To press them, they should \ye folded evenly and carefully and wrapped in a sheet. They should Ix? kept smooth and unwrinkiedi a fiat board placed over them, weighted heavily and allowed to remain thus for several days. An excellent blanket wash may be made according to tha follomrig formula: * 1 large cake neutral swap 8 quarts cold water 2 tahlapooBB tx>m}c H oyp wood alcohol * lAuadering. L, Ray Balderatoo. THE LAUNDRY In using the above wash, the soap should be shaved into the cold water, and heated at a low temperatim:' until it is di«5- solved* It is Hum cooled and the Ix^rax adcknl^ mixe^l with the alcohol. The mixture should be poured into ^ide-mouthed jars, and kept air-tight. This quantity is sufficient for washing two pairs of blankets. Sweaters or loosely woven or knitted garments should be washed as follows: