3. SPECIAL WASHING
The time and care required for washing some articles is so much more than can well be given them in the regular wash, that it is better not to attempt to do them on the wash day. Such articles are blankets, curtains, embroideries, lace, chamois gloves or any very delicate fabrics.
Blankets are successfully washed by the method given previously for woollens, though the water used may be warm if preferred. In that case, the rinsing water must be equally warm. In washing both wool and silk it is very necessary not to change their temperature.
If curtains are torn or stained, they must be mended, and must have the stains removed before they are washed. Put them in good, hot suds and do not rub them or wring them, or lift them heavy with water, but instead, pat them and knead them gently with your hands for a good while, then press as much water out of them as possible and throw them into rinse water. Rinse again and again until they do not discolour clean water.
Bluing and starch are absorbed by lace and delicate fabrics to an unusual degree, therefore if you wish to use either for curtains, use very small quantities.
When the washing is finished, put the curtains on stretchers. Set white curtains in the sun to dry, others in the shade. An expedient which may be employed if stretchers are not obtainable, is to pin the curtains to the carpet in a room which need not be used for two days. Cover the carpet with sheets, then stretch the curtains into shape and pin them down tightly. This is a troublesome method, but it produces better results than ironing. If curtains are washed and ironed in the way ordinary articles are done, care must be taken not to stretch them out of shape when they are hung on the clothesline. Hang them with the length of the curtain running in the same direction as the length of the line.
The following is a good receipt for washing curtains:
Into a pail of boiling water put one-half cup of kerosene, two tablespoonfuls of pearline. Stir for fifteen minutes. Put in the curtains, let them stand twenty minutes. Rinse twice in lukewarm water without rubbing or wringing. Rinse once in cold water. Blue, and starch and put on a stretcher.
Wash embroideries in lukewarm suds made with white soap. Do not soap or wring them. Press and move them about with careful hands and only leave them in the water as long as is necessary. Rinse thoroughly and iron on the wrong side while still wet. Spread several thicknesses of flannel or thick folds of cotton cloth over the ironing board, this padding will bring the embroidery out in high relief. These directions apply to either silk or cotton embroidery with the exception that the latter, if white, may be soaked or hung in the sun without injury.
If there is the slightest need, lace should be mended before it is washed. Precious old lace should also be basted on strips of muslin with a very fine needle and thread.
Soak lace for a half-hour in lukewarm suds made with very good white soap, then press it and pat it and lift it up and down in the suds until you think it is clean. Press the water out of it between your hands, and rinse it several times. Then, if it is basted on pieces of muslin, clip the threads on the back of the pieces and with the utmost care separate lace and muslin. Pin the former out on a pillow, using small pins and exercising much patience. Every little point must be fastened down, and pins woven into the straight edges in the direction in which the edges run. Lay the pillow in the sun and do not remove the lace until the next day.
If lace is to be ironed, pad the board beforehand in the way recommended for embroidery. Use a very moderate iron for the lace must slowly and gently be pressed into its original shape.
Everybody who has read "Cranford" remembers with delight that lace may be whitened by soaking it in milk. It may also be made tan-colour by dipping it in coffee or tea. The latter is better because it leaves no odour. A weak solution of gum arabic will stiffen lace when stiffness is desired. Starch is not usually satisfactory.
Water in which fine fabrics are washed must either be soft by nature, or must be made soft with borax.
Chamois gloves can be washed successfully with cold water and good soap. Some people recommend putting a few drops of sweet oil into the water. Wash them until they are clean, soaping and squeezing and rubbing them. Rinse them once. Squeeze them out hard and then gently stretch and press each glove into the shape and size it was when it was new. Hang them up to dry, but not in the sun, or near a heater, or in a place where you may forget them. For at least three or four times while they are drying, they should be again gently rubbed and stretched. Upon the care with which this is done, depend the softness and shape of the gloves. When they are almost entirely dry, put them on your hands, then take them off and again gently stretch them into shape.
Things which may not be washed in water are sometimes cleaned with naphtha or with some kindred fluid. I hardly think this should be done unless one can do it out of doors. It is extremely dangerous work, not only to oneself but to the lives and property of other people.
At least try other methods before such washing is resorted to. More things can be washed in soap and water, if they are washed cleverly, than is generally realized. Articles of delicate colour and texture can often be dry-cleaned with potato flour, powdered French chalk, or powdered magnesia. Rub the flour or powder gently into the fabric, and allow it to remain there several hours. Then shake it out and repeat the process. It is also a good method to put the article to be cleaned into a box, powder it all over with one of these substances and then shut it up for two or three days. Several times each day shake the box well.
Light coloured articles, which may not be wet, such as walls, furniture, rugs, fur, curtains and worsted shawls, may sometimes be improved by rubbing flour and corn meal into them and then shaking and brushing it out again. I am told that white fur can be made clean if it is rubbed with plaster of Paris, shaken, and then rubbed with a damp cloth. I cannot vouch for plaster of Paris, but I can for corn meal and flour, for with it I once successfully cleaned a white kitten.