Put the veil in a solution of white soap, and let it simmer a quarter of an hour. Squeeze it in some warm water and soap, till quite clean. Rinse it from soap, and then in clean cold water, in which is a drop of liquid blue. Then pour boiling water upon a tea-spoonful of starch, run the veil through this, and clear it well, by clapping it. Afterwards pin it out, keeping the edges straight and even.
TO CLEAN BLACK VEILS.
Pass them through a warm liquor of bullock’s gall and water; rinse in cold water; then take a small piece of glue, pour boiling water on it, and pass the veil through it; clap it, and frame it to dry.
TO CLEAN WHITE SATIN AND FLOWERED SILKS.
Mix sifted stale bread crumbs with powder-blue, and rub it thoroughly all over, then shake it well, and dust it with clean soft cloths. Afterwards, where there are any gold or silver flowers, take a piece of crimson in grain velvet, rub the flowers with it, which will restore them to their original lustre.
Another Method.
Pass them through a solution of fine hard soap, at a hand heat, drawing them through the hand. Rinse in lukewarm water, dry and finish by pinning out. Brush the flossy or bright side with a clean clothes brush, the way of the nap. Finish them by dipping a sponge into a size, made by boiling isinglass in water, and rub the wrong side. Rinse out a second time, and brush and dry near a fire, or in a warm room.
Silks may be treated in the same way, but not brushed. If the silks are for dyeing, instead of passing them through a solution of soap and water, they must be boiled off; but if the silks are very stout, the water must only be of heat sufficient to extract the dirt, and when rinsed in warm water they are in a state for the dye.
Another Method.
Strew French chalk over them, and brush it off with a hard brush once or twice.