A teaspoonful of ammonia, added to 1 qt. of water, is the best possible agent for cleansing hair brushes.
Shaving.—(a) Soreness from shaving may be cured by anointing the part with glycerine every night before going to bed, and dusting it with precipitated Fuller’s-earth after shaving.
(b) Before you begin, study the grain of your beard in the glass, and do not shave against the grain. In some beards the grain runs from one ear to the other, instead of both shaping to the chin. In others the grain runs half way down the neck, and then half way up. Next wash very thoroughly before you shave in warm water, which will be lathering No. 1, rubbing the beard with the lump of soap and fingers with good perseverance. Then commence lathering No. 2, using the brush with really hot water, aiming to produce as thick a soapy composition on the skin as possible to fill up the spaces between the hairs. Dipping the fingers in a little oil softens the beard, and prevents the lather drying so quick. You cannot lather too much. Strop your razor on your own hand, and preserve it from damp by wiping it only on chamois leather. Never lay a razor down open, and put it away safely in its case. If you will take extra trouble in the lathering you will get an easy shave. Hairdressers set razors better than cutlers.
Toothbrushes.—Tap the brush before using it, to see if you can jerk out any loose bristles. Tap the brush after using it, to shake out the water, and put it away fairly dry. Do not keep it closely shut up in a brush tray or dressing-bag bottle. Loose bristles may be found in a new brush in consequence of the wire having cut the bristles in half while drawing them into the hole, the knot being too full. Bristles may project beyond the level of the serge, the knot being too slack; clip them off; do not withdraw them, and thereby make the knot still more slack. Bristles will perish if brushes are put away thoroughly wet, and left for days to get thoroughly dry; after a time, even with the greatest care, this will happen. Brushes will smell offensively if closely shut up when wet; they will also become discoloured. Some people select a brush too soft for their requirement, and make it harder by pressure, breaking down the bristles, which they would not do if their brush was sufficiently hard.
Dressing-jackets and gowns.—Under the term “combing jacket,” people often include, not only the loose garment thrown over the shoulders while doing one’s hair, but the warm, becoming jacket required by an invalid sitting up in bed. It is best to distinguish between the two, and to call the latter a camisole. The combing jacket should always be of some washing material. A three-quarters length loose-fitting jacket, with long open sleeves, is best. White muslins and percales in summer, and white flannels and serges in winter, are the most suitable materials; but ordinary prints, if the pattern be pretty, will answer every purpose of home wear. If meant for invalid wear, they should be made as coquettishly as possible—of pale-blue cashmere, with jabots of cream-coloured lace falling down the front.
A very showy little dressing gown, in which one can see servants, tradesmen, and even friends, is made as follows: Run up a crimson quilted sateen walking skirt. As this is to form part of the dressing gown, it must be cut up in front from hem to waist, and fastened together in the ordinary way with buttons. Then choose some pretty chintz or Pompadour material and make up a loose polonaise, separating into two side curtains in front, and bunched up behind. Fasten the band of your quilted petticoat securely to the waist of your polonaise, and you are then able to put on the whole arrangement as you would an ordinary dressing gown. If you make, in addition, a muslin mob cap, trimmed with crimson ribbon, you will present a marked contrast to the usual slovenliness of ordinary dressing gowns.
Undressing.—A certain amount of organic matter gets into the outer clothing, and, therefore, when these garments are taken off they should always be hung up in a current of air. It is a common practice to spread clothing upon the bed, to give additional warmth during the night; but this practice is really very pernicious, as the woollen clothes get charged with organic matter, that slowly putrefies, and gives off not only a nasty fusty smell, but also dangerous poisonous fumes. Clothes should always be hung upon pegs.
Dress
Dress.—Requirements of clothing.—The object of clothing in cold climates is to retain and economise the heat which is constantly being produced within the body by vital processes, such as digestion, respiration, muscular exercise, and brain work. In hot countries the body must be covered as a protection against the rays of the sun. A secondary object of clothing among women is adornment.