THE LAUNBRt, «5 



cool enough to put the hands in \ritLout discomfort. While wasliing koop % 

 good quantity of water at boiling heat on the range for rinsing purj;>oi«e8, and 

 to keep the suds as hot as it can be used. Before one piece is washed and 

 ready to be wrung out fill a small tub half full of clear hot water. Into this 

 stir a Uttle more " bluing " than would be used for cotton or linen. Shake 

 out each piece as soon as washed, quickly, and throw at once into the hot 

 rinsing water. 



Rub the flannel as Uttle as possible, but draw it repeatedly through the 

 hands, squeezing rather than rubbing. Harsh rubbing thickens and injures 

 the fabric. Never wring with a wringer, as the pressure mats the nap down 

 BO closely as to destroy all the soft, fleecy look of good flannel. Wring with 

 the hxuids as dry as possible, then rinse and wring out again; and when as 

 dry as it can be made by hand, snap out, stretch and pull out into the 

 true shape; dry in the open air, if possible. Bring in when not quite dry, 

 roll up a short time, and iron while still a httle damp, so that each part can 

 be more readily brought into shape. Pressing, when ironing, is better for 

 the flannel than rubbing. It does not make the fabric feel so hard and 

 wiry. 



Scarlet flannel is poisonous to some skins if used before washing, and as 

 one is not always sure how one may be affected by it, it is safer to give it a 

 scald in hot water with a Uttle soap — not enough to make a strong suds. 

 Let it stand and soak a few minutes, then 

 wring out and treat like other flaimels. 



Clothes Sprinkler. — Sprinkling clothe« 

 previous to ironing by dipping our hand in 

 a vessel of water and flirting it over the out- 

 spread garrcent is, to say the least, per- 

 formed in a very inefficient manner, for the clothes spbinkleb. 

 clothes are unequaUy dampened. Conse- 

 quently, in ironing, some portions of the cloth are quite dry, while other 

 parts are quite too damp. A sprinkler made of tin in the form shown, with 

 its lower part perforated with minute holes, is, when desired for use, placed 

 in a vessel of water; by its own gravity it fills with water; after the sprink- 

 hng of each garment it is placed in the vessel to again fill. Old dipper 

 handles properly perforated serve an excellent purpose. This arrangement 

 can also be used in watering deUcate plants, sprinkling the carpet, etc. 



To liVasli Ij»ce. — Washing valuable lace should be a labor of lore; time 

 and patience are irajwrtant requisites to do it well, and it comes eepecially 

 within the province of the gentlewoman who possesses it. A long wooden 

 board, say two yards by one, will be necessary for deep flounces. For 

 smaller pieces, one yard by half a yard will do, but the larger size is prefer- 

 able, as several pieces can be done on it at the same time. The board must 

 be covered with thick flannel, and slightly stuffed to form a thick cushion. 

 A good supply of fine, long lace pins, with small round heads, wili be re- 

 quired, as well as an irory punch or an ivory knitting-needle, with a round 

 point, a lobster's claw or a dog's tooth. Before washing, the yellow stains 

 sometimes observable in old lace should be removed by placing the discol- 

 ored portion on a hot iron, covered with linen moistened with a solution oi 

 oxalic acid; the lace should afterward be steeped in Inke-warm water. Tepid 

 water expels the starch or stiffenins:, hot water shrinks the thread, while 

 rold water sets the dirt. Having well suaked the lace, wash it in a lather of 



