The Well-Order ed Household 



FROM THE STANDPOINT OF A PRACTICAL WOMAN 

 CONDUCTED BY MARTHA VAN RENSSELAER 



Editor Cornell University Beading Course for Women. 



READEES of the Well-Ordered Household 

 are a great assistance in making this 

 ' department a success when they send 

 letters containing questions and offering ideas 

 concerning their own every-day work. 



"EicHBURG, New York. 

 "Will the editor of the Weil-Ordered House- 

 liold give me a few ideas about washing clothes? 

 I have never before had that work to do. Is it 

 desirable to use a washing machine? And is it 

 "better to send the washing to the laundry or 

 lave it done at home?" 



It is not always possible, nor always the best 

 plan, to send to the laundry. It remains to 

 study economy of time and strength as well as 



ECONOMIZING STRENGTH IN WASHING 



money. It is really an accomplishment to be 

 able to wash well, and the coarsely laundered, 

 grimy clothes, which smell of the wash water, 

 are a menace to the art when we consider the 

 -satisfaction afforded by white, smoothly laun- 

 dered sweet-smeUing clothing. There are those 



who still put the clothing into the pounding bar- 

 rel, cover the clothes with warm water and a 

 sufl&cient quantity of soft soap, then with alter- 

 nate poundings and turnings, the clothes need 

 but little rubbing. Others are using the wash- 

 board, wringer, and boiler, and probably more 

 washings are done in this way in small families 

 than in any oth^r. The washing machine has 

 come as a relief to many households, especially 

 where boy or man power is applied to the han- 

 dle. In large laundries the machines introduced 

 have taken the washing out of the home, and by 

 mangling and other processes made it possible 

 to do the family wash away from home, al- 

 though the process demands a new supply of 

 clothing oftener than when the old methods are 

 used. 



Soft water and plenty of it are very impor- 

 tant accessories to the week's wash Soft water 

 — water containing little mineral matter — not 

 only is pleasanter to use, so far as the effect 

 upon the skin is concerned and its tendency to 

 remove the dirt, but it is a saving of soap, since 

 with the use of hard water some of the soap is 

 rendered insoluble. Soaps used in washing are 

 numerous. The best laundry soaps contain only 

 soluble salts of fatty acids, such as tallow, 

 grease refuse from the kitchen, and cotton-seed 

 oil. A reliable soap should be used not only to 

 secure cleanliness, but to prevent injury to the 

 clothing. 



It is doubtless desirable to soak clothes over 

 night if they can be sorted, but it is never wise' 

 to put table linen in with soiled garments to 

 absorb their impurities. The cleaner white 

 articles should not be soaked with stockings. 

 Care should be used to determine the amount of 

 rubbing to give clothes, and only the parts that 

 need it rubbed vigorously. This saves the undue 

 expenditure of strength and unnecessary wear 

 upon the clothing. Many of "the poor results 

 in washing are due to insufficient rinsing. Ill- 

 smelling clothes are very disturbing and quite 

 unnecessary if there are sufficient rinsings to 

 take out the dirty water. This will also help 

 to avoid the drying of the clothes in streaks. 



In muscular exercise requiring one to stoop 

 over the bending should be at the hips, and not 

 from the waist line. In the latter case the 

 pressure is brought upon the lungs and other 



