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The housekeeper's book, comprising advice on the conduct of household affairs in general; and particular directions for the preservation of furniture, bedding, &c.; for the laying in and preserving of provisions; with a complete collection of receipts for economical domestic cookery. The whole carefully prepared for the use of American housekeepers
(1837)
Washing, pp. 183-185
Page 183
WASHIING.
TO CLEAN CARPETS.
Mix ox gall and water; rub the carpet with a flannel
dipped into the mixture, then rub dry with a linen cloth. It
has occurred for carpets to shrink after being thus wetted;
therefore the safest way is to let it be securely fastened to
the floor.
WASHING.
IN all large "washes," the linen, and especially cotton
stockings, should be put to soak over night; both soap and
labour are thus saved. You should always provide your
washers with little wooden bowls to throw their soap into,
which will prevent their letting it stand in the water wast-
ing; make also a proper flannel "blue-bag," and let it be a
rule that this and the bowls shall be delivered up after the
wash, that they may be set aside in readiness for another
occasion.
It is a very bad plan to allow clothes to remain long dirty;
in large families, three weeks should be the longest space
between the washes, for not only are the clothes injured,
but more soap and labour are required to get them clean.
In washing flannels, prepare a lather expressly of soft
water, soap, and a good deal of blue. Do not rinse them
after the lather, but wring them as dry as possible, shake
them and hang them out. Flannel should be scalded before
it is made up, since it will shrink in the first washing. To
remove the starch or " dressing" from new Irish linen, it
should be put to soak in cold water overnight, and be scald-
ed next morning. Silk of almost any colour may be washed
183
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