TO DO UP LACES AND CURTAINS To Starch Laces.—Good lace does not require starching. Enough white sugar dissolved in the last rinsing water to make it slightly sweet should give it the required stiffness.
Or boil 4 ounces of rice in 1 quart of water until the kernels break up. Strain through cheese cloth and dip the laces in the clear rice water.
Or use 0, thin solution of gum arabic.
Or mix 1 teaspoonful of cornstarch or wheat starch with cold water to the consistency of cream, beating and rub bing until all is wet evenly. Dilute to consistency of milk with cold water, add 5 or 6 drops of gum arabic, and thin with boiling water until nearly transparent. Boil for 5 or 6 minutes until well cooked. The poorer the lace the more stiffness will be required. Hence do not dilute too much for poor laces.
To Tint Laces.—For an ecru tint add black coffee or powdered saffron to the rinsing water. Or add tea to give a stronger shade. Experiment with a small sample of the goods, add ing a little more color at a time until the right shade is obtained.
To Iron Laces.—If laces are basted on cloth, and the cloth is thoroughly stretched, or if they are carefully wound about a bottle and stitched, they may not require any ironing. Lace wound about a bottle may be dipped into very thin starch or gum arabic water without being removed, and may not need any ironing. Lace handkerchiefs may be pulled into shape while wet and carefully laid on a pane of glass, wrinkles being all smoothed out. When dry they will be ready for use.
Or dry small lace articles between two pieces of clean white blotting paper under a weight, with or with out ironing. When starch is used, do not allow laces to dry, but roll them in a dry towel for half an hour or more, and press while still damp, Iron on the wrong side over a Turk ish towel to bring up the pattern, protecting the articles from the iron with a piece of muslin or other thin white cloth. Use a warm, not hot, iron. Ironing pieces while damp great ly improves their appearance; ironing on a soft, rough surface both protects them and brings up the pattern, and ironing through a, thin cloth makes it possible to bring out the points and pattern of the lace with the point of the iron without injury. New em
broideries should be washed and ironed before using.
To Remove Wrinkles.—If lace be comes dry before ironing, or if it is desired to remove the wrinkles from clean lace without washing, hold it over the steam of the teakettle or a basin of steaming water until thor oughly moistened. While damp press it under a weight, with or without blotters, or iron it as above suggested.
To Starch Curtains. — Do not use much starch for lace curtains. This is a common mistake when curtains are done up at home. It is contrary to the essential delicacy of lace to make it stiff with starch. Moreover, the sun will rot lace which contains too much starch or other stiffening substances. Only the coarsest kind of lace can stand stiffening.
To Do Up Curtains.— Starch cur tains the same as other laces with a thin boiled cornstarch or wheat starch containing a solution of gum arable, and stretch them on suitable frames or otherwise to dry. If they are stretched properly, they will require no ironing or they may be pressed slightly when dry.
To Iron Curtains.—Lay the curtains while still damp on a folded flannel blanket and press on the wrong side with irons as hot as possible without scorching. This method brings out raised figures and designs.
To Prevent Scorch.—Wipe the iron on a cloth wet with kerosene.
To Remove Scorch.—Linen articles and other white goods slightly scorched by hot irons may be restored, if the fibers have not been destroyed, by simply exposing them to the heat of the sun or, on dark days, to the heat from an open oven. Moisten them at intervals by sponging lightly with clear water. If the stains are deeper, rub chlorine water into the spot with a sponge or linen rag.
Or run two onions through a meat cutter, squeeze out the juice through cheese cloth, and mix with half a pint of vinegar. Heat the mixture to a boil, and add a piece of hard white soap the size of an English walnut and two or three ounces of fuller's earth. Boil five minutes, cool, and pour over the scorched linen. Let it dry on, and afterwards remove by washing. Repeat if necessary.