CAREFUL WASHING

Evening Star, Issue 19794, 18 February 1928, Page 20

CAREFUL WASHING

Methods of Hashing all colored materials, whether they bo chintz, cretonne, casement cloth, or art linen, are very much the same. The first thing to do is to shake the articles to get rid of all surface dust. The next step is to soak them in cold water for several hours, and to change the water if necessary. Soaking lessens the dust and simplifies the process of washing. Then, wring each ■ article out of the soaking water and proceed with the washing. Half-fill a tub with warm water and add melted soap or soap flakes until a good lather is obtained. A little powdered borax may also be added if tbe water is hart), but the use of soda, washing powders, and injurious soaps must bo _avoided. Plunge the material into this soapy water and work it up and down, squeezing and pulling it through the hands. Particular attention must be paid to the most soiled parts, such as the tops and bottoms of curtains, the seats and arms of chair covers, etc. A second soapy water is generally required to complete the washing. When quite dean, rinse the material quickly, first in warm and then in cold water, until no trace of soap remains, then extract tho water'by folding it evenly and putting it through the wringing machine. It is always well to be careful with a material the first time of washing, and if the color is inclined to run it should be kept apart from other articles, and a good handful of, coarse salt added to the water in which it is soaked. The process of washing should then he carried through as quickly as possible, and salt used again in the last rinsing water.