Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 277, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 November 1915 — DOING UP THE DAINTY FROCK [ARTICLE]

DOING UP THE DAINTY FROCK

Work May Be Successfully Done at Home if One Is Willing to Take a Little Trouble. Now the art of the “Blanchisseuse de fin,” as the French call their very cleverest washerwomen, is not a se« cret process at all, but it well within the comprehension of anybody who is willing to take a little trouble, so why not save a considerable sum of money by “doing up” the best frocks at home? The secret lies in first carefully washing a delicate frock in the ordinary manner and then rinsing it through water in which a little gum arable has been dissolved in proportion of a piece about half the size of a nutmeg to a gallon and a half of water. If you come across any spots and you do not know what caused them, dip an old, clean toothbrush or nailbrush in kerosene and scrub the spot lightly with this, and nine times out of ten the kerosene will remove the spot without further effort, and the odor always evaporates when the dress is washed. To keep delicately tinted wash dresses from fading, a little care must be used. They should never be hung in the sun, but must be dried in the shade or in the house. You can keep green cottons or linens from fading by adding half a cupful of vinegar to 2% gallons of water and dipping the frock in this and letting it drip dry in the shade. Half a cupful of salt used in the same way will fix the color of pale blue dresses or washable mourning materials.