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Classic
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page 390
wrap in a towel and let it remain so several hours before ironing--all night if
starched and folded in the evening--and in the summer put in a cool place where
the starch will not sour, and in the winter keep warm enough to prevent
freezing. To do up shirt-bosoms in the most perfect way, one must have a
"polishing iron"--a small iron rounded over and highly polished on the ends and
sides. Spread the bosom on a hard and very smooth board, with only one thickness
of cotton cloth sewed tight across it. Spread a wet cloth over and iron quickly
with a hot iron, then remove the cloth and with a polishing iron, as hot as it
can be used without scorching, rub the bosom quick and hard up and down, not
crosswise. Use only the rounded part of the front of the iron, that puts all the
friction on a small part at one time, and gives the full benefit of all the
gloss in starch or linen.--Mrs. Beecher in Christian Union.
HOW TO DO UP SHIRT-BOSOMS.--
Take two table-spoons best starch, add a very little water to it, rub and stir
with a spoon into a thick paste, carefully breaking all the lumps and particles.
Add a pint of boiling water, stirring at the same time; boil half an hour,
stirring occasionally to keep it from burning. Add a piece of "Enamel" the size
of a pea; if this is not at hand use a table-spoon gum-arabic solution (made by
pouring boiling water upon gum-arabic and standing until clear and transparent),
or a piece of clean mutton tallow half the size of a nutmeg and a tea-spoon of
salt will do, but is not as good. Strain the starch through a strainer or a
piece of thin muslin. Have the shirt turned wrong side out; dip the bosoms
carefully in the starch and squeeze out, repeating the operation until the
bosoms are thoroughly and evenly saturated with starch; proceed to dry. Three
hours before ironing dip the bosoms in clean water; wring out and roll up
tightly. First iron the back by folding it lengthwise through the center; next
iron the wristbands, and both sides of the sleeves; then the collar-band; now
place the bosom-board under the bosom, and with a dampened napkin rub the bosom
from the top towards the bottom, smoothing and arranging each plait neatly. With
smooth, moderately hot flat-iron, begin at the top and iron downwards, and
continue the operation until the bosom is perfectly dry and shining. Remove the
bosom-board, and iron the front of the shirt. The bosoms and cuffs of shirts,
indeed, of all nice, fine work, will look clearer and better if they are first
ironed under a piece of thin old muslin. It takes off the first heat of the
iron, and removes any lumps of starch.
CARE OF IRONS.--When irons become rough or smoky, lay a little fine salt on a
flat surface and rub them well; it will prevent them sticking to any thing
starched, and make them smooth; or scour with bath-brick before heating, and
when hot rub well with salt, and then with a small piece of beeswax tied up in a
rag, after which wipe clean on a dry cloth. A piece of fine sandpaper is also a
good thing to have near the stove, or a hard, smooth board covered with brick
dust, to rub each iron on when it is put back on the stove, so that no starch
may remain to be burnt on. Put beeswax between pieces of paper or cloth and keep
on the table close by the flat-iron stand. If the irons get coated with scorched
starch, rub them over the paper that holds the starch and it will all come off.
Rubbing the iron over the waxed paper, even if no starch adheres, adds to the
glossiness of the linen that is ironed.
TO TAKE OUT SCORCH.--If a shirt-bosom, or any other article, has been scorched
in ironing, lay it where bright sunshine will fall directly on it. It will take
it entirely out.
BLUING. --Take one ounce Prussian blue, one-half ounce of oxalic acid; dissolve
in one quart of perfectly soft rain water; insert a quill through the
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