TO CORRESPONDENTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 179, 30 July 1932, Page 4 (Supplement)

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

A correspondent, "Anxious," inquires how to get a gloss on men's collars, as at the present time 6he finds it expensive to get them done outside the home. All articles that require to be stiffly starched, such as collars and cuffs, must be perfectly dry before starching, and are starched with, cold water starch such as the following:— . Cold Starch.—l taolegpoonful of white starch, 1 gill of cold. water, 4 drops of turpentine, * teaspopnful of borax. Method: Put tlie starch into a basin, and mix with a little of the water, work out all lumpe and when quite smooth add the rest of the water and the turpentine. Dissolve the borax and work it into the starch. This quantity is sufficient for eight collars, or for four collars and two pairs of cuffs. To Get Up.—When the collars and cuffs are washed and dry, put them into the starch and see that every part is immersed. Wring- with the hands, roll them in a dry towel, and press them. Leave a few hours before ironing if possible, as they iron more easily than if done immediately they are starched. When ready to iron, lay the collars and cuffs on the ironing sheet, and rub each side thoroughly with a dry and clean rag to smooth the surface and remove any looee starch. Iron first time with a rag over them, as this often prevents the iron sticking, then remove and quickly re-iron once or twice on the wrong side, turn and iron on the right side until stiff. Next polish with a polishing iron, some irons being rounded at the back for this purpose. To do this well, place the collars right side up on a board covered with a piece of flannel, next with a cloth. The iron must be hot and rubbed backwards and forwards heavily over the linen till a brilliant polish is obtained. An Old-fashioned Method. — When ironing the co"ar, take a piece of flannel and dip it in French chalk and rub smoothly over the surface. Then take a piece of white eoap and rub smoothly over each article. The articles should bo like porcelain. When using hot starch, take a teaspoonful of paraffin wax and mix it with the hot starch. This makes a beautiful gloss. These two recipes are from a well-known book on house management.