THE CARE OF GLOVES.

Evening Post, Volume XLVII, Issue 147, 23 June 1894, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE CARE OF GLOVES.

Very few people take proper care of gloves. They are slung on and wrenched off, and done up in unpleasant - looking little wads, and then are expected to perform all their uses and give satisfactory wear. A pair of the finest French kid gloves will not long endure such treatment, nor one of the coarsest leather or cotton. A great deal depends upon the way kid gloves are put on at first. They should be drawn on slowly and easily, the fingers being put on first, and then the glove drawn over the palm and buttoned round the wrist. If the glove i 6 carefully drawn off the palm first, each time it is worn — then the fingers, one by one, it will last much longer. After removing them, put the gloves into shape, and lay them in tissue paper in a long glove box. Do not let the gloves lie together. Notice when taking them off if they need mending, or have become soiled. A slight coiled spot may be readily removed by rubbing it lightly with a piece of flannel wet with benzine. Do not, however, attempt to clean gloves by saturating them with benzine. This removes the dressing, and they will not keep clean long enough to pay for .the trouble, while an inevitable odour clings to them. It is better, if the gloves are much soiled, to invest the trifling amount charged by professional cleaners for doing this work, and have it properly done. It is next to impossible to insert .a piece of kid in a glove and have it look properly. Most gloves are now stitched by machinery, in such a way that a different stitch shows. The best way of mending a slight break in kid is to lay under it a piece of silk as near the colour of the kid as possible — a piece of kid would be too clumsy. Catch the silk down by invisible stitches, and draw together the rent with darning stitches, which should be as nearly invisible as possible. Silk or fine cotton gloves are liable to become stretched with wear. After they have been in use for a while, therefore, it is a good plan to turn them inside out, and sew over the seams, taking them in a little, and they will then fit the hand as they did at first, and are not likely to stretch any more.