SOAPSUDS AND BRAINS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16300, 5 August 1916, Page 6 (Supplement)

SOAPSUDS AND BRAINS.

" DoT\r, my own washing" is the limit if economy and martyrdom in the eves of many young housewives.

Yet washing is not such a mountainous task if one goes about it with a caljn' spirit, a level head, good cheer, and willingness, and regards it more as a scientific performance of a necessary and important household duty rather than an unworthy drudgery.

Head work is very important in washing. The great painter said he mixed his paints with brains. Mix your soapsuds and do your washing with brains and see how much easier it is.

First sort your clothes. Select the ones that are the most soiled and lay them aside for special treatment. Wash table-linen by itself. Wash handkerchiefs alone.

Don't use soiled suds for washing coloured clothes unless you expect them to be muddy-looking. Don't wash stockings after other clothes, such as flannels, unless you want them covered with lint.

Turpentine is one of the most useful of washing aids. It will loosen dirt without the slightest injury to fabrics. An excellent washing fluid is made by dissolving 21b of soap in three gallons of water, adding a tablespoonful of turpentine and three tablespoonfuls of household ammonia.

Soak the clothes in this for two or three hours before washing. Treated in this way, the clothes will not need boiling. They can be put in the water when one first rises, and by the time the breakfast is out of the way they will be ready. All soaps are better if they are shaved and dissolved in the water" Soap-jelly is made by shaving a bar of soap and letting it simmer in boiling water till it becomes thick like jelly. A teaspoonful of borax will soften it.

In washing, always try to have the water the same temperature throughout the wash.

Before washing, all clothes shbuld be thoroughly wetted with cold water, and should be' "set to boil" in cold water. In removing clothes from the line, much trouble will be saved if they are pulled into shape and folded smoothly.