A DELICATE TASK

NZ Truth, Issue 1063, 8 April 1926, Page 18

A DELICATE TASK

Washing Embroidery

USEFUL EXPERIMENT

Nothing is easier to spoil than a good piece of .embroidery by washing it carelessly or by not making sure' that the dye m the threads 'with which it is worked will not run iri hot water. ' The best thing to do is to use onlythreads and materials which are made by well-known firms. If an experiment is made with a new •thread, it is best to test it carefully by first washing a strand of it m hot water and, soap. Having made sure on this point, the washing of embroidery, how- '' ever delicate, may be undertaken .: With confidence! The finest soap to use is white curd, free from alkali, and when a good lather has been made with hot-^not boiling — water, the embroidery sh'pulrl be dipped into it and pressed between the' hands as iri washing, woollens, not rubbed. .' Every trace of soap must, of course, be rinsed out before the drying process is begun; Then, as it is most unwise to wring an embroidered article, it should bs folded m a clean, dry towel and as much moisture as possible pressed oul of it. '■The embroidery should then be pinned right side up over a piece. of clean white blotting paper on a . board or deal table. < If the pin's are ■ many, and stuck infirmly, and the material stretched as tightly as possible, the delighted embroiderers will find waiting for her next day a crisp, . clean, piecfof work, which- needs no ironing and which probably looks much finer than; when the last stitches were, being put into the embroidery.