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CHAP. PAGE

INDEX 201

HARPER'S HOUSEHOLD HANDBOOK

HARPER'S HOUSEHOLD HANDBOOK

WASH-DAY WISDOM, NURSING, AND SICKROOM

Fold lengthwise down the middle of the back, iron body, back, and front; iron sleeves from the sloped seam back; press wrist bands first upon wrong side, then on right. Do the same with the yoke and neck band--fasten it, put in bosom board, spread bosom smooth upon it, keeping threads exactly square. Wet lightly with starch water; wipe over with a damp cloth. Have an iron just below scorching heat, begin work in the middle, at the bottom, hold the bosom taut with the left hand and iron toward the neck. Go all over; if any smears come wipe off with tepid water. Do the same for wrinkles or warped spots. Hold hard along the edges--the stitching draws. Polish with a special polishing-iron, a little cooler than the others.

Iron collars and cuffs upon the wrong side until half dry. Press hard over the right side and polish. Curl collars around the iron as it moves. Finish the band before ironing the outside. With cuffs the main thing is to prevent blisters and wry corners--do that by ironing the edges first and holding them taut.

In using a board, set it high or low, as your height requires.

Toilet ware of white enamel is lighter and safer than china. Have in addition a foot tub and a deep covered bucket. Soaps, powder, scents at discretion--insist, though, upon clean wash clothes, a good sponge, also bottles of grain alcohol, aromatic ammonia, lavender water, and camphor. Insist also upon a demi-john of disinfectant solution--chloride-of-lime for ordinary illness, bichloride of mercury in cases of contagion .

If windows must be opened at top, set an extra shade at the bottom with a hook to hold it in the middle of the upper casing. Roll up the top shade, lower the sash sufficiently, then raise the lower shade till the edge is level with the edge of the sash. Thus air has free ingress without rattling the upper shade. A window which must be raised ought to have a light board pivoted into the casing, so it can be turned outward at need, letting in air but preventing draughts. With a board a foot wide raise the window about ten inches. One window open at top, another at bottom will be far more effectual than a single window spread wide. Note what is outside; if at any time smoke or the smell of food comes in, shut the window. Allow no odors in a sickroom--neither fruit, flowers, spiced food, nor scented visitors. This in severe cases; mild ones and convalescence demand no such rigors.

Have a table outside to receive trays, cups, glasses, uneaten food. Let nothing stand inside the room. The bigger table is for medicines, clean spoons and glasses, alcohol stove, and a supply of ice. Gas light fouls air so quickly, avoid it if possible. Electric light has the drawback of being hard to graduate. Oil lamps require the nicest care. Candles are better. Beware of lighting or extinguishing either inside the room. Strike no matches there if possible to avoid it. Even in lighting a fire, do it from a candle lighted outside. Keep filled candlesticks on the outer table with matches in plenty, and extinguishers handy. Take lamps there to put them out.

Finger stalls in variety, with narrow tapes for tying, thus sterilized, are a help to mothers. Teach children to suck wounds or bites or stings instantly--it abates pain and takes out dirt and poison. Wash the hurt clean, unless a blood clot has formed--it is nature's own remedy, respect it. Put on a stall, hold the hurt finger up, and pour upon it either arnica, witch hazel, or turpentine. Draw the edges of a cut together, clap on adhesive plaster, and hold until the plaster sets.

INSIDE A ROOM

Fabrics of any sort are best applied to ceilings in separate lengths and the joins covered with heavy moldings put on with brass-headed nails. This gives much the effect of a beamed ceiling at lower cost. A ceiling that crumbles badly should have strips of smooth deal nailed fast to it at even distances. The fabric can then be tacked to these with no fear of falling.

If a ceiling is too high, never put anything striped on the wall. A heavy border apparently lowers a ceiling--all the more if it is put on several inches below the ceiling proper, and the wall space finished to match overhead.

EQUIPMENT AND RENOVATORS

CHINA, GLASS, AND FURNITURE

Use a soft thick brush for relief or incised decorations or lace edges. Dip it lightly in powdered borax or white soapsuds and rub steadily but not too hard. Set things which have held milk, creams, thick soups, sauces, or gelatine compounds in clear warm water for three minutes, and rub away as much of what sticks to them as possible before putting them into the suds. Soap combined with milk or gelatine makes the water slimy, the ware sticky. Boiling water sets either milk or gelatine. If possible, rinse and wash things soiled with them as soon as empty. In wiping do not rub gilt borders--rather pat them dry.

Burnish half yearly with a swab of sifted whiting tied in soft silk. Intricate gilding may have the whiting sifted on while damp and brushed off after drying. In storing keep sets and sizes together. Set things so they will not jostle nor clatter nor tip. Stand platters on edge in a special grooved shelf, the biggest at the back. If piled, put something between, less to save breakage than to prevent a possible chipping of glaze. Things bought in cases should be stored in them, the cases set in drawers or on low shelves. High setting invites dropping and ruinous breakage.

Glass with silver inlay or incrustation must be rubbed after washing with a chamois skin dipped in whiting. Clean decanters and claret jugs by putting inside either a few buckshot and shaking them about in a cupful of tepid water dashed with ammonia, or else lightly folded squares of stiff brown paper with barely enough ammonia water to moisten. These remove wine incrustations. If the stains are obstinate, fill the decanter with tepid water, add a pinch of borax, and let it stand. Tiny pills of whiting wet up with alcohol and ammonia, dried, dropped inside, and shaken about, then dissolved out with tepid water, leave the insides clear and bright. So do crushed egg shells.

Wash gilt and Bohemian glass--indeed, any fancy glass--with a very soft brush and tepid white suds, rinse in hotter water, drain almost dry, then polish with absorbent cotton dipped lightly in powdered whiting. Iridescent and bubble glass should not be wiped. Drain instead, and polish when ready to use with a wisp of cotton. Cameo glass, or any with patterns in relief, must be washed with a stiff brush, in weak suds, rinsed thoroughly, and dried in gentle, steady heat rather than wiped.

Before resurfacing drive up loose dowels, wedging them tight, glue afresh rickety joins, strengthening them further with slender brads driven in from the under side. Glue broken bits in place--if they are missing, make the break smooth and fit into it a new piece. Cut the old wood, slanting outward--thus it is possible to drive very short brads from underneath. A vise helps greatly in such repairs--the harder held the pieces, the firmer and less visible the join. After it is dry, sandpaper; if the new wood fails to match the old, stain and rub down before waxing or polishing. Tiny gaps can be filled with putty mixed with dry color approaching that of the wood. This will take either oil stain or a wax finish.

Tighten rickety drawers so they slide easily. Remedy bad feet by chiseling out shattered wood and putting in plugs of sound wood to hold the castors. Glue in the new plugs, also nail them fast. Grease the points of nails to save splitting the old wood. Set them invisibly and drive gently, but see that they go fully home. Remove glass or brass mounting while resurfacing. Clean and brighten them before replacing. Tighten metal linings about keyholes with putty, put on inside. All padding, upholstery, or baize tops must, of course, be taken wholly away. Save them, no matter how ragged, as patterns for new stuff.

Refinish and repair frames thus stripped before recovering. Very handsome things had better be put in professional hands unless you have practised upon plainer ones. It is a waste of strength and material to put handsome new covers over musty padding or to botch and pucker hopelessly through inexperience. In the courage of her economies a clever woman learns quickly the knack of upholstery. Minute directions are impossible--each sofa or couch or easy chair is so much a law unto itself. In a general way, have all necessary things handy--as covering muslin, webbing, springs, tacks, twine, upholsterer's needles, moss or curled hair, brads in variety, sharp shears, and stout pliers for dragging through reluctant needles. Press out old covers and use as patterns for the new. Model your work as nearly as possible on what you took away. Remember always before fastening on covers to mark the middle of them and set it accurately to the middle of the frame, tacking it thence both ways. Pad arms and backs first, then basket-weave webbing across the bottom, drawing it very taut, put on springs, fasten them with twine to the webbing, lay thin cloth over, put a thick layer of stuffing upon it, then fit the muslin cover and tack smoothly to the frame. Tuft or leave plain according to style and period. Cut the ornamental covering very accurately, sew together, following the original, fit smooth, and cover the edges with gimp. With figured material, cut so the boldest figure shall appear in the middle of back and seat or equidistant from ends of the panels of long sofas. Practise upon something cheap--here as everywhere else experience is the best teacher.

Brass trimmings upon enamel bedsteads, cribs, etc., need the same care. So do brass frames, trays, etc. Elaborate chasings can be brightened without injury by coating thickly with powdered starch, letting it stand a day, then brushing it away.

Upholstery can be dry-cleaned with starch and whiting sifted together and applied thickly all over it. Let stand a day, in sunshine if possible, then brush off, going over and over. If there are grimy spaces, wet them with alcohol before putting on the powder. Brush hard, and if flecks remain take them off with a cloth wet in alcohol.

Dust gilt or enameled wicker very clean, wash quickly in weak tepid suds, wipe, and sift on whiting and corn starch, let stand half an hour, and brush off. Dry-cleaning alone suffices for things not much soiled. Instead of sifting, the starch and chalk or whiting may be tied tight in coarse net and used as a swab. Take out spots and stains before cleaning.

Glue rounds of felt to the feet of all things not furnished with castors if you would save polished floors from marking. A brad or two, driven upward, the heads well sunk, will add stability. Old soft hats will furnish the rounds. Instead, you may use a contrivance now in market, which is practically the same thing, also cheap and convenient.

MAKING WHOLE

A jagged break needs glue extra thick and hot. Brush it well into broken fibers, both ends, press them together, fasten firmly, let harden, scrape away oozings, and screw on strap iron with holes an inch apart in the edges. Put it inside or underneath, and if it shows, as on chair or table legs, paint to match the wood, and varnish when dry.

Fine brads, driven in alternately, slantwise, on the under side, will hold cracks fast, but not so fast as strap iron. Hinges set in an angle need a little wood gouged away so they may lie flat against the wood. Fill gaps in a splintered surface with putty colored to match.

With a simple clean fracture, as across a platter, wash edges very clean, using a brush and suds, rinse in hot water, then coat thickly with pure white lead rubbed thicker than cream in raw linseed oil. Set the larger fragment, break up, perpendicularly in the box of sand. It must stand plumb. Fit the other piece to it, and hang evenly across it the swinging weights, which are but a strip of strong cloth doubled up into pockets at each end and filled with buckshot or pebbles, which must balance accurately. Their use is to make the join firm and fine--in fact, barely visible. Leave standing several days, then file or sandpaper off surplus lead. Lead-mending is the most durable of all.

Mend thin china with white of egg and quicklime. Beat the egg stiff, coat clean edges thickly with it, dust with powdered unslaked lime, press hard together at once, and fasten firmly. The lime sets as in mortar. Sandpaper the break after a week. This is a good cement for opaque glass as well.

Hollow things, as cups, bowls, etc., should be set over crumpled paper upon a round of cloth, with a drawstring in the edge just big enough to cover them halfway. Draw up the string very carefully after mending, and fasten. The secret of good mending is to have things held fast.

Rubber bands help mightily. String half a dozen strong ones on a tape and tie about the neck or base of anything so rounding strings slip. Join the broken part, then put another tape through the bands, and lift it steadily until you can fasten it about the neck or over the top. The bands must be the same size, and draw equally. After tying the tapes set a weight on top of the broken thing. Loop rubber bands around broken-off handles, set them in place, then string a tape through the bands, draw them together, and pass the tape twice around the body of the vessel.

Build up shattered things bit by bit about cores of putty covered with wax paper. This if shape admits taking out the putty. Narrow-mouthed things had better have cores of absorbent cotton wound with wax paper. It can be picked out bit by bit, using a hook. Putty likewise can be dug or rasped out, but not so easily. Things very badly broken need to be mended in sections, joining scraps and fitting in splinters. Fill cavities outside and in with either soft putty or plaster mixed with white of egg. A backing of putty inside seams makes them secure. Keep clean fingers while mending. Also keep broken bits clean. If a mend fails, soak off cement and begin over. White lead must be taken off with turpentine. But failure with it is rare.

If a handle-break goes through in a vase or ewer fit inside the hole a lump of putty, then cement edges, and press together, holding something against the putty and spreading it all over the break. Hard, it makes an indestructible join. Water will not affect it; still, such a vessel had better be kept for show.

Machine-darn table linen as soon as it shows threadbare spots, putting them in an embroidery hoop and stitching back and forth the way of the missing threads. White net underneath strengthens, but with napkins and tea cloths it is better left off. A cloth broken along the middle fold can be darned thus over net. But it is easier and better to split it evenly, hem the split edges, and trim them with lace, then join the selvages with a row of coarse insertion, herringboned in with coarse linen thread.

Silk stockings should always be darned on net, matching colors of net and darning-floss. Tack lace insets or embroidery smooth upon white stiff paper and fill in breaks with lace stitches or new embroidery. Mend a running break--colloquially, a ladder--by catching the errant stitch, sewing it fast, then filling the raveled space with very fine herringbone. Fill holes in the instep, or heel, above slipper height, with loose buttonhole stitches in matching silk, going across and back, catching each stitch after the first row in the top of the one below it. Make neither tight nor slack. Infinite patience and a very fine crochet hook enable one to fill such breaks with real stocking-weaving. Ravel the break to a line, take up the stitches on a very fine thread, then fasten on silk and draw up in loops, keeping them on the needle. Fasten to the side and work back, drawing a new stitch through each one already on the needle. Repeat till the hole is full, then draw stitches through those in the upper edge, which has been likewise raveled straight. Only very costly stockings are worth such pains.

Point lace, being needle-made, can be needle-mended as good as new. Tack smooth upon waxed linen or stiff paper, study the breaks, and fill them with the same stitch, using the same thread. If the ground is badly broken, expedite work by laying under a bit of fine net, matching the mesh, and sewing the figures to it. Lace stitches can be learned from any book on needlework, and are none of them difficult. Irish crochet wears out all over commonly--tears or breaks, though, can be filled with a crochet hook, matching stitch and thread.

Mend lace curtains by laying new net under breaks and either sewing figures to it or, in case of tender old fabrics, wetting with starch and pressing with a hot iron. The starch mend will last as long as the curtain. Tiny tears can be thus starch-mended to advantage at any stage.

Dyeing helps a faded carpet mightily. Put it down clean with thick paper under, wipe over with clarified ox gall in tepid water, then with clear water, wringing the cloth dry, then paint with a thick soft brush dipped lightly in hot dye. Use the color predominant in the room, no matter about the pattern. Rub the dye in well, but do not slop nor sop it. Treat fine matting, especially in rug form, the same way. Figures will show through, but not unpleasantly. Even a grass rug takes color readily. Hang smooth and wet thoroughly, let stand to set, then wash with weak suds. Dye on both sides. Carpets and mattings must be dyed on one side only and washed lightly, after the color sets, with suds, then wiped over with either vinegar and water or weak alum water.

Rug-mending needs a volume; here it gets only a paragraph. For breaks, tears, moth-eaten or worn spots lay smooth upon something soft and sleazy--wool crash is excellent, so is basket-woven serge. Flannel will answer; at a pinch so will burlap. Fasten so thread runs true with those of the rug. If the original fabric shows appreciably, darn it down on the patch, matching the darning-wool to the colors. If there is a yawning hole, put the wool double in a very big needle, stick through from the top, bring up again in almost the same place. Tie to the end above, stick back, stick up again, repeat, varying thread, until the whole space is covered with woolly loops. Cut them through, then trim smooth with very sharp shears, comb with a coarse comb, and trim again. Moth-eaten moquette carpet can be treated the same way, using as many needles as there are colors in the pattern.

Furs worn in dusty wind or a foul atmosphere need to be well combed, brushed against the grain, and aired quickly. Dry wet furs in air, but away from heat. Stretch and knead them several times while drying to keep the skin pliable. Shake hard at first, hang smooth, and let drain. Unless very wet, only dampness will reach the skin if they are so treated. Snow shaken off before melting is a help rather than a hurt. Indeed, a good way to clean fur rugs is to drag them, hair down, over dry snow. Clean on the floor by sprinkling thickly with hot meal or sawdust, rubbing in well and brushing out, then combing.

MAKING AND MAKING OVER

Wherewithal to make of is the first requisite. Here follow some simple tests easily applicable and well worth while. Use upon samples, and buy accordingly. Things over-cheap, it may be said in passing, carry their condemnation in their price. Buying them is extravagance, since they cost as much in time, trouble, and often in money for making up as sound stuffs and make no adequate return in wear.

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