The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1880-04-24
THE CARE OF CLOTHING,

information is full and frequent. Very
little, however, is said about the care of
clothing, and the ways in which it may
be preserved for the longest time and in
the best possible condition. To those
who change their garments with every
change of style this is matter of slight
Importance, but to those who purchase a
silk dress or broadcloth suit only once
in series of years it is a matter of inter-
est and value. Silks. cashmeres, cloths
of standard style and quality, are very
little affected by the various currents of
fashion. They hold their own through
all the years and are always good. always
'stylish," always suitable. While new
fabrics are for the hour of their popular
ify high-priced, these standard goods sell
at the standard price and know little of
rise or fall in standard value.
Neglect and carelessness deteriorate
clothing great deal faster than steady
wear does. The housekeeper who in
stead Of changing her nice dress when
she passes from the street or the church
to her kitchen, keeps it on and takes it
with her through the various processes
of dishwashing, sweeping and cooking
will soon rob it of all it's nicely while
she who wears her fine clothes only in
places where fine clothes are suitable
may keep them in good condition for an
indefinite time. To dress according to
ones work is good taste. good sense and
economy. The careful person will tax,
pains to preserve a new calico no less
than a new silk. We knew a young lady
once who put on nice new calico which
she had taken great pains to make, and
wore it through the morning dew to milk
the cows. TO keep her arms from beina
>oiled or tanned by the sun, she declined
Ia turn up the sleeves Of the dress. In
two days the nice new calico looked like
all the rest of her dresses, dowdy, slat-
ternly, mclean. We knew another
young lady who had six silk dresses. and
not one of them was fit to wear. though
none of them had been made above a
year. They were spotted, draggled, tum-
bled, mussed, abused. We knew another
young lady who was the fortunate pos
SCISSOR of one nice black alpaca dress
which she wore on all occasions the sea.
son through, and always appeared fault
lessly dressed. She had no work to do
that would specially soil her clothes. If
a stray drop of anything that could make
Il spot fell upon her dress it was at once
removed. All dust was brushed off, a
sponge dipped in ammonia water bright
ened faded places, and snowy collars and
cuffs suggested dainty habits of cleanli-
ness.
The care of clothing to be easy must
be habitual. The hardest part is in
forming the habit. and this cannot too
early in life be formed. Most children
love to make mud pies and play in the
dirt generally and give little heed to
keeping themselves clean. This is all
well enough at times, and they should
be INDUCED i'll their mud pies provided
they are dressed for the work. But it il
"poor- folksy" in the last degree to al
low a child to play in the dirt with nice
clothes on, or to permit young person
to dress appropriately while at work
1t is vastly easier to change a good coat
for Il poor one than it is to restore to its
pristine condition soiled coat. 1t il
vastly easier to put on pair of overalls
than it is to sponge thoroughly pair
pantaloons. But the worst of it is tina,
those who neglect to change the coat and
put on the Overalls neglect also til,
sponging and cleansing processes, and
let dust gather and the spots remain.
\ clothes brush, wisp broom, bot
tie of ammonia, a sponge, a hand brush
cake of erasive soap, vial of alcohol
should form part of the furnishings OF
every toilet. After all dust has been re-
moved from clothing spots may be taken
ont of black cloth with the hand brush
dipped in a mixture of equal parts OF
ammonia, alcohol and water. This will
brighten rs well as cleanse. Benzine is
useful in removing grease spots. Spots
of grease may be removed from coloret
silks by putting ON them raw starch made
into a paste with water. Dust is best
removed from silk bya soft flannel, from
velvet with brush made specially fol
the purpose. If hats and bonnets when
taken from the head are brushed and put
away in boxes and covered up, Instead OF
boing laid down anywhere, they will last
fresh long time. ShawlS and all arti-
cles that may be folded, should be 70. ded
when taken from the person in theil
original creases and laid away. Cloaks
should be hung up i'll place, gloves pulled
out lcngthwise, wrapped in tissue paper
and laid away, laces sInoothed out NIGEL,
and folded, if requisite, so that they will
come out of the box new and fresh wher
needed again. A strip of old black
broadcloth four or five inches wide, roll
ed up tightly and sewed to keep the roll
in place, is better than sponge or a
cloth for cleansing black and dark color
ed clothes. Whatever lint comes from
it in rubbing is black and does not show.
When black cloths are washed, as the,
may often be previous to making over,
fresh clean water should be used, and
they should be pressed on the wrong side
before being quite dry. If washed in
water previously used for white clothing
they will be covered with lint. In Sc
curing clothing against moths, if linen is
used for wrappings no moth will modest.
Paper bags are equally good if they are
perfectly tight, and so are trunks and
boxes closed SO tightly that no crevice is
left open for the entrance of the moth
fly. AS the moth loves darkness. it will
not modest even furs hung up in light
rooms open to air and sunshine.
Mr.. Bazaine nephew of the French
Marshal, is keeping a liquor saloon in
Minnesota, where he retails the best of
benzine,
They have an exhibition of wild cats
in Elmira, and there is another in New
York city, but they call it the Mining
Exchange there.