The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1895-08-29
WASHING UNDERWEAR.
sorne Fresh Laundry Information for tn,
Housewife.

E0nne Fresh Laundry Information for the
Housewife.
The passing fancy for the use of
color in the underwear is hardly
worthy of note. The vast majority of
sensible women will always prefer
pure white cotton or linen in place of
any color or any siiken weave. The
undervest is the only exception to this
rule. This may be of wool, silk, cot
ton and wool, or merino, or of pure
cotton. 1t is generally stockinette
garment that is capable of absorbing
the perspiration. The most sensible peo-
pie vary the material with the weather,
using wool in the depth of winter,
cotton and wool for the demi-season
wear, and pure cotton or wool gauze
in midsummer. Some persons of deli
cate physique find an absolute benefit
from the use of a comparatively heavy
garment of pure wool all summer as
well as in winter, spring and fall. All
these garments of whatever texture,
need peculiar treatment in washing,
on account of the perspiration stains.
They should be immersed in lukewarm
water at first, and washed'with a white
soap, devoid of alkai, under the arms
and wherever persplration may be
present If they are allowed to pass
through the wash without this care,
the gelatinous element of the perspira-
tion becomes toughened and turns
brown, and the matter is not easily
eradicated OF course, it is a mistake
to rub any wool goods between the
hands or on the board. Such goods
ought to be rubbed with little scrub
bling brush if there are soiled spots that
do not come out with ordinary wash
ing or with sousing the goods up and
down in warm soapsuds. The advant-
age of cotton stockinette is that it is
very easily washed after the perspira-
ton stains are removed. Like wool
ems, it needs no scalding.
In laundrying fine cambria and other
sheer cotton garments, the first care is
to remove the perspiration stains
thoroughly, and then rub the gar
ments in hot soapsuds, using nice
alkali soap. No hot water and no
aikali, like boraX or soda, and no soap
containing either, should be used until
these stains are washed out Stains
of iron rust and almost any other
stain may be removed by laying the
spot in a strong sunlight with common
salt spread over it and lemon juice
squeezed over all. This is better than
any preparation of oXalic acid or ia
vale water, which latter is liable to
remove the stain at the sacrifice of the
strength of the goods. When the spot
disappears, wash the lemon juice
and salt carefully out, and put the
garment through the boiler
There are ii great many laundresses
to-day who simply immerse their
clothes in boiling water few mo-
ments, so as to thoroughly scald them,
instead of boiling them in the old-fash-
Toned way. Both methods have good
results. The practice of careless
washerwomen, who allow their clothes
to continue boiling after they have
fairly come to the point, is certainly to
to be condemned. AS soon as clothes
have fairly reached the boiling point
they should be taken up and immersed
in their first rinsing water. Fine cot
ION underwear SI1Oulu always De
wash ed and boiled by itself-never
with bed linen and other coarser cot
tons. Let these fine garments be dried
in the strongest sunshine. If they
have yellowish cast, bleach them on
the grass until they are snowy white.
The chief objection to silk underwear,
aside from the fact that it does not
feel as pleasant as cotton, is the diff
Guilty in the way of washing it. 1t is
perfectly true that there are wash
| sill Ks that present a good appearance
after passing through the laundress'
hands, but it is impossible to put silk
un derwear through boiling suds, and
bleach and disinfect it in the sunshine
as you do cotton, and as you should
any garment WORE next to the flesh. -
/ \. Y. Tribune.