The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1895-08-14
BLEACHING LeanonN HATS.


II you are one of those enterprising
women who enjoy doing for themselves
those many little things, the cost of
which, taken in the aggregate, makes
so startlinga proportion of the month";
expenses, You will be glad to know
that the light leghorn hats Of the
family may be successfully bleached ut
home, aud 10y the very same methods
which are employed by those who
make bleaching and pressing Their
business
The first and Irregular" method is
that OF bleaching with sulphur. This
method is best pursued out of doors.
Get barrel place in the bottom tin
pan, in which is some charcoal. and 3
or I'D cents worth of sulphur.
First wash your hat with butter.
milk, rub it thoroughly, then tie a
string from side TO side, so that you
can suspend it inside the top of the
barrel Light the charcoal and cover
the barrel closely with carpet or any
heavy material, leave il until the char
conl burns out aud the fumes of the
sulphur have done their work thor
oughly. You will find the hat as white
as though it had come from profess
ional bleacher.
The second or ''irregular" method
is easier and quicker, but | would not
advise its use in the case of an espe.
cially due or expensive hat, as it is
more injurious to the material, but for
ordinary leghorns and straws, good
for but one more seasons use, il ia
very satisfactory and as inexpensive as
the others
Take a few grains Of oxalic acid and
dissolve them in soft water, or weak
solution OF oxalic acid may be had at
the drug store. This acid is poison.
Gus and if left upon paper, clothing
or the hands will, if at ali strong,
eventually eat its way through fabric
or skin. The solution, therefore,
must be weak.
Use stiff brush aud scour the hat
with the solution till white. This will
not only clean but bleach the straw.
Next rinse it in clear, soft water and
press into shape.
The pressing may be done by insert
ing a piece OF stiff pasteboard inside
the rim Of the crown, or, better still.
by putting cloth over an inverted
pail or similar tin. Leave it till
nearly dry; then press the crown by
laying "A cloth over it and ironing it
over the tin, and the rim may be
ironed upon the table in the same
manner, always having cloth between
the iron and straw.
A medium or dark.colored hat may
be made a good shade of black by APP
plying several coats Of good shoe
polish with stiff brush, but white
hat can only be colored black by dye
ing. To accomplish this, first clean
the hat by leaving it over night In a
solution of cooking soda, one ounce of
soda to a half-gallon of soft water.
Rinse thoroughly in the morning and
put at once into the dye, as the straw
must he wet in order to take the color
To make the dye, dissolve package
of dye in sufficient water to cover the
hat we'll, and add one teaspoonful of
salt for each quart of water. Let the
nat boil for an hour in the dye, re-
move from fire aud let it cool IN the
dye, then rinse and place to dry.
When nearly dry press as already d.
rected.
Hats of various shades may be
colored to match suit by an easy
process, which does not destroy the
shape, if the contrast in color is not
too great. To do this dissolve pack
age of dye of the shade required in a
little alcohol and add a half-pint of
shellac varnish. Apply with a stiff
brush. More alcohol and less varnish
will make the hat more pliable; the
proportion must be determined by the
nature of the straw.
If the black hat, when dyed, lacks
luster, it may be brushed over with a
solution OF one-half ounce of bonnet
glue in one pint of water. Chicago
Record.