Evening star., 1943-01-18

panels OF pale rose yellow and q
lined, but in spite of this the air
SCOT and soil right through onto II
to be dry cleaned but they were no
the material is washable but hest
tated to wash the draperies because
Of the lining Do you think would
ruin them If I tried2 They are
practically useless now as they do
not look clean. Can you give me
washing directions? D. C. E.
AnSwer-This is not the easiest
job, but it is possible after you have
tested the fabric for instability
To do this, moisten a clean white
cloth with warm water and mild
soap. Rub over the colored design
briskly for a few moments. Select
spot that will not be too noticeable
II the experiment does not work. If
none of the color comes off on the
cloth you may consider the fabric
washable. An important detail for
success is to wash and dry the drap-
cries as quickly as possible A clear
brisk day when they could be dried
out of doors would be ideal. Next
to that, quick drying indoors is es-
sential.
Fix a deep tub of light. velvety,
mild soap suds Place the draperics
In this and plunge them up and
down in the suds to remove all sur
face soil Squeeze as much of the
water out as possible and fill the tub
Immediately again with fresh Suds
and warm water, 1t is possible to
use washing machine, but do not
permit the draperies to cook more
than five minutes. Then stop the
machine, disentangle the material
and start it up for another five min
utes. Until the water ceases to
look murky, repeat this process for
absolute cleanliness. Then rinse
thoroughly in several luke warm
waters, adding a half a cup of salt
to the last rinse water.
Wiring as dry as possible. roll in
turkish towels to remove as much
moisture as you can, shake
thoroughly to separate lining from
drapery and hang on wire coat
hanger with drapery pins to dry
Pull the edges several times while
they are drying and weight the
seams if possible so that they will
not pucker. Iron on the wrong side
first while the material is still damp
and press with cloth over the fab
ric on the face of the drapery.
Dear Miss Novel;: The back door
to my house has no covering of any
sort Aside from being very ugly
1t seems too much to ask the milk
man, the grocery and laundry man
to stand there when it is raining
until some one can get to the door,
Can you suggest some simple ar
rangement which would give some
shelter and that could be installed
by my sixteen-year- old son with my
help and suggestions? There is a
cement block, which forms the step,
about 40 inches wide and "a inches
deep. H. S.
Answer-It is possible to purchase
from the building supply houses a
sort of trellis arrangement to go
over and around your door. This is
a bit on the meager side as far as
shelter goes, but I am afraid most
of the ones with a solid roof would |
need some carperitering where they |
are attached to the side wall OF the |
house. However, I would suggest |
that you also look these over. An
other very simple idea is to use two |.
large shutters. joined over the door |
by a fiat board. These will extend /
at right angles to the wall about 20
inches and the louvres do shed !
water nicely. The wooden roof acts
as support for the shutters and
keeps off the rain. Next spring you
may plant a rambler rose or a vine
to trail up the sides and over the
roof of the shelter, A small covered
box fastened on the wall within the
Enclosure would take care of deliv-
cries left when you were not at
home.
Dear Miss Novel;: I have used q
wonderful striped glazed chintz for
draperies in my dining room.
have five yards left and as this is
not enough to shpcover a chair as
I had intended, would like to make
house coat out Of it. Can you tell
me whether or not the glazed chintz
will wash, and will it lose the glaze?
K. T. D.
Answer-n the chintZ has a per-
manent glaze, information to that
effect will probably be found along
the selvedge. 1t will also say fast
color or permanent vat dyes" or
similar guarantee if it is washable
for color. II none Of this is printed
on the fabric you may make test
for color fastness according to the
directions printed above for wash
ing draperies. II it is not a perma-
nent glaze the sheen will undoubt-
edly come off when it is washed.
However, this should not trouble you
greatly if the color is fast, for
starch will return part of the glaze
and all Of the crispness found in
new material. Your idea sounds
most attractive and it might be
worth making the house coat even
II you had to have It dry cleaned!