n fresh suds, and, if the water still looks
dark after another washing, take still another. Boil and rinse as in
directions given for other clothes. Starch with very thick hot starch, and
dry, not by hanging out, and then ironing, but by putting a light common
mattress in the sun, and pinning the curtain upon it, stretching carefully
as you pin. One mattress holds two, which will dry in an hour or two. If
there is no sun, lay a sheet on the floor of an unused room, and pin the
curtains down upon it.

In washing flannels, remember that it must be done in a sunny day, that
they may dry as rapidly as possible. Put them into hot suds. Do not rub
them on a washing-board, as this is one means of fulling and ruining them.
Press and rub them in the hands, changing them soon to fresh hot suds.
Rinse in a pail of clear hot water; wring very dry; shake, and hang at
once in the sun. Flannels thus treated, no matter how delicate, retain
their softness and smoothness, and do not shrink.

Starch is the next consideration, and is made in two ways,--either raw or
boiled. Boiled starch is made by adding cold water to raw starch in the
proportion of one cup of water to three-quarters of a cup of starch, and
then pouring on boiling water till it has thickened to a smooth mass,
constantly stirring as you pour. A bit of butter is added by many
excellent laundresses, the bit not to be larger than a filbert. Any thing
starched with boiled starch must be dried and sprinkled before ironing,
while with raw starch this is not necessary.

To make raw starch, allow four even tablespoonfuls to a half-pint of cold
water. Dip collars, cuffs, and shirt-bosoms, or any thing which must be
very stiff, into this starch, being careful to have them dry. When wet,
clap them well between the hands, as this distributes the starch evenly
among the fibers of the cloth. The same rule must be followed in using
boiled starch. Roll the articles in a damp cloth, as this makes them iron
more smoothly; and in an hour they will be ready for the iron. In using
boiled starch, after the articles have been dried, and then dampened by
sprinkling water lightly upon them, either by the hand, or by shaking over
them a small whisk-broom which is dipped as needed in water, it is better
to let them lie ten or twelve hours.

All clothes require this folding and dampening. Sheets and table-cloths
should be held by two persons, shaken and "snapped," and then folded
carefully, stretc