 |  | This is a very old method of laundering cotton laces as recorded
"Soak them over-night in warm water with soap and a couple of spoonfuls of borax or ammonia. After soaking twelve hours, move them around in the tub and that will be sufficient to remove everything but stains. Rinse them thoroughly in clean, warm water. Stretch them a little and fasten them to frames to keep them from shrinking." Frames can be made of light strips of board screwed together at the corners so they can be easily taken apart and packed away for future use; or the curtains can be tacked out on the floor, previously covering the carpet with large sheets of paper. Be sure, when tacking out, that the front edge and bottom are at right angles. Keep the back edge as near parallel to the front as the work will permit. All the unevenness will then be at the top, and the curtains will dry out nice and square. The top will have to be trimmed off square and rehemmed for the rod. Use very little starch, as, the more flexible they are, the more graceful they will hang.
A common method of mending laces is to starch on the patches; some sewing will be needed, however, for large places. At the low price of laces, few people would care to spend much time and patience in extensive patching. The color of ecru can be restored by an infusion of coffee in the water. Try the tone of the dye before putting in the curtains. Laces are now sold so low that some kinds are within the means of almost everybody, and nothing freshens up the room so, or suggests to an outsider the refinement within, so much as a bit of lace in the window.
If using madras in place of lace for under curtains, it is best to select plain grounds in light cream, ecru, or pale gold, and avoid those containing strong colored figures, however handsome they might be in themselves, as it is better to have the curtains next to the glass coolest in tone. |
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