Wipe the dust from the ironing-board, and lay it down, to receive the clothes, which should be sprinkled with clear water, and laid in separate piles, one of colored, one of common, and one of fine articles, and one of flannels. Fold the fine things, and roll them in a towel, and then fold the rest, turning them all right side outward. The colored clothes should be laid separate from the rest, and ought not to lie long damp, as it injures the colors. The sheets and table linen should be shaken, stretched, and folded, by two persons. Iron lace and needlework on the wrong side, and carry them away, as soon as dry. Iron calicoes with irons which are not very hot, and generally on the right side, as they thus keep clean for a longer time. In ironing a frock, first do the waist, then the sleeves, then the skirt. Keep the skirt rolled, while ironing the other parts, and set a chair, to hold the sleeves, while ironing the skirt, unless a skirt-board be used. In ironing a shirt, first do the back, then the sleeves, then the collar and bosom, and then the front. Iron silk on the wrong side, when quite damp, with an iron which is not very hot. Light colors are apt to change and fade. Iron velvet, by turning up the face of the iron, and after dampening the wrong side of the velvet, draw it over the face of the iron, holding it straight, and not biased.
_To Whiten Articles, and Remove Stains from them._
Wet white clothes in suds, and lay them on the grass, in the sun. Lay muslins in suds made with white soap, in a flat dish; set this in the sun, changing the suds, every day. Whiten tow-cloth, or brown linen, by keeping it in ley, through the night, laying it out in the sun, and wetting it with fair water, as fast as it dries.
Scorched articles can often be whitened again, by laying them in the sun, wet with suds. Where this does not answer, put a pound of white soap in a gallon of milk, and boil the article in it. Another method, is, to chop and extract the juice from two onions, and boil this with half a pint of vinegar, an ounce of white soap, and two ounces of fuller's earth. Spread this, when cool, on the scorched part, and, when dry, wash it off, in fair water. _Mildew_ may be removed, by dipping the article in sour buttermilk, laying it in the sun, and, after it is white, rinsing it in fair water. Soap and chalk are also good; also, soap and starch, adding half as much salt as there is starch, together with the juice of a lemon. Stains in linen can often be removed, by rubbing on soft soap, then putting on a starch paste, and drying in the sun, renewing it several times. Wash off all the soap and starch, in cold, fair water.