Page:The White House Cook Book.djvu/593

 MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES. 561

TO RENEW OLD CRAPE.

PLACE a little water in a tea-kettle, and let it boil until there is plenty of steam from the spout ; then, holding the crape in both hands, pass it to and fro several times through the steam, and it will be clean and look nearly equal to new.

TO RAISE THE PILE ON VELVET.

To RAISE the pile on velvet, put on a table two pieces of wood ; place between them, bottom side up, three very hot flat-irons, and over them lay a wet cloth ; hold the velvet over the cloth, with the wrong side down; when thoroughly steamed, brush the pile with a light wisp, and the velvet will look as good as new.

TO CLEAN KID GLOVES.

MAKE a thick mucilage by boiling a handful of flax-seed; add a little dissolved toilet soap; then, when the mixture cools, put the gloves on the hands and rub them with a piece of white flannel wet with the mixture. Do not wet the gloves through. Or take a fine, clean, soft cloth, dip it into a little sweet milk, then rub it on a cake of soap, and rub the gloves with it ; they will look like new.

Another good way to clean any color of kid gloves is to pour a little benzine into a basin and wash the gloves in it, rubbing and squeez- ing them until clean. If much soiled, they must be washed through clean benzine, and rinsed in a fresh supply. Hang up in the ah 1 to

dry.

STARCH POLISH.

TAKE one ounce of spermaceti and one ounce of white wax ; melt and run it into a thin cake on a plate. A piece the size of a quarter dollar added to a quart of prepared starch gives a beautiful lustre to the clothes and prevents the iron from sticking.

FOR CLEANING JEWELRY.

FOR cleaning jewelry there is nothing better than ammonia and water. If very dull or dirty, rub a little soap on a soft brush and brush them in this wash, rinse in cold water, dry first in an old handkerchief and then rub with buck or chamois skin. Their fresh- ness and brilliancy when thus cleaned cannot be surpassed by any compound used by jewelers.

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