en add water till cool enough for the hands. The dirt
will be loose, so that they will require but a little rubbing. Rinse
them thoroughly in clear water, then in indigo water. The soda can be
procured cheap, by purchasing it in large quantities--soda is an
excellent thing to soften hard water. The soda suds will not do to wash
calicoes in. It is a good plan to save your suds, after washing, to
water your garden, if you have one, or to harden cellars and yards, when
sandy.

416. _Starch._

To make good flour starch, mix flour gradually with cold water, so that
it may be free from lumps. Stir in cold water till it will pour easily;
then stir it into a pot of boiling water, and let it boil five or six
minutes, stirring it frequently. A tallow or spermaceti candle, stirred
round in the starch several times, will make it smoother--strain it
through a thick cloth. Starch made in this manner will answer for both
cotton and linen very well. Some people do not boil their starch, but
merely turn boiling water on the mixed flour and water, but it does not
make clothes look nice. Poland starch is made in the same manner as
wheat starch. When rice is boiled in a pot without being tied up in a
bag, the water in which it is boiled is as good as Poland starch for
clear-starching muslins, if boiled to a thick consistency after it is
turned off from the boiled rice, and then strained. Muslins, to look
clear, should be starched, and clapped dry, while the starch is hot,
then folded in a very damp cloth, and suffered to remain in it till they
become quite damp, before ironing them. If muslins are sprinkled, they
are apt to look spotted. Garments that are not worn, when laid by,
should not be starched, as it rots them when not exposed to the air.

417. _To clean Woollen and Silk Shawls._

Pare and grate raw, mealy potatoes, and put to each pint of the potato
pulp a couple of quarts of cold water. Let it stand five hours, then
strain the water through a sieve, and rub as much of the potato pulp
through as possible--let the strained water stand to settle again--when
very clear, turn the water off from the dregs carefully. Put a clean
white cotton sheet on a perfectly clean table, lay on the shawl which
you wish to clean, and pin it down tight. Dip a sponge, that has never
been used, into the potato water, and rub the shawl with it till clean;
then rinse the shawl in clear water, with a tea-cup of salt to a pailful
of the water. Sprea