Laundry

• Turn printed washables inside out when hanging on the line. This prevents sun fading.
  

• Clothes do not freeze on a metal clothes line if wiped with a kerosene cloth first.
  

• Handy clothespin bag may be made using a coat hangar.  Use an durable material, shape top to the coat hanger, and sew firmly, leaving one end open halfway down the side so that pins may be reached easily.  The bag may be hung on the line and pushed along for convenience.
  

• Screen door hooks, fastened to the ends of an indoor clothes line, make a quick method of putting up and taking down the line. Put screw eyes into opposite walls or supports.
  
• When you wash baby's bonnet, fit it over an inverted bowl to dry.  Helps the bonnet hold its shape.
  
  
• To wash colored calicos, dissolve, say 10¢ worth of sugar of lead in six to eight quarts of pure water (rain water is best), and after garments are washed and rinsed, let them be dipped in and rung out.  It not only sets the color, but keeps it.
  
• Launder the laundry bag.  If you use a cloth bag for soiled clothes, be sure to launder it frequently to keep it in an odorless condition.
  
• To keep handkerchiefs, socks, and other small articles from wrapping around washing machine wringers, fold them inside a towel and run through the wringers.
  
• To whiten shoe laces, wash them in sour milk.
  
  
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• If you can't get around to ironing all the clothes you have sprinkled, wrap the leftovers in waxed paper and place them in the refrigerator.  1940-50's. This will keep them from souring and mildewing and will give them a nice smooth finish when ironing.
  
• Place a piece of beeswax between two pieces of flannel and rub your iron on them occasionally.  It will keep the iron clean and make it run smoothly.
  
• When ironing a man's shirt button the two sleeves together.  That way they do not touch the floor.
  
• Put a small amount of cologne in the water to be used for sprinkling clothes.  Makes ironing pleasant and freshens dresser drawers and closets.
  

• If cottons scorch while ironing, plunge into cold water immediately and let stand 24 hours. The scorched areas will disappear.
  
• Household ammonia will take out scorch stains.
  
  
• To make shadow embroidery stand out well, lay it right side down on a Turkish towel when ironing.  You will be delighted with the results.
  
• Rickrack can be ironed perfectly flat from the wrong side.
  
• Ribbon or lace will dry flat after washing and need no ironing if it is smoothed around a clean bottle to dry.
  
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Sewing Hints:

Most of these were taken from:
"YOUR HOUSEHOLD GUIDE", ALPHA PI SORORITY, ALMA, NEBRASKA 1951 
so typical of what we did in those days.

• When men's shirts wear out across the shoulders, cut out the whole back and sew in bottom side up.
  
  
• Bright colored dirndle skirts that have been out grown make an attractive clothes bag, sew up the bottom and run cord through.   
  
  
• Crochet large holes in socks instead of darning them. The mend will be more elastic and stronger.
  
• When purchasing overalls for young boys, purchase them one length longer than you need and use the remainder to reinforce the knees and seat.
  
  
• Want a pin cushion that will hold needles and pins for years without rusting?  Fill the cushion with used dried thoroughly coffee grounds.
  
  
• To make buttons stay on children's outer garments longer.  Sew small button underneath the fabric and fasten with heavy thread to larger button.
  
  
• To avoid cutting material when removing buttons, slide a comb under the button and cut the thread with a razor blade.
  
• To save on wear and tear on sheets and distribute the wear, put he small hem at the top of the bed half of the time.
  
  
• Add a strip of velvet to inside band of skirt to keep blouse from slipping out.
  
  
• Sew upper and lower hems of plain curtains the same width and reverse the ends at each laundering to insure longer and more even wear.
  
  
• Use a mesh bag that fruit comes in to put leftover pieces of dress materials.  You can see at a glance the piece you need for a patch.
  
• When using buttons that will not go through the wringer on the washing machine, sew once section with a large snap on the button. The button simply snaps on the dress.
  
• When making a dress, make a matching hanky too.  Use it along with the dress and wash both at the same time. Then if the dress needs patching, the hanky matches exactly.
  
  
• Buttons sewed on with crocheted cotton will rarely come off.
  
  
• When putting a hem in, take a piece of pasteboard the width you want the hem and use it to measure with.
  
  
• A sink plunger makes an excellent guide when you're marking a hem line for another person. The plunger will stand alone leaving your hands free.
  
  
• After oiling your sewing machine, sew through a blotter several times to absorb the oil.
  
  
• An empty aspirin box is just right for holding the razor blade you keep in your sewing box. The blade can be found easily, and you are protected from accidental cuts.
  
  
• To thread the sewing machine needle more easily, put a piece of white paper under the foot and the eye will show up plainly.
  
• Use the cuffs from men's discarded shirts, to amke shoulder pads for washable dresses and blouses.
  
  
• When needles have become rusty and seem unfit for use, tub up and down in earth and they will be like new.
  
  
• Put a small piece of white soap in your sewing basket. Stick needles and pins in it and they will run through cloth more easily.
  
  
• Old felt hats make attractive hot pads aor the table and pot holders for the kitchen.  Wash and iron and bind edges with bias tape.
  
  
• When patching sheets sew a little colored thread in the hem. This way you can tell whether a sheet is patched or not before unfolding it. If it is badly patched, put two colors of thread. This saves time and embarrassment when company comes.
  
  
• Recipe for a Rosebud Quilt: Take 16, 450 pieces cut size of a milk bottle cap; turn edges carefully and gather toward center, fasten securely; results would be size and not unlike a tiny forget-me-not blossom. Join seven of these small flowerets, six surrounding a center one all a different print, harmonious is one small rose. Continue until you have sufficient roses for a good-sized bed spread. Fasten roses securely together and you have one of the most beautiful bed coverings imaginable.
  
  
• When lengthen overalls for growing boys, it usually leaves a white line on the fabric. To get rid of this, rub the line with a blue crayon and press with a warm iron. This same trick works for girls dresses, if you get the right color crayon.
  
  
  
• Stick baby's safety pins into a bar of soap instead of a pin cushion. This method is perfect for keeping pins sharp enough to slip through several layers of material.
  
  
  
• Belt too tight? A red-hot steel knitting needle will make a nice round additional hole in a leather belt.
  
• Kitchen or bathroom shades may be made out of oilcloth to match the color scheme of the room.
  
  
  
• String your pearls with dental floss.
  

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