Home › Ironing Day › Ironing Day: Laces

Ironing Day: Laces

TO DO UP LACES AND CURTAINS To Starch Laces. - Good lace does not require starching. Enough white sugar dissolved in the last rinsing water to make it slightly sweet should give it the required stiffness.

Or boil 4 ounces of rice in 1 quart of water until the kernels break up.

Strain through cheese cloth and dip the laces in the clear rice water.

Or use a thin solution of gum arabic.

Or mix 1 teaspoonful of cornstarch or wheat starch with cold water to the consistency of cream, beating and rubbing until all is wet evenly. Dilute to consistency of milk with cold water, add 5 or 6 drops of gum arabic, and thin with boiling water until nearly transparent. Boil for 5 or 6 minutes until well cooked. The poorer the lace the more stiffness will be required.

Hence do not dilute too much for poor laces.

To Tint Laces. -For an écru tint add black coffee or powdered saffron to the rinsing water. Or add tea to give a stronger shade. Experiment with a small sample of the goods, adding a little more color at a time until the right shade is obtained.

To Iron Laces. - If laces are basted on cloth, and the cloth is thoroughly stretched, or if they are carefully wound about a bottle and stitched, they may not require any ironing.

Lace wound about a bottle may be dipped into very thin starch or gumarabic water without being removed, and may not need any ironing. Lace handkerchiefs may be pulled into shape while wet and carefully laid on a pane of glass, wrinkles being all smoothed out. When dry they will be ready for use.

Or dry small lace articles between two pieces of clean white blotting paper under a weight, with or without ironing. When starch is used, do not allow laces to dry, but roll them in a dry towel for half an hour or more, and press while still damp.

Iron on the wrong side over a Turkish towel to bring up the pattern, protecting the articles from the iron with a piece of muslin or other thin white cloth. Use a warm, not hot, iron. Ironing pieces while damp greatly improves their appearance; ironing on a soft, rough surface both protects them and brings up the pattern, and ironing through a thin cloth makes it possible to bring out the points and pattern of the lace with the point of the iron without injury. New embroideries should be washed and ironed before using.

To Remove Wrinkles. - If lace becomes dry before ironing, or if it is desired to remove the wrinkles from clean lace without washing, hold it over the steam of the teakettle or a basin of steaming water until thoroughly moistened. While damp press it under a weight, with or without blotters, or iron it as above suggested.