If you do not wish to have white flannels shrink when washed, make a
good suds of hard soap, and wash the flannels in it, without rubbing any
soap on them; rub them out in another suds, then wring them out of it,
and put them in a clean tub, and turn on sufficient boiling water to
cover them, and let them remain till the water is cold. A little indigo
in the boiling water makes the flannels look nicer. If you wish to have
your white flannels shrink, so as to have them thick, wash them in soft
soap-suds, and rinse them in cold water. Colored woollens that incline
to fade, should be washed with beef's gall and warm water before they
are put into soap-suds. Colored pantaloons look very well washed with
beef's gall and fair warm water, and pressed on the wrong side while
damp.