fine linen, and to have a knowledge of clear starching: besides making
a servant doubly useful to her mistress, it may be the means at any
time when out of a situation, of her gaining a respectable maintenance.
One who gets up muslins and laces in a superior manner, is sure to find
employment, and it may also lead to her filling one day, the superior
situation of lady’s-maid. Her excellence in this department, is not
only valuable as adding to the elegant appearance of her mistress, but
is productive of great saving in expense. A fine worked collar, with
expensive lace, may be torn or frayed, the very first time it is done
up, by improper management, and it is seldom that fine muslins or lace
have the elegant appearance they should have, or last the proper time,
from ignorance, or the want of due attention in getting them up. Nothing
spoils the appearance of dress more than torn lace, battered and stiff,
and fine muslin with the starch clouded upon it or frayed and ironed
awry. It will require considerable practice to attain perfection in this
department, and the best way to learn is to see others do it: still a few
instructions may be useful.
Muslin or lace should never be rubbed in washing. Take white soap, in
proportion to the muslins you have to wash, shave it down, and boil it
with soft water till it dissolves. When cold, it should be as thick
as jelly; mix a part of this jelly with soft tepid water, so as to be
strong of the soap; let the muslins lie in this for a night, then add
boiling water; move them up and down in the water, repeatedly squeezing
them through the hands, so as to wash them, but do not rub them.
Having steeped them well in soap and water before, makes rubbing quite
unnecessary; tie them loosely up in a pillow-case, and with soft water,
and the rest of the boiled soap, boil them for a couple of hours; if in
the country, they should be laid out on the grass to bleach (without the
soap being washed out), and watered when necessary, so as to keep them
moist. If in town, where no bleaching on the grass can be procured, put
them into a washing-tub, and having poured boiling water over them, leave
them in the back court in the air for the rest of the day, and during the
night in the water; this has a great effect in whitening them; in either
case, after being bleached, rinse them twice through cold water, to clear
them completely from the soap, and hang them up to dry before being
starched. A piece of lace, or any small article can be very well bleached
by being put outside the window in the sun, in a crystal bottle of water,
having been previously washed, and the soap left in it.
It is a frequent practice not to boil the starch, but to mix it with
boiling water, to hang up the muslins or laces the moment they have
been put through the starch, and squeezed out, and when dry, and as
hard as a piece of board, then they water them down (as it is called),
leaving one spot dry, and the rest wet, so that to stretch them out
for ironing, without tearing them, is almost impossible. This mode of
proceeding may account for the melancholy frequency of torn lace, and the
dull heavy appearance of beautiful worked collars, looking as if they
had been partially rubbed over with flour and water. To give them that
light transparent look which adds so much to their beauty, the treatment
must be very different; the starch should be mixed in a little cold soft
water, and bruised down with the back of a spoon till quite smooth: more
water should be added, till it resembles thin milk, then boiled in a
glazed-stone pipkin, till it becomes clear and thick, so as to jelly when
cold. The muslins and laces should be put through the starch, while it is
still warm; squeezed out first in the hand, then gently in a clean smooth
cloth, so as to get as much as possible of the starch out without fraying
them in any way. The cloth must not be twisted round in the slightest
degree, but gently pressed between the hands, putting but a few of the
articles in at one time; each article should then be taken separately,
held lightly by the two ends with the forefinger and thumb of each hand,
and beaten between the palms of both hands for a few minutes; next shaken
out and drawn, so that each thread in the muslin is perfectly straight,
and the shape of the collar is carefully preserved. If after holding
it up between you and the light, you find that in some parts it is not
sufficiently clear, then a little drawing up and down on those spots
will be necessary, so as to free every thread from the starch. It should
then be folded up in a damp cloth, and each article put beside it, as
soon as it has gone through the same process, so that the whole may have
a slight degree of dampness when ironed. When it is not convenient to
do up muslins the moment they are starched, it answers well after they
have been squeezed in the cloth, to fold up each article, and to leave
them wrapped up together in a cloth for some hours, or a night, to clear
themselves. When this is done, they generally require only to be drawn
a little, and folded up for ironing; but where great clearness is to
be obtained, the stiffer the starch, and the more they are beaten, the
better.
In getting up fine things well much also depends on the ironing. The
ironing-blanket should be thick, so that the work on the collars, &c.,
&c., should have a raised look after being ironed; where the blanket is
thin the hard surface of the table flattens the work, and injures the
appearance. The ironing-blanket should be covered with a piece of thin,
smooth, long-cloth, kept for the purpose, and washed each time it is
used. In spreading out the collar, or whatever you are about to iron,
see that it lies perfectly even, and that each thread is straight up and
down; also that the iron has been carefully cleaned, first rubbed on a
piece of old carpet, and then wiped with a cloth; and also that it is
not too hot. Singing is a common fault with the inexperienced, and it is
a very bad one; for, even when it is not to such a degree as to burn,
which may easily happen with a very thin muslin, still it leaves a yellow
shade, which not only destroys the appearance at the time, but is very
difficult to get rid of. A little practice in handling the irons will
soon accustom one to the degree of heat necessary, and till that is the
case, an old pocket-handkerchief, or some such thing, should be at hand
to try each iron upon before you venture to iron anything of consequence.
Do not pass your iron frequently over the same place if you wish the
muslin to retain the stiffness, and also you should hang the article on
a screen before the fire the moment it is ironed; it becomes soft if
folded up with the slightest dampness upon it. Lace which, to look well,
should not be stiff, is improved and cleared by being put through cold
water as soon as it has been starched; it should then be squeezed out
held by each hand, very slightly beaten between the palms of the hands,
and gently drawn out; in drawing out the edge the nails must never touch
it; it should all be done by the ball of the thumb and forefinger, and
ironed once or twice over to take out the stiffening. When lace is sewed
to a muslin collar, and washed with it, as the collar requires to be
stiffer than the lace, it will be necessary, after putting it through
the starch, and clearing it by beating and drawing it, to gather the
lace together in the hand, and dip it into cold water, so as to take out
a good deal of the starch (taking care not to wet the collar); but this
is only necessary where the lace is put on with very little fulness, or
quite plain; where it is put on full enough to be set up in small pipes
with the French irons, or rather, curling tongs (as they may be called),
it is not necessary to extract any portion of the starch; the lace is the
better for being stiff, and, if rather damp when set up in these small
pipes, they will retain a regular and tidy appearance as long as the
collar can be worn.
These small French irons are to be got of different sizes, and answer
remarkably well for nightcap-borders, or frills of any kind. When making
use of them you should be near a stove or fire, where they can be
frequently heated, for, as they cannot be used when very hot, for fear of
singing the lace, they require to be constantly heated, and must be wiped
with a cloth each time before being used.
The care of the silver plate will also be part of the housemaid’s
occupation in a family where no footman is kept. Every day, what is
in daily use will require to be washed perfectly free from grease,
in boiling water, then rinsed through cold water, wiped with a clean
linen cloth, and rubbed up with soft chamois leather; very little daily
rubbing will be required if, once every week, the different articles
are washed with a sponge in pretty strong soap lye, well rinsed in warm
water, and rubbed up with the chamois leather; it is the rubbing well
that gives polish and brightness, and where plate is cleaned regularly
once a week with soap, it has a beautiful pale bright silvery look,
very different from that dark lustre which plate, cleaned with rouge,
presents. Quicksilver is generally mixed with those plate-powders sold in
the shops, and the high lustre which it gives at first is soon effaced,
and gives place to a dark, tarnished appearance; besides, if plate-powder
of this nature is frequently used, the article becomes so brittle that
a silver spoon or fork may be broken by a fall on a stone floor. Once
in the three months it may be well to clean all the plate thoroughly by
washing it first with soap-lye and hot water, and then rubbing it, either
with the finest sifted whiting and spirits of wine, or strong spirits,
or with prepared hartshorn and spirits of wine, and, when quite dry,
polishing briskly with the soft chamois leather, and also with the palm
of the hand—the longer plate is rubbed the brighter it will look. The
rouge sold by silversmiths is generally composed of prepared hartshorn
mixed with quicksilver, and coloured with a little rose-pink, and an
extravagant price is demanded for it: but in many houses, where the
plate has been remarked for having a particularly beautiful appearance,
it has been ascertained, that washing with soap lye, and polishing with
chamois leather and the palm of the hand, had done all, and that only
twice during the year had the plate been cleaned with plate-powder;
prepared hartshorn, with only so much rouge as to give it a pale pinkish
appearance, were then used.
It is painful to see the way in which, sometimes, the silver spoons,
forks, &c., are scratched by coarse dry whiting being used. Where the
finest whiting and spirits of wine cannot conveniently be made use of, it
is well, at the time of the general cleaning of plate, after the soap
has been used, to boil whiting in water, then dip the different articles
into this mixture, and, when the whiting has dried upon them, polish them
with the chamois leather. A soft brush will also be required in cleaning
plate, to brush the whiting well out of the carved places.
Plated articles should be cleaned in the same way, and rouge had better
be avoided altogether in cleaning them. Nothing stronger than spirits
of wine and whiting should be used, and that as seldom as possible; and
they should not be rubbed more than can be avoided to clean them. When
not in use they should be kept in flannel, or green baize, or buried in
well-dried bran, so as to be kept quite free from damp, and from the air.
It has been found from experience, that plated articles, once cleaned
with plate powder in which there was some injurious mixture, have never
recovered it; they look bright for a short time after being cleaned,
but each time they are put aside for a little they become so completely
discoloured, and it requires such hard rubbing to clean them, that the
silver plating must be very soon entirely effaced. When candlesticks are
spotted with wax or tallow, do not scrape them, but pour boiling water
upon the spots before cleaning them.
Whether in town or country, it is necessary to fix particular days
for such operations as are not of daily occurrence; such as cleaning
plate, washing brushes, arranging the butler’s pantry, comparing lists,
&c., &c. As the linen is generally given out in the beginning of the
week, and two days of each week will be required to clean the rooms
thoroughly, Friday might be fixed for washing brushes, cleaning plate,
and dusting the butler’s pantry; and Saturday and Monday for mending the
linen, previous to its being given to be washed. In the bustle of a town
life particularly, the plate will get tarnished, the pantry dusty, and
all will get into confusion in a housemaid’s work, unless certain days
are appointed, and regularity in observing them enforced; even in the
country, without regularity in cleaning, all will soon assume a slovenly
appearance; and if a mistress has not given written instructions for the
arrangement of the work, it would be well that the housemaid wrote them
down for herself, and strictly adhered to them.
In cleaning her pantry her labour will be greatly diminished by attention
in placing the trays always with their faces to the wall, turning the
wine-glasses, tumblers, &c., up-side-down on the shelves, placing paper
covers on the lamps, and keeping the drawers carefully shut; dust will
still penetrate, however, in some degree, and make it necessary, from
time to time, to wash the pantry itself, and all it contains; but where
the things in daily use are put by perfectly clean, and wiped dry, so
that the dust does not adhere to them, a little weekly attention in
dusting will keep all as it should be for a considerable time.
The plate, when rubbed up weekly, should be compared with the written
list, so that any missing article may be instantly looked for. And the
china, glass, &c., should be counted over the same way when the pantry
is thoroughly cleaned, and the mistress informed of any breakage or want
which may be discovered. In some houses it is a rule that a servant is
forgiven if she instantly gives information of having broken any article.
With a truly careful, conscientious servant this may answer very well,
but it has been found to render others only more careless, as they get
over the shame and distress of such confessions, and it may be well that
they should be made aware, that in proportion as those accidents (as they
are always called) happen, a part of the price of each article will be
required.
It is quite wonderful the difference in expense which a careful or a
careless servant will make in a family. Some servants will go on for
months without cracking or chipping a single article, either of glass
or china, while others, both from mismanagement and carelessness, are
meeting with a _misfortune_ (as they generally call it) every week. It is
careless management when a servant seizes upon a vessel of earthenware to
wash the china or glass, instead of the wooden bowl which her mistress
has appointed for that purpose; the slightest touch against the hard
surface of the earthenware may be the means of cracking or chipping
a valuable cup or glass; and, even with the wooden bowl, care and
management are required. If the cups and saucers are all put into the
bowl at once, they may be knocked against each other, and injured in
the same way; whereas, if the warm water (not too warm) is poured into
the wooden bowl, and only one article dipped in at a time, it is almost
impossible that either cup or glass, however fragile, can be injured.
It is also careless management when a servant attempts to cut bread from
a loaf lying across a plate much too small for it; in this case the loaf
only rests on the edges of the plate, without touching the middle, and
the additional pressure, in attempting to cut it, may split the plate in
two. The same is likely to happen where large plates are heaped upon the
top of small ones; and, in cleaning lamps, the shade (which is a very
expensive article) is frequently broken by being laid on its side, and
rolling off the table; it may often be the oily appearance of the rim,
and the fear of soiling the table, which leads to this, but a moment’s
reflection will show, that both a safe and a clean mode of disposing of
it would be by turning the shade up, and placing it on its upper rim on
the table. Many lamp-shades are also cracked by the lamp, after it has
been cleaned, being pushed hastily against the wall when placing it on
the shelf in the butler’s pantry; it is right and orderly to place it on
the shelf, to be out of the way of accidents, but it is wrong to do it
in so careless a manner as to produce the very accident it was meant to
avoid. The shades are often cracked, also, by the lamp being turned up
too hastily when first lighted; the sudden strong flame cracks the glass
immediately. And tumblers and wine-glasses are generally cracked by hot
water being poured hastily into them.
With a careful servant none of these things will happen. She will put the
loaf on end before cutting from it, she will place the largest plates at
bottom, and not pile too many on each other, and the lamp will be set
carefully on the shelf, and when lit, by turning it slowly up, the flame
will be gently raised, so that the glass will be heated by degrees.
But when an accident does happen, from whatever cause, let instant
information be given, and reproof borne patiently. Remember that the
fault of concealment is infinitely the worse fault of the two; it is not
only mean and dishonourable to an earthly master, but it is a sin against
God. “_For God will bring every work into judgment, whether it be good or
whether it be evil_.”[5] And servants may break the eighth commandment,
“_Thou shalt not steal_,” in many ways besides actually taking what
does not belong to them. A servant has many things under her care. If
therefore she indulges in dirty and careless habits, she injures her
master’s property, and is in this respect dishonest. All wastefulness is
a species of dishonesty, for to waste or destroy her master’s property
is to deprive him of what is his. Eye-service is also dishonest; by
eye-service is meant, doing well only as long as the eye of a mistress is
upon you, forgetting St. Paul’s exhortation—
“_Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not
with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing
God._”
“_And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not unto
men._”
“_Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the
inheritance, for ye serve the Lord Christ._”[6]