Mrs. Beeton's cookery book : a household guide all about cookery, household work, marketing, prices, provisions, trussing, serving, carving, menus, etc., etc. With new coloured and other illustrations.

  • Isabella Beeton
Date:
1901
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Mrs. Beeton's cookery book : a household guide all about cookery, household work, marketing, prices, provisions, trussing, serving, carving, menus, etc., etc. With new coloured and other illustrations. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.

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    and now, in households where only one or two servants are kept, it is most essential that the housekeeper should consider whether they have really time to do the washing properly if no aid is given, also if they really understand hoio it should be done, for both know- ledge and patience are absolutely essential to make washing at home a satisfactory process. The hardships of washing should belong to the past, with our many labour-saving machines and cleansing soaps of the present day, but opinions vary considerably about their ad- vantages. Many argue that machines destroy the linen and drag off the buttons, but it depends more upon the washer than the machine whether the former does damage or saves labour. Where there is not room in kitchen or scullery for a washing machine, or where it is preferred to do the washing by hand, then a small wringer and mangier will be found invaluable. This can be fixed to tub, shelf, or table, and it is wonderful how much time and labour it saves, particularly in the case of heavy articles such as blankets and quilts. We give recipes for the wash- ing of various articles, but a word of advice as to the management of the wash may perhaps be useful. Washing day should be one on which there is no large amount of household work to be done. If there are several hands to do the work, the boiling, wringing-out, &c., may be done on the same day, but if one pair of hands have to accomplish the task, then it is a good plan to get through with the actual washing on the first day and have the copper lighted early oh the following one, so that the linen may be put out to dry betimes, thus leaving the washer free to attend solely to the blueing, rinsing, hangi]ig-out, and bringing-in of the clothes; for if this is steadily attended to much time is saved, as the linen is brought in just when it is ready for folding, and no damping is needed except in the case of starched things. Try to arrange that some simple cookery should be all that need be done, or better still, have a stew or soup prepared the day before, or cold meat and salad, according to the season, so that the work is not delayed; and in no case let it extend to the evening, when it is bound to caiise inconvenience to some member of the BECIPE8 FOB WASHINQ CLOT EES. WASHING OF WHITE ARTICLES. The day before these are washed sort them as follows:—Put the fine things., such as cuffs, collars, &c., into a small pan, the ordinary body linen into another, and the rougher and dirtier kind into a third, then soak them thus: Fill the pans with lukewarm water, and rub over the dirty parts with Sun- light soap, and leave the articles in “ soak ” till the following day. Let all small pieces of soap be put in the copper, and having first rinsed out, then washed the clothes, put them in in their order, putting such small things as collars and handkerchiefs into a bag or old pillow case. About twenty minutes’ boiling should suffice, when the next panful should be ready to go into the copper, this being re- plenished with hot water. As the clothes are boiled have ready some cold water, ready blued, in which rinse out the clothes in their order. The water for washing white clothes should be about 100° Fahr., and for dirty clothes a small quantity of soda should be put into it. WASHING OF COLOURED AND WOOLLEN ARTICLES. To wash these make a soap jelly by dissolving and boiling in hot water ail small pieces of soap, or some sliced up, this when cold forming a firm jelly, and put enough of this into hot water to make it of a creamy consistency. In this wash the coloui'ed things as quickly as possible, and hang them out directly they-ai'e rinsed. The more quicldy coloured things are washed and dried the less likely are the colours to run. In washing flannels and blankets make the water thicker with the soap jelly, and having rubbed or scrubbed them well, rinse in several waters and hang out at once. Blankets and white flannels should . not be vu’ung much, but allowed to drip, and they should not hang in a strong sun as it makes them yellov/. Recipes for Starch and “ to Glaze Linen ” will be found amongst “ Recipes for Housework.”