I have been reading the book Jambusters by Julie Summers which is about the role the Women's Institute played in the 1940s when everything, including food, was in short supply. On p156 of the paperback edition is the following, about clothing:
"The government's hope was that people would reuse and repair old garments rather than insisting on buying new outfits. The WI offered advice on how to give old garments a new lease of life including rubbing hot bran into tweed skirts and jackets, cleaning white materials with ground rice and using powdered magnesia to clean delicate fabrics such as lace, embroideries, white kid and suede gloves Oil of eucalyptus would revive jaded silk and faded crepe de chine.....Grandmother's recipes for cleaning clothes were proposed but sounded very expensive: 'For cleaning silk.... mix well together three ounces of strained honey, two ounces of castile soap and half a pint of gin.'" I do wonder how practical these tips were given a scarce food (ground rice) is proposed as a cleaning agent. I can think, too, of a better use of gin! As the list is quiet at the moment I thought there was space for this and perhaps some interest in it. Patricia in Wales - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
