Sarah Ann Leigh

“ Illness in my family first inspired me with the ambition to help keep our home together, and I shall never regret the thought which prompted me to start the Lace Curtain Laundry Business, which has proved such a success to me. ”

“ I find by drying all my curtains first I can make the starch the right consistency, that is, most people want them just stiff enough to hang pretty, so I try to get them about the same weight as when new; if the curtain is of a heavy make less starch will be required, but if they are of a net or some other flimsy material it takes more starch—after doing a few pair it is easy to guess just what you require for all curtains. ”

“ There is no royal road to success, nor do I know of any in which patience and perseverance are more requisite than in the Lace Curtain Laundry Business, though the work is easy, pleasant and to all who master these instructions and apply them persistently, should not fail to achieve the success that I have, and more. ”

“ I often have curtains come in which require some mending; if I have time I do this at night, before starching of course; I charge extra for this and according to amount of work required, the ladies are more than willing to pay for this, and it adds to your work too; makes it look so much better.
When taking the curtains off the stretchers, unscrew each corner a little and raise the lower bar, this will bring the curtain off easier and without tearing. Sometimes the edges and joints require pressing, I do this as I take them off the stretcher, or at night, if I am short of time. ”

“ Business enterprises that women can successfully engage in are very scarce, but as this business is so easily conducted in the home, any woman with a fair amount of ambition, who wants to earn her own living, or who desires to assist with family expenses, in spare time, or who wishes to increase her spending allowance and does not wish to leave home in doing so ”

“ Since commencing the laundrying of curtains I have been asked to laundry many other articles, such as shirtwaists, fancy lace dresses, jabots, dinner mats, doilies, scarfs, laces of all kinds, bed spreads and even blankets, but working only in my spare time I have confined myself to curtains and door panels only yet it goes to show that the woman with more time at her disposal could do all this kind of work, including the mending and make a splendid living, more especially when there are three and four in the family. ”

“ If the curtains are pure white I boil them a little, if Ecru I merely scald them sometimes they don't even require scalding, but must be rinsed thoroughly; sometimes when the curtains are very frail I don't put them through the wringer, I squeeze them with my hands in a ball, after they are all clean. I dry out of doors if possible, then if it is wet the next day I can starch and put them on the stretchers indoors, in a vacant room kept for the purpose, and with a stove in it for cold weather, it dries quickly. ”

“ The first curtain put on the stretcher is always the most tedious, but after that it is easy. I never put on more than one pair of heavy; if of light material I get as many on as the pins will take, providing, of course, the curtains are all of one length ”

“ To begin with you will need 3 pair of stretchers, two of the adjustable pin and one of the stationary pin kind, the first named are for the scallop edge curtains as they can be placed at correct distances apart—this is important—the stationary pin stretchers are for the straight edge curtain, these must be stretched from the four corners, working them on perfectly even and straight, never try to put a scallop curtain on these stretchers, as the pins are never the same distance apart. ”

“ Most people put their Lace Curtains in cold water over night to extract the dirt; I find this takes out a little of the smoked lint, not the dirt, to me it seems to fasten it in, it certainly takes more time and labor to get it out, besides being harder on the hands and the curtains also. ”

“ Don't be afraid to use the soap solution, it won't injure the curtains or the hands.
4. Don't wring the curtains with your hands simply squeeze them or put them gently through the wringer.
5. After washing them clean dry thoroughly all your curtains, you will then know just what consistency to make your starch; make them as near their weight as when new, they hang better. ”

“ Don't be afraid to approach the people, they are only too glad to know of you and that their curtains be cared for.
17. Go to the best houses, to the hotels, apartment houses, clubs, doctors' offices and anywhere where curtains are used in public buildings. ”