As Sherman through Georgia...

go I through the linens! This is just another example of having too much time on my hands or else why would I iron mountains of linens and moreover, why would I take the time to write about it.

Now every campaign must have an operational headquarters. For ironing, it's Catherine's room. My strategy also involves two ironing boards that are placed back to back. I think this is a brilliant invention. Normally, these ironing boards are placed at one end of the dining room table. I actually pull the ironed portion of a tablecloth directly onto the table. This eliminates the need to iron in folds, something my mother used to do.

One other bit of ironing wisdom. If you are reading this blog and have yet to purchase an ironing board, try to find a three-legged one. My mother's is a three-legged board and it doesn't rock back and forth. While mine can be lowered to iron in a seated position, it is not very stable.



In the process of this linen blitz, I encountered these rust (?) stains. They do not come out with bleach and Oxy-Clean. In fact, I was so mad at a hand-loomed Clovernook napkin that I threw it out several years ago. You see, I tend to keep everything so I thought that the napkin was beyond salvaging. My bad.



If you have been following my blogs, you know that I've had a few Eureka moments during this employment hiatus. Well, I had another one of those regarding the linens. Why not try soaking the stain in Lime-Away? Lime-Away removes lime, calcium, and rust. I had nothing to lose. Well, it worked! You have to soak it a long time--a day or two--but eventually the stains came out.

Recently on Facebook, some of my subscriber friends listed 25 things that others should know about them. I didn't complete the questionnaire but you should know that of all my little quirks one that you might not guess is that I love to buy new cleaning products. I don't really like to use them, mind you, but I do like to buy them! In addition to the Lime-Away, my Clorox bleach pen was also useful at spot-treating the stains. After all of this, I washed the linens in detergent, Oxy-Clean, and Clorox bleach! Many of the stains came out. I still can't believe it!



As for ironing, I really didn't want to iron the good linens because it's very hard work. However, I decided that it would be easier to match napkins with tablecloths because when the linens are ironed the damask design really pops out.

Now almost everything I know about ironing I learned from my mom. Dampen well, press hard with the hottest possible iron, and iron until bone dry. With newer tablecloths you can actually spritz with a sprayer as you go. Linens that are three or four generations old (the white damask ones) need to be a consistent and perfect level of dampness. I did not really iron these linens to perfection because they will be folded away until used at which time I'll iron them properly. And one more tip from my mother: for crisp linens, hang dry them on the line. Using the dryer makes linens limp and who wants a limp napkin in his or her lap.



One important bit of ironing lore I did not learn from my mother: how to iron monograms. Barbara George taught me that trick.

Here's how to iron a monogram. Place the monogram upside down on a terry cloth towel. Here you see the back side of a W.



Next, iron the monogram on the towel.



Here's a picture of the upside-down W after it has been ironed.



When you turn the napkin or tablecloth to the right side the monogram hasn't been crushed by the iron and the surrounding fabric is ironed without puckering. Thank you, Barbara.



There's just one problem. Whose linens were these? We don't have any Ws in the family. I know that my Aunt Anna and Aunt Mamie bought silver from the Farleys during the depression but I don't know a soul--either family or friend from an earlier generation--whose name begins with this letter.

Once the linens have been ironed they are put in the guest bedroom. There are several reasons for this. First, I like to assemble the work that has been completed, kind of like having a long list with lots of crossed-out items. Second, since not everything was ironed until it was bone dry, the linens get to dry out. Third, this is the only way I can match tablecloths and napkins.



Once they leave the post-iron staging area they are put into drawers. Yeah, I know I'm really anal-retentive. The top drawer contains my own purchases linens for the dining room. The second contains colored-dining room tablecloths and napkins, kitchen tablecloths, runners, and dresser scarves. The third contains tablecloths for card tables and for my parents' old kitchen table that's now in our family room. My only problem is that now that my linens are organized and sorted by function or size, I may run out of room for my really good linens, the last items to be ironed.



Finally, I have a drawer devoted to cocktail napkins--ironed cocktail napkins. Yes, this is a throwback to the 1950s, no doubt, as evidenced by the embroidered martini glasses.



So on days when little Trish is not outside pulling weeds or hauling rocks, I have been inside treating stains and ironing linens. The linens do include a few aprons, as well. Perhaps I should put on a shirtwaist dress, a pair of hose, pumps, a strand of pearls, and an apron just like the moms on Leave It to Beaver and Ozzie and Harriet!