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.