If irons are rough or troublesome about sticking, scrape and wipe them clean, then rub their bottoms and sides with a piece of beeswax tied in a cloth. In the country, rub them on a sandy place in the garden path. I am told that it is good--and pleasant--to rub them on pine-needles. When irons are put away, turn the bottoms up. If they are put away for a long time, it is well to give them a thin coating of beeswax. If you have ever seen any one test an iron with a wet finger to see if it is hot, you will only need the courage to try to be able to do it. Wet your finger in your mouth and strike quickly and lightly on the bottom of the iron; if it--_spits_, to put it elegantly, the iron is right for average ironing. Rub it on a paper or a cloth and judge from the effect whether it is clean and of the right temperature for the work you are doing. _Iron holders._--It is well to have two or three of these articles. Those made of asbestos covered with bed ticking are excellent. Even when irons have a detachable handle, an iron holder will be needed for a holder rests and spares the hand. They are sometimes made with a little pocket into which the ends of the fingers can be thrust; it is a good arrangement, for finger-ends have to be so near the iron that they sometimes get scorched. _An iron stand._--A stand is necessary to rest the iron on when the laundress needs both hands to arrange the article she is ironing. If one is hard put to it for a substitute, a horse-shoe, or a piece of fire-brick will serve, the latter is especially good because it holds heat. _A clothes horse._--The more closely it folds up and the more rungs it has when unfolded, the better the clothes horse. Its chief use is to provide a place close at hand where newly ironed articles may be hung. Such a place is necessary because the articles are still a trifle damp and because one does not wish to walk any great distance to dispose of each piece. _Wax, cloths and paper._--The use of these articles has already been mentioned. Pieces of wax can be bought already covered and attached to a convenient little handle. Cloths and paper come from the housewife's store of useful things. _Soap._--From the thousands of kinds of soap one can only make a choice by means of personal experiment, or by accepting the recommendation of some one who has already experimented. The kind preferred once settled upon, it is best to buy enough at a time to last several months and to keep it exposed to the air, for unless soap dries a little before it is used, it wastes. Many preparations are sold to whiten clothes and make washing easy. To use them is a risk, and I have yet to see one which produced even as good temporary results as intelligent washing done with good soap and followed by thorough rinsing.