Thursday, November 22, 2012

Steve Martin Ironing

From the archives of All things Ironing - Humour - Steve Martin ironing

Here is another quirky, ironing related picture from our archive of pictures of famous people ironing.

Steve Martin Ironing
For someone who irons for a living and loves cats, this is a pretty funny image. I wonder how Steve Martin managed to keep a straight face while ironing his hand.

"Extra starch on the collar please." 


Osca Ironing - Stain procedures

About Osca Ironing - Osca Stain Procedures

A page from the Osca Ironers Handbook -

Osca Stain Procedures.

A When you notice an article in a customer's basket that has a stain on it.
1 Stop Ironing.
2 Check Customer Card for any customer 'Stain Instructions' .
· Follow customer instructions.
if there are no customer instructions :
· Seek advice from the Osca Office.
· Follow advice given and proceed as instructed.
3 Write a 'Stain Advice Note' to the customer. Bag or fold garment separately and attach note.
4 Continue Ironing.


B When a stain is caused while ironing.
1 Stop Ironing.
· Determine the origin of the stain.
2a If the stain can be easily laundered.
for example
- soap, bleach, deodorant or other particle residue that browns when touched with a hot iron.
- rust or other particle build-up stain from inside the iron water chamber.
- excess starch.
Check Customer Card for any customer 'Stain instructions'.
· Follow customer instructions.
· Where applicable, launder the garment.
if there are no customer instructions :
· Seek advice from Osca Office or Contact the customer for instructions.
· Follow advice given and proceed as instructed.
- Launder the garment
or
- hang or fold item back into customer basket.
2b If the stain can notbe easily laundered.
for example
- cross stain
Stop everything.
· Seek advice from Osca Office or Contact the customer for instructions.
· Follow advice given and proceed as instructed.
- hang or fold item back into customer basket.
3 Write a 'Stain Advice Note' to the customer. Bag or fold garment separately and attach note.
4 Continue Ironing.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Louis-Leopold Boilly 1761 - 1845

From the archives of All things Ironing - Irons in oils.


Louis-Léopold Boilly Self Portrait (1761 - 1845)
Louis-Léopold Boilly (5 July 1761 – 4 January 1845) was a French painter and draftsman. A gifted creator of popular portrait paintings, he also produced a vast number of genre paintings vividly documenting French middle-class social life.

Young Woman Ironing, 1800
Boilly was born in La Bassée in northern France, the son of a local wood sculptor. A self-taught painter, Boilly began his career at a very young age, producing his first works at the age of twelve or thirteen.
 
In 1774 he began to show his work to the Austin friars of Douai who were evidently impressed: within three years, the bishop of Arras invited the young man to work and study in his bishopric. While there, he produced a cascade of paintings – some three hundred small works of portraiture. He received instruction in trompe l'oeil painting from Dominique Doncre (1743–1820) before moving to Paris around 1787.

Boilly was a popular and celebrated artist of his time. He was awarded a medal by the Parisian Salon in 1804 for his work The Arrival of a Mail-coach in the Courtyard of the Messageries. In 1833 he was decorated as a chevalier of the nation's highest order, the Legion d'Honneur.

At the height of the French Revolution in 1794, Boilly was condemned by the Committee of Public Safety for the erotic undertones of his work. This offence was remedied by an eleventh-hour discovery in his home of the more patriotic Triumph of Marat (now in the Musée des Beaux Arts, Lille) which saved him from serious penalties.
 
Triumph of Marat, 1792

Boilly died in Paris on 4 January 1845. His youngest son, Alphonse Boilly (1801–1867), was a professional engraver who apprenticed in New York with Asher Brown Durand.

End of the World

From the archives of All things Ironing - Humour

By now, we have all heard that the world as we know it is about to end in a few short weeks.

Here is a unique opportunity for you to own your own
"I Survived the End of the World"
Osca t-shirt.

Order this t-shirt now and if the world ends on December 21, 2012, we will give you your money back. That's right, according to the Mayan prophecies, this t-shirt can be yours, completely free.

On the other hand, if the world doesn't end, you can proudly wear this garment and call your self a true visionary, a sage and a prophet who foretold the future before it happened.

Only $25.00 incl postage
Available only in Australia
while stocks last.

Place your order before the end of November 2012 and your t-shirt will be delivered before the world ends so you can proudly wear it the very next day. Please include your mailing address and size.


A mailing address for your payment will be provided when we confirm your order.
Your order will be dispatched when payment is received.

 $$$ MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE $$$
If the world ends on the 21st of December 2012, we will happily refund your money.


Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Vinegar in the Laundry

While there are many references to Vinegar as the Green Stain Removal alternative, it is important to only use only Distilled or Brewed white vinegar.
 
The acid in white distilled vinegar is too mild to harm fabrics, yet strong enough to dissolve the alkalies in soaps and detergents. Besides removing soap, white distilled vinegar prevents yellowing, acts as a fabric softener, a static cling reducer and attacks mold and mildew.
 
1926 Skipping Girl Vinegar advertisement
 
Here are some ways Vinegar is useful in the laundry and in removal of stains.
 
Eliminate manufacturing chemicals from new clothes by adding 1/2 cup white distilled vinegar to the water.
 
Remove scorch marks and coffee stains from clothes by applying undiluted white vinegar to the stain.
 
Wool and silks take on a yellow tint over time. Fill a bucket with 1 pint of warm water and add a tablespoon of vinegar.

Prevent lint from clinging to clothes by adding 1/2 cup white distilled vinegar to the wash cycle.

To remove soap residue that makes black clothes look dull use white distilled vinegar in your final rinse.

Get stained white socks and dingy dishcloths white again. Add 1 cup white distilled vinegar to a large pot of water, bring it to a rolling boil and drop in the articles. Let soak overnight.
 
Before washing a mustard stain, dab with white distilled vinegar.

Attack spaghetti, barbecue, or ketchup stains with a white distilled vinegar and water solution.

Remove perspiration odor and stains on clothing, as well as those left by deodorants, by spraying full-strength white distilled vinegar on underarm and collar areas before tossing them into the washing machine.

Forgot that you left wet laundry in the machine and it now smells moldy? Pour a few cups of white distilled vinegar in the machine and wash the clothes in hot water. Then run a normal cycle with detergent.

Remove musky smells from cotton clothes by sprinkling them lightly with white distilled vinegar and then pressing them.

Remove smoky odors from clothes by filling the bathtub with very hot water and 1 cup white distilled vinegar. Hang the garments above the steaming water and shut the door so the steam can penetrate the fibers.

Get water and salt stains off shoes and boots by wiping them down with a solution of equal parts white distilled vinegar and water.
 
Get cleaner laundry! Add about 1/4 cup white distilled vinegar to the last rinse.

Remove soap scum and clean the hoses of your washing machine with white distilled vinegar.

Periodically run the machine with only a cup of white distilled vinegar in it—nothing else added to the wash cycle.

Bring out bright colors by adding 1/2 cup white distilled vinegar to the rinse cycle.

Fluff up wool or acrylic sweaters (hand- or machine-washed) and rid them of soap smell with 1/2 cup white distilled vinegar in the last rinse water.

Cornwell's White Vinegar

Vinegar is also usefull in caring for your Iron.
 
Keep the steam iron clean and in good working order by getting rid of mineral deposits in steam vents and spray nozzles. Fill the water chamber with a solution of equal parts white distilled vinegar and distilled water. Set it in an upright position and let it steam for about 5 minutes. When the iron is cool, rinse the tank with water, refill and shake water through the vents onto an old cloth. Test before using.

Remove scorch marks from an iron by rubbing it with a warmed-up solution of equal parts white distilled vinegar and salt. If that doesn’t work, use a cloth dampened with full-strength white distilled vinegar.
 
These links were checked at the time of publishing and found to be accurate.
 
The New Homemaker Frugal Living ehow Eco Mum Integro foods 1001 Uses for Distilled Vinegar Ask Men National Geographic Green Living

Happy Habits

How does one define happiness ? What exactly is it and how do we achieve it. An article on the Inc. webpage written by Geoffrey James goes someway to explaining this elusive goal with suggestions of how to go about it. There are three key points the author makes.
 
Happiness is the only true measure of personal success.
 
Making other people happy is the highest expression of success.
 
It is almost impossible to make others happy if you're not happy yourself.
Happy Osca
Minor changes in your daily routine can have a major effect in your life and career. With that in mind, here are nine small adjustments that most people can make to their daily routine that will immediately increase the amount of happiness in your life.

1. Start each day with expectation.

If there's any big truth about life, it's that it usually lives up to (or down to) your expectations. Therefore, when you rise from bed, make your first thought: "something wonderful is going to happen today." Guess what? You're probably right.

2. Take time to plan and prioritize.

The most common source of stress is the perception that you've got too much work to do.  Rather than obsess about it, pick one thing that, if you get it done today, will move you closer to your highest goal and purpose in life. Then do that first.

3. Give a gift to everyone you meet.

I'm not talking about a formal, wrapped-up present. Your gift can be your smile, a word of thanks or encouragement, a gesture of politeness, even a friendly nod. And never pass beggars without leaving them something. Peace of mind is worth the spare change.

4. Deflect partisan conversations.

Arguments about politics and religion never have a "right" answer but they definitely get people all riled up over things they can't control. When such topics surface, bow out by saying something like: "Thinking about that stuff makes my head hurt."

5. Assume people have good intentions.
 
Since you can't read minds, you don't really know the "why" behind the "what" that people do. Imputing evil motives to other people's weird behaviors adds extra misery to life, while assuming good intentions leaves you open to reconciliation.

6. Eat high quality food slowly.

Sometimes we can't avoid scarfing something quick to keep us up and running. Even so, at least once a day try to eat something really delicious, like a small chunk of fine cheese or an imported chocolate. Focus on it; taste it; savor it.

7. Let go of your results.

The big enemy of happiness is worry, which comes from focusing on events that are outside your control. Once you've taken action, there's usually nothing more you can do. Focus on the job at hand rather than some weird fantasy of what might happen.

8. Turn off "background" TV.

Many households leave their TVs on as "background noise" while they're doing other things. The entire point of broadcast TV is to make you dissatisfied with your life so that you'll buy more stuff. Why subliminally program yourself to be a mindless consumer?

9. End each day with gratitude.

Just before you go to bed, write down at least one wonderful thing that happened. It might be something as small as a making a child laugh or something as huge as a million dollar deal. Whatever it is, be grateful for that day because it will never come again.