The cooking-dishes, saucepans, &c., come next in order; and here the wire
dish-cloth will be found useful, as it does not scratch, yet answers every
purpose of a knife. Every pot, kettle, and saucepan must be put into the
pan of hot water. If very greasy, it is well to allow them to stand partly
full of water in which a few drops of ammonia have been put. The _outside
must be washed_ as carefully as the inside. Till this is done, there will
always be complaint of the unpleasantness of handling cooking-utensils.
Properly done, they are as clean as the china or glass.

Plated knives save much work. If steel ones are used, they must be
polished after every meal. In washing them, see that the handles are never
allowed to touch the water. Ivory discolors and cracks if wet.
Bristol-brick finely powdered is the best polisher, and, mixed with a
little water, can be applied with a large cork. A regular knife-board, or
a small board on which you can nail three strips of wood in box form, will
give you the best mode of keeping brick and cork in place. After rubbing,
wash clean, and wipe dry.

The dish-towels are the next consideration. A set should be used but a
week, and must be washed and rinsed each day if you would not have the
flavor of dried-in dish-water left on your dishes. Dry them, if possible,
in the open air: if not, have a rack, and stand them near the fire. On
washing-days, let those that have been used a week have a thorough
boiling. The close, sour smell that all housekeepers have noticed about
dish-towels comes from want of boiling and drying in fresh air, and is
unpardonable and unnecessary.

Keep hot water constantly in your kettles or water-pots, by always
remembering to fill with cold when you take out hot. Put away every