handkerchief fabric

Paper tissue with 'balme' in this house!

Traditionally, it's cotton, linen or silk. Cotton batiste is nice because it's soft and thin, but perhaps rather too thin for a man. Silk if you're posh - men's silk hankies are still sold in England. And linen for everyday use because these are things you have to soak and boil-wash, and linen stands up to that well. In that case they're usually hemstitched.

My father used fine Irish linen, and he washed them by hand himself.

:) Trish

Traditionally, it's cotton, linen or silk. Cotton batiste is nice because it's soft and thin, but perhaps rather too thin for a man. Silk if you're posh - men's silk hankies are still sold in England. And linen for everyday use because these are things you have to soak and boil-wash, and linen stands up to that well

My DH finds linen hard on the nose - and I don't like ironing them so much! He uses cotton, sometimes batiste (which is what I use myself) or percale. I prefer cotton for him because I can bleach it. Cleans and disinfects in one go, and he is REALLY good at pulling out the old hankie to wipe the condensation off the inside of the car windshield, or flicking the dust off his shoes!!! (Grrrrr!!)

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans.

My dad used to use his for cleaning chinagraph pencil notes off the plastic knee pads of his flying suit! ARGH! MEN! 100% cotton cambric is good: fine, soft, plenty absorbent for a stinky cold or 'my boyfriend dumped me, Daddy' sob-fest!

My linen hankies are quite soft -- but then they are also quite old, and possibly made of a better-quality linen than is now available.

Lens cloth makes an excellent hanky, if you can find a big-enough piece -- and no, I inherited mine and don't know where to buy it. Probably very expensive, since it doesn't shed lint, and that means linespun.

The best hankies are made from the good parts of something that has been washed until it wore out.

I don't iron handkerchiefs at all -- ironing makes linen beautiful, but also makes it less absorbent. I just shake them well and hang them over a rail to dry.

People used to plaster wet hankies on a mirror or window to get out of ironing them. I don't think that would work without starch, unless you used a horizontal surface, and horizontal surfaces are harder to do without while you are waiting for the laundry to dry.

I used a horizonal surface *with* starch once. I wanted a stiff interlining for a hat brim, so I put a piece of heavy linen on the counter, poured undiluted bottle starch on it, and spread the starch around with my fingers. It worked beautifully. (Starching synthetic felt for the same purpose bombed, though -- the felt wouldn't absorb the starch.)

Joy Beeson

It works without starch. Try it. You can use any smooth surface - mirrors are good, the side of the refrigerator if the door is textured, formica, and it won't fall down, at least not until it's completely dry.

You can hang a spoon on your nose, too, but that doesn't help with the hanky. ;-)