CHAPTER IX
FORM IV: JUNIOR GRADE (Continued)
LAUNDRY WORK
This work is but a continuation of the lessons on cleaning. It is the process of removing foreign matter from cotton, linen, woollen, or silk fabrics by the use of water and additional cleansing agents. It also includes the finishing of these materials by the use of blueing, starch, and heated irons, to restore as far as possible their original appearance.
The principles of laundry work have been taught in the washing of dish cloths and towels, and now these principles have only to be extended to white cotton and linen clothes of any kind.
The pupils may be asked to bring soiled articles of white linen or cotton from home for use at school in exemplifying the necessary processes. In schools which lack an equipment, these processes may be discussed in class and then practised at home. The teacher should choose from the following outline what is most suitable to the class:
OUTLINE OF LESSONS ON THE WASHING OF WHITE COTTON AND LINEN CLOTHES
Lesson I
Materials
1. Water:
(1) Use:
(a) To soften and dissolve certain foreign substances in the clothes.
(b) To carry away all the foreign matter that has been dissolved or rubbed out of the clothes.
(2) Kinds:
(a) Hard water
(b) Soft water
For laundry purposes, the water should be soft. The quality known as hardness, which some water has, is due to the lime which it has dissolved in making its way through the earth.
Water is said to be temporarily or permanently hard according to the kind of lime it has in solution. Temporarily hard water may be softened by boiling; the lime will be deposited, as may be seen in the "furring" of tea-kettles. Boiling has no effect in softening permanently hard water, so a substance known as an alkali is used for this purpose.
(3) Methods of softening water by alkalies.—For each gallon of water use one of the following:
(a) One tablespoonful of borax or ammonia dissolved in one cup of water.
(b) Two tablespoonfuls of a solution made by dissolving one pound of washing soda in one quart of boiling water.
(c) One fourth tablespoonful of lye dissolved in one cup of water.
2. Alkalies (borax, ammonia, washing soda, lye):
(1) Use:
(a) To soften hard water
(b) To assist in dissolving greasy substances.
(2) Kinds:
(a) Borax.—This alkali is one of the mildest, and for this reason is less harmful to the clothing. It is useful when an alkali is required to soften water for coloured clothes or woollens. It also has a tendency to keep white clothes a good colour.
(b) Ammonia.—This also is a mild alkali, but is apt to "yellow" white materials. As it is very volatile, it should not be used unless the washing can be done quickly.
(c) Washing soda.—This is a cheap substance and stronger than borax or ammonia. It should be made into a solution before it is used, for fear of too great strength.
(d) Lye, or caustic soda.—This alkali is very strong and should be employed with great care. It must not be used except in weak solutions, otherwise it would entirely dissolve fabrics. It is not advisable for home laundry work.
3. Soap:
(1) Use.—To act on greasy matter.
Soap-suds penetrate fabrics more completely than water alone, and when the soap comes in contact with fatty material, it emulsifies it, that is, very finely divides it into minute particles, so that it can be easily removed. If a soap is used that contains free alkali, this substance unites with the greasy impurities to form new soap which has cleansing value.
(2) Kinds.—(a) Neutral, (b) medium, (c) strong.
All soap is a compound of an alkali and fat, and according as one or the other of these substances predominates, the kind of soap is determined.
When just enough alkali is used to completely saponify the amount of fat, the product is called a neutral, or mild, soap. When an excess of alkali is present, the soap is termed medium or strong, according to the amount of free alkali it contains.
A mild soap should be used when free alkali would be injurious, as in washing woollens or fabrics that have delicate colours.
4. Soap substitutes, or adjuncts:
(1) Use.—To act alone or with soap in exerting a solvent action on greasy impurities, so that the cleansing process may be facilitated.
(2) Kinds:
(a) Alkalies.—These must be used in excess of the amount needed for softening the water.
(b) Harmless solvents, such as turpentine, paraffin, coal-oil, gasolene.—The clothing must be well rinsed to get rid of any odour.
(c) Washing powders.—These are prepared mixtures of soap and some other solvent of greasy matter.
5. Blueing:
(1) Use.—To make clothes which have a yellow tinge appear whiter in colour.
(2) Kinds.—There are several kinds on the market, but the names of these will be of no value to the class.
Note.—Sufficient blueing should be used to make the blueing water a pale sky-blue colour when a little of it is lifted in the hand.
6. Starch:
(1) Use:
(a) To stiffen fabrics and thus improve their appearance.
(b) To give fabrics a glazed surface, so that they will shed dust and other impurities.
(2) Kinds.—(a) Cold starch, (b) boiled starch.
Raw starch does not give as durable a finish as cooked starch, but it does give greater stiffness. A fabric will take up more starch in the raw form, and the heat of the iron cooks the starch, thus producing the stiffness. The "body", or stiffness, produced by cooked starch is usually preferable, though on account of its preparation, it is not so convenient to use.
(a) Cold Starch
| 2 tbsp. laundry starch |
| 1/2 tsp. borax |
| 2 cups cold water. |
Dissolve the borax in a little boiling water. Add the cold water gradually to the starch and mix thoroughly. Add the dissolved borax and stir well before using.
(b) Boiled Starch
| 2 tbsp. starch | 1/2 tsp. lard, butter, or paraffin |
| 4 tbsp. cold water | 1 qt. boiling water. |
Mix the starch with the cold water until free from lumps. Add the lard, then gradually stir in the boiling water, and keep stirring until thickened. Cook fifteen minutes and use hot.
Note.—Borax in starch gives greater gloss and increases the stiffness. It also gives more lasting stiffness. Lard, butter, or wax is used to give a smoother finish and to prevent the starch from sticking to the iron.
Lesson II
PREPARATION FOR WASHING WHITE LINEN OR COTTON CLOTHES
1. Sort the clothes: (1) Table linen and clean towels
(2) Bed and body linen
(3) Handkerchiefs
(4) Soiled towels and cloths.
2. Mend the clothes.
3. Remove stains.
4. Look after necessary materials.
PROCESS OF WASHING WHITE LINEN OR COTTON CLOTHES
Steps Method
1. Soaking:
Wet the clothes; rub the soiled parts with soap and roll each article separately; pack in a tub, placing the clothing most soiled at the bottom; cover with warm soapy water and soak from one hour to over night.
The soaking softens and loosens the fibres of fabrics, so that the foreign matter in them can be more easily separated. It also dissolves the soluble impurities in the fabrics.
2. Rubbing:
Wring the clothes out of the soaking water, and place them in a tub of clean warm water or soap-suds; rub the soiled parts first on one side and then on the other, using the knuckles, a washboard, or a washing-machine. When each piece is clean, wring it tightly.
The rubbing scrapes or rubs out the foreign matter which has been loosened by the soaking.
3. Rinsing:
Shake out each piece and put it into a tub of clear water; rub, and move about in the water to get rid of any soiled water that the clothes may contain; wring tightly.
4. Boiling:
Shake out each piece and place it in a boiler of cold water with or without soap; bring to boiling heat, and boil briskly for twenty minutes.
The boiling kills any germs and assists in whitening the clothes.
5. Rinsing:
Lift the clothes from the boiling water by means of a clothes stick and place them in a tub of clear, cold water; proceed as in the first rinsing.
6. Blueing:
Open out each piece and place one or two at a time in a tub of blueing water for just a moment; wring tightly, and shake out each piece.
The blueing tends to counteract any yellow tinge in the clothes, making them appear whiter.
7. Starching:
Dip one piece at a time into the starch mixture until well saturated; then wring.
Only certain articles or parts of articles will require this part of the process, to give them body or stiffness and, it may be, glossiness.
8. Hanging:
Shake out each piece thoroughly; fasten to a clothes-line or hang on a rack to allow the moisture to evaporate. This should be out-of-doors in the sunlight if possible.
REMOVAL OF STAINS
Foreign matter which is difficult or impossible to remove by the ordinary washing process is called a stain. Such matter is not dissolved by the usual cleansing agents used in laundry work, such as water and soap, but requires some special solvent to act on it. The choice of the agent to be used will depend on the nature of the foreign matter to be removed. In some cases it is difficult to find an agent which will not act also on the colour of the fabric; in other cases to find one which does not injure the fibre of the goods.
The pupils should be asked to give instances from their own experience where special solvents were used to remove stains, and be required to make a list of these. If necessary, the teacher should supplement this list with the names of other agents and the methods of using them.
OUTLINE OF LESSONS ON THE WASHING OF WOOLLENS
The washing of woollen materials is part of the Course for the work of the Senior Grade of Form IV, but, for the sake of convenience, the laundry lessons of both Grades of Form IV are outlined in one section of this Manual.
Before allowing the class any practice in this branch of laundry work, it will be necessary for the teacher to make certain principles very clear:
1. That wool is an animal product. As such it tends to be shrunken and hardened by (1) heat, (2) alkalies.
2. That the surface of each wool fibre woven into woollen materials is seen under the microscope to be covered with notches, or scales. If these notches in any way become entangled, the material is thereby drawn up, or "shrunken".
3. That these notches may be entangled by:
(1) Wetting the woollen material and then rubbing or twisting it. When the fibres are wet, they expand somewhat and the projecting scales, or notches, are loosened. If the material is rubbed at this time, the notched edges interlock.
(2) The use of strong soaps or alkalies. These act chemically on the fibres and soften and expand them, causing the notched edges to become so prominent that they catch in one another.
Note.—The structure of woollen fibres may be sketched on the black-board and compared with those of cotton and linen.
To impress the foregoing principles, a few experiments will be found most useful.
EXPERIMENTS WITH CLOTH MADE OF WOOL FIBRE
1. Boil a piece of new woollen cloth for five minutes. Dry, and compare with an original piece.
2. Saturate a piece of new woollen cloth with a strong solution of washing soda. Dry, and compare with an original piece.
3. Wash a piece of new woollen cloth in each of the following ways:
(1) By rubbing soap directly on the cloth and then sousing the goods in the water.
(2) By using a soap solution instead of the soap, as in (1).
(3) By rubbing on a wash-board.
In each case dry the cloth and compare with an original piece.
After the results of the experiments have been discussed, the pupils may formulate a series of "points" to be observed in the washing of woollen fabrics.
Cotton fibres magnified
Linen fibres magnified
Woollen fibres magnified
POINTS IN WASHING WOOLLENS
1. Use lukewarm, soft water.
2. Do not use strong soaps or alkalies.
3. Do not rub soap directly on the woollen material, but use soap solutions.
4. Do not rub or twist woollen cloth when it is wet.
5. Do not boil to sterilize.
6. Do not dry in extreme heat.
STEPS IN WASHING WOOLLEN MATERIALS
1. Shake or brush the clothing to free it from dust.
2. Put it into lukewarm, soapy water to soak for a few minutes.
3. Wash on both sides by squeezing and sousing in the water.
4. Rinse in clear, lukewarm water; use several waters, if necessary, to remove the soap.
5. Pass through a loosely set wringer or squeeze the water out by hand.
6. Shake, in order to raise the woolly fibres.
7. Dry in a moderate temperature, in a wind, if possible.