Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-01-18
SECURING AND DYEING.
Rival Experts Inform a s'Star, Re-
porter Concerning a Curious Craft.


order. dangling two by two from frames in A
serried column. awaiting occupancy by their
several owners. All of them were spick and
span. like new. because they had Just passed
through the cleaning mill In fact that was
precisely what the establishment might prop
erly be termed. The sign outside said. '.Steam
Dyeing and Securing"
rather dilute specimen Of youthful man.
hood with incipent side whiskers and a shrilI
voice was engaged at the moment in sub
hitting to the notice of the attendant a grease
spot of considerable size on that portion of the
trousers he wore which is ordinarily concealed
from view by the coat tails
Il told you when You brought them here
said the shop man, that cod liver oil was the
one thing @e couldn't remove from cloth. The
only thing l can suggest is TO cut out the stain
and put in patch.
The young man posed himself between two
opposite mirrors and. with coat tails still up-
lifted. surveyed with evident dissatisfaction an
endless perspective of stylish customers with
unpleasant stains on the seats of their panta-
looms, extending in line toward Pennsylvania
avenue.
Il don't think I would care to have that
done; they're my very best trousers, you see."
he replied gravely. And a moment later he
walked out.
HOW THE WORK Is DONE.
The STAR writer, who had come in Just in
time to witness this performance. asked how il
was that pantaloons and other clothes were
cleansed.
The process is very simple" the shop man
said 1t Is merely matter of soap and hot
water. pair of pants, say-and the same
thing applies TO other clothing-is first thrown
into big Kettle of hot-not boiling-water and
allo we'd TO soak for half an hour Then they are
taken out and laid upon an inclined trough-like
table Tor securing. This is done with a sponge.
stln brush and quantities of ordinary soft
soap. First the outside of the garment is
cleaned by rubbing with the sponge and scrap
ing with the brush. and next the inside-turned
inside QUITS treated in the same way. When
TINS has been done the pants are thoroughly
rlnsed IN three successive editions of cold
water and. after being wrung out are hung up
In the hot-alr room to dry. Finally they are
pressed out, and then they are ready for deliy-
cry. In cases where goods left here are very
moderately dirty We only dry-clean them. that is
to say, the spots are taken out with benzine
and they are pressed Like most cleaners we
do mendIng and repairing, and it is no unusual
thing for US to have a customer who takes il
for granted that. for the small amount we
charge, the clothes he wishes to have cleaned
viii be made over again, as 10 buttons and
patches, like new. incidentally. Very many
articles are left on our hands. mostly by people
who md themselves unable to pay the charges
on them. lmpecuniousness is the ordinary
reason for such failure; but it would surprise
you to know how many of our customers die or
get into jail, so that they can't very well take
their things away. All that line of coats and
pants along the rear wall belonged once to men
now dead"
How do you dispose of such things?" asked
the newspaper man.
TO ordinary customers. People often come
in here and inquire if We have this garment or
that TO sell cheap. As a rule we have some
thing OF the sort desired We never sell TO the
secondhand clothing men, because they don't
pay fair prices"
RIVAL EXPERT DISPUTES.
The view of this interesting subject taken by
an expert whose sign hung ont only few doors
away was very different Said he:
1t must have been one of these cheap
cleaners that you interviewed. There is n prim-
tive method practiced by such as thew with
soap and WARM water. which does very well for
amateurs. But did you ever see a grease spot
destroyed by soap and water? Hardly think
1t viii disappear temporarily. only to come out
again as extensively ever after little dust has
had time to settle upon 1t. To really cleanse a
pair OF pantaloons. tor instance. a much more
elaborate method of procedure must be
adopted Ia this establishment "a scientific sys-
tenn does the work. To begin with, all the
mems clothing that is brought in is divided
into three ciasses-very dirty. moderately dirty
and comparatively clean. The three grades
represent pretty accurately three correspond
ing classes OF customers. Ii is undesira Bile TO
caSe-the germs of some disease were present
IL certain coat; they might be communicated
to other garments and our business would
suffer. Therefore it Is that, after the clothes
TO be secured have had numbers stitched in
them with white cotton, for purposes of identi-
hcatlon, the foreman divides them up."
And the very dirty ones:'
They have first applied to them a solution
OF chioroform, ether aud benzine in equal parts
with water. Next they are placed in a machine
by which steam is forced through them at a
tremendous pressure. What is the result? |
can best explain 1t by referring TO the chief
disadvantage of the primitive process Con-
slder II you please, that each piece of cloth has
three Sides a right side. a wrong SIDE and an
inside The inside is the web and wool of the
materla.. Get a bad grease spot on your
trousers, of course ii goes right through the
stun and no amount OF ordinary soap and water
Will remove 1t. You NAV sponge Il out of the
right side and the wrong side. but il still re-
mains in the substance of the inside and sooner
or later 1t Will reappear on the surface We
avoid all this by forcing the dirt out on the
surface with the steam blast and washing il
away as it comes. After the steam two more
applications OF the benZine. ether and ch!oro-
form are made; the article of dress is dried in a
'whlZ or revolving tub by centrifugal force: il
Is then hung up in the hot room to dry, and is
subsequently pressed for delivery. There is no
sort of spot that Will not come out after that
treatment. Moderately dirty things we treat
but once with the chloroform solution before
steaming. and clothes that are only slightly
solied We merely sponge the stains out of and
finish with the IRON"
woNES's THINGS AND DYES.
"And how is it about women's dresses and
such things?"
For them we use mostly what we call the
dry process. This means the application of
chloroform and ether. Both are wonderfully
volatile, you know. leaving the fabric dry
second or two after they are put on. Just how
they are used is secret of the trade which
am not at liberty to disclose. Most cleaners
employ benzine Literally; but in this shop as
little of 1t is applied possible, though il is a
powerful cleaner, because it is a greasy fluid
and clothes treated with ii catch dust readily
afterward. The most difficult thing TO clean is
velvet. To make it like new costs about 81 a
yard. and few customers are willing to paw
that"
In what manner is dyeing performed?"
"Dyeing simply means boiling things in cop
per kettles for the proper time in a solution Of
dye and water. For what we call fancy colors'
We use the aniline tints that are derived from
coal tar. Every coal bed is mine of rainbow
hues, You know. The anilne dyes employed
are chiefly for light blue, maroon. cardinal
red and such brilliant effects. Woods ground
to coarse powder are largely relied upon by
the dyer. For instance, there is santal wood
for ecru, from the Santalwood Islands; logwood
FOR red. from Sicily; gall nuts Tor silver drabs.
from Aleppo; fustlc for yellow from Cuba, and
madden root for ecru. from the south of France
1t has been found that madden. alternately fed
TO and withheld from prnuinp will