El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-08-20

Ma One of the most important
w matters to be taken up at the
18th annual meeting of the Laundry
mems National Association of America.
now in session in Detroit, Mich. is the
consideration of some means of COM
polling the manufacturers of fabrics TO
label them truthfully and to properly
prepare them for use in order thar
they will not go to pieces in the laun-
dry after short wearing period The
laundrymen are starting a campaign of
public education regarding frauds in
the way of adulterated linens and 9TH
er materials, by which purchasers are
being continually victimized Thou
sands of dollars in damages, it is
claimed, are each year collected IN
justly from laundrymen for damages
supposed to have been done in the
Laundry. but which are really charge
able to the manufacturers of the gar
nents: When goods are sold on the
bargain counter as seconds there is
always some defect and frequently when
( 1t is not otherwise apparent it Will be
revealed to the laundryman who
washes the garment
Laundrymen Want Laws.
AS a matter of fact. the chemicals
and acids as now used in the modern
laundry will not injure any fabric. In
many cases they tend to tougher it
and therefore prOlong its usefulness.
There are processes used in the bleach
ing of fine linens which most decided
~ inJure its wearing qualities These
may not be detected a the time the
article Is purchased and the poor wear
Ing quality of the linen is uniustly
charged TO the laundry The Laundry
mans association is now working to-
wards the passage of pure fabric law
which VIII be as absolute in its ruling
IS the pure food law, and incidentally
ii may be added that DR.. Wiley is an
enthusiastic endorser of It, claiming
OF the public.
One of the means taken by laundry
men in some cities to call attention to
this matter is to offer the services of
an expert in helping customers decide
upon the quality of materials and
teach them simple methods by which
II may be tested There are dressings
puS into cotton fabric which render it
difficult for the ordinary buyer to dis
tinguish it from the linen which it's
label calls for, and yet in a single
flimsy and sleaZy. As. many laundry
establishments also include cleaning
departments, silks and wOolens are in
cluded in these tests.
The heavy Weightings added to silk
fabrics are frequently responsible for
the small holes that penetrate il after
the cleaning process and not the pro-
cess itself, as is generally charged.
This office of purchasing adviser" is
not yet to be found in connection with
many laundries, but it is one of the
newer things under the consideration
of the laundry organizations.
Troy Originated Laundry.
The necessity for clean clothing is
becoming recognized as almost equal
to that for clean food and it is only
the steam laundry which makes pos
Sible the quantity demanded for mod
ern life. The steam laundry business
originated in Troy, n. Y, the home of
the detached collar and cuff. II is
said that the first detached collar was
invented by the wife OF a blacksmith in
Troy and that a Methodist minister
first began to manufacture them for
sale in 1925. The laundry was an ad-
junct TO the collar and cuff factory.
because they had to be sold ready to
wear. At first all of the work was
done by hand, but machinery was de-
signed from the necessity of the de
were manufactured in Troy and that
city is still the headquarters for all
the best articles, and the word Troy
upon any kind of laundry machine is
supposed to guarantee its quality.
At the beginning. laundry work was
limited almost entirely to mems work,
especially collars and cuffs and shirts,
and for some time all of this work was
done in Troy. Different towns had
Troy laundry agencies which collected
the work and shipped il by express,
sometimes for hundreds of miles. Then
1aUndries began to spring Cp in differ
ent cities. The first one usually bore
the hants Toy L inIitat tha= those
we'll known methods were employed.
Gradually, however. other firms en-
tered into the work and other names
became known. although Troy always
will represent the word laundry
throughout the country.
After mems laundry work had be-
come well established came the idea
of doing flat work for hotels and other
public Institutions. and machinery was
designed for doing it with much speed.
By degrees were evolved all of the
methods and machinery which were
needed for the different classes of
practically no limit to the appliances
being utilized for doing this economi-
cally and we'll
The earlier washing machines were
crude affairs, wearing alike on the
clothing and the operators. Those now
in use in the better grades of laundries
have eliminated these defects. They
are run by applied power usually cleo
trio, and are a great improvement upon
the oldfashioned hand methods The
use of chemicals has also been careful
" considered and the time is not far
distant when a graduate chemist VIII
be required in every well equipped
laundry. Every modern laundry now
contains a liberal chemical laboratory
with formulas for the different pro-
Cesses connected with clothes cleans
ing Each of these has been carefully
prepared with reference to its effect
upon the fabric. For instance, it has
been recently discovered that the
fluff which a few years ago was so
freoue0tIv found upo1 white work es-
pecially flat work. was not the result
of the wearing of the machinery, as
was at 1lrSt supposed out rather the
product of an excess of alkali in the
soap or cleansing fluid. 1t is now pos
sible to completely overcome this ac-
emulation of fluff. thus aiding in pro-
noting the durability of the clothing.
Preserve COlOred Goods.
There are different chemicals provid-
ed for the washing of the various kinds
of fabrics and special attention has
been paid recently to the washing of
colored goods in such a manner as to
preserve their color. Some colored
goods are printed with an acid col
oring and others with an alkali and
the properly qualified laundryman must
be able to distinguish and to use a for
mula suited to each. In many in
stances clothes which have been faded
by being washed by some ignorant
washerwoman have been restored to
their original brightness by this laun-
dry process. The time is past when a
good laundry dumps all kinds of cloth
ing into the same hot soap suds with
out regard to their chemical compost
ton.
It is known that there are certain
chemical processes that greatly
strengthen fabrics and the laundry
man OF the future will understand
these thoroughly and exercise his
lSOOW1edCe for the good of his nat