Arizona republican., 1914-10-03

| The laundry bundle comes to the laundry, is opened at the marking
 table and sorted. Shirts, collars, un- derwear and handkerchiefs, each in a ed them then counts the articles and designateS them to another who lists them on the regular laundry list. They are then examined for marks, the
 unmarked articles are marked, after which they are placed in various bins. We run one regular and one special lot each day, excepting Saturdays. when the special lot only is run Each regular lot consists of from twelve to fifteen sub-lots which are sepa- rately washed. For instance, there is one lot consisting of white shirts only, another of collars only, one of hand
 kerchiefs, one of light colored shirts.
 one of dark colored shirts, one of brown socks, one of black socks, one
 of overalls, one of flat work, etc. All
 silks, soft collars, WOolen goods, ties
 and delicate colors are separated to
 be carefully washed by hand.
 "There is so much transformation
 concerning the washing process of a power laundry that l am going to tell
 you the exact process we use to wash
 white shirts, which, as also do the collars and handkerchiefs, take longer and more thorough washing than any
 other lots. The general idea prevails that laundries use strong chemicals as the principal cleansing agent, which is not the case. The principal cleans
 ing agent is pure soap, often made right at the laundry. No chemicals are used that exercise, as used, q destructive effect on fabrics. The chemicals used in every laundry are
 first, soda to break the water and make it a lubricant; secondly, chlo- rne, to get the proper color, and, thirdly, an acid to set and hold that color when obtained. The chlorine and the acid are used only on white lots; on all other lots only the soda is used To demonstrate the correct ness of the statement I just made in that these chemicals as used are not any manner destructive to fabrics, I wish to state that both the chlorine and the acid, which if used to excess would be destructive, are used in such small quantities that if the water in the washer containing either of those solutions were tasted, the acid or chlorine taste would be scarcely rec ognizable. Surely any chemical solu- tion that can be tasted with impun- ity cannot be destructive to fabric The housewife may not know it, but she uses the same amount of acid in her white wash as does the power laundry, for the Dlueng she buys contains the necessary amount of acid to set and hold the white color, for it is the only way to do this. Sour ing is absolutely necessary to accom- plish that purpose. It is only a diff ference in method. Her acid is in the blue she buys, while the blue we buy is non sour, and we sour in the washer
 T will admit that the washing process in a power laundry is more thorough, or takes longer than at home. because every wash must be thorough enough to cleanse entirely,
  but it is doubtful whether the power laundry process is more wearing. since unlike the hand process, there is no rubbing, but only a hydraulic and rotating motion.
 Referring back to the use of soda to break the water, it is d notorious fact that Phoenix water is exception ally hard, and therefore difficult to use for laundry purposes. It is also true that the life of fabrics is not as great as when laundered in soft water.
 Tn line with our general progress sive policy, and with a view of get ting soft water and the resultant say ing to both us and our patrons, we applied several years ago. to the Cartright Caps company who build water r-sOftening plants, for informa- tion concerning such a plant for our use, giving them al the time an analy sis of Phoenix water We were in formed by them that it was imrrac ticable to install their plant in Phoe- nix, because of the impossibility tc precipitate the free salt. of which there is contained in every gallon of Phoenix water 54.S grains. In every thousand gallons of Phoenix water. there are 1872 pounds of encrusting and non- -encrusting solids, composed 1 principally of calcium carbonate and sodium chloride. The precipitation of encrusting solids or scale in a steam boiler is so great that the spaces be- tween the flues become entirely filled with scale about every three years, resulting in a loss of fuel ranging DOS siOly from 10 per cent at the end of the first year to 90 per cent. or 75 per cent at the end of the third year. The matter of bringing a supply of Verde river or elsewhere has been recently discussed, and it seems to me that that project is one of the more important needs of this city. If the Southern Pacific railroad considered it an economy to pipe water eight miles to get soft water for it's use only how great must be the economic value of a saltwater supply for the domestic and commercial use of this entire city. I believe that the finan- cial loss to this city from the use of this hard water is not less than $50,
 GOO annually.
 Getting back to the process of wash ing a load of white shirts: the load is put into the wheel and run in cold wa
 ter for ten minutes. This water is then A mt nf m