The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1919-07-20

Clothes in hard water. For the precipitate
@sets" in the meshes of the fabric, making
clots and streaks that are difficult to re-
move. 1t renders the fabric stih and harsh,
and causes the heat of the iron to turn 1t
gray. In the bluing, traces OF It are liable
to appear in blue spots and streaks; ana
il the starching, blotches. In woo-scour
ing it clogs the structure of the fibre, less
ening the efficiency of the wool for con-
serving body heat-in other words, for
keeping out the cold.
Laundries, having had plenty of expert
ence of these troubles, use various chemi'
cal compounds to remove the hardness OF
water. a combination of lime and soda ash
being most commonly. employed.
1t is further of importance that water
used for washing clothes shall be as pure
as possible. 1t is easily freed from sus-
,,tnded matter by altering. but also 1t must
have no color. Swamps IN the watershed
of a stream may color its water most un'
desirably Iron in the water Is particu'
Iarly Objectionable, making rusty spots.
The laundering research work now in
progress at the Mellon Institute embraces
special studies of the hbres Of which
clothes are woven; the chemical nature
of various kinds of dirt; the composition
and cleansing power OF soaps; the enects
of heat and friction upon the texture and
strength of raiment; the behavior OF dyes
in connection with laundry processes, ana
tie classification of soiled fabrics as 70
color, texture and nature anu extent OK
sOiling.
Yet another branch Of the investigative
work relates to the allimportant subject
OF sanitation. How shall the destruction
of disease germs be most thoroughly In
sured? And how much danger Of germ
transmission is involved In the practice OF
wet clothes?
The commercial laundering process is
much more elaborate than most people
would imagine. II begins with a cold
bath, to loosen dirt and dissolve starch.
Then the clothes are put into the first
suds." a solution heavily charged with
soap, which is gradually raised to boiling
point. Next comes the warm rinse" to
remove the dirty soap solution; and after
that another washing in diluted suds, slow.
" raised to boiling temperature.
Then follows a soaking for ten minutes
I'm a bleaching solution, chemical COM
monty used for the purpose being chloride
Of lime To neutralize the alkal In the
bleach, and thus prevent injury to the
fabrics dealt with, there must next be an
"acid rinse" for five minutes. Bluing next,
to give whiteness (else the clothes would
have a yellowish hue), and then a last
rinse, followed by starching, drying, IRON
ing and sorting. The garments are now
ready for delivery, when wrapped and duly
labeled.
There is no question that the average
= - atn Ia
things clean. But the trouble is that, owing
to lack of Standardization Of processes Ito
be properly accomplished only through the
solving of many problems in physics and
chemistry, the results obtained are often
far from satisfactory. In a word, laundry
methods are not adequately scientific.
The clothes delivered to the consumer
may not be so clean as they look. Fabrics
ere liable to be dealt with far more harsh.
" than is necessary, and by crude meth
DDS, thereby injuring their structure and
shortening the lifetime Of the garments
Ignorance of the chemistry of dyes leads
to the serious damage of colored articles
Of raiment.
II is very noticeable that some laundries
are much harder on clothes" than others.
This means, of course, that the processes
they use are faulty and unscientifc-much'
more often, indeed, than mere careless
ness It is bad for their business.
Some men make practice Of wearing
striped shirts, saying that they last longer.
because the laundries, cautious about
washing out the dye, deal with them more
mercifully. II this be true, It is just an
other Illustration Of the lack of proper
Standardization Of methods.
That laundry soaps should be Of deh-
njtely known and approved composition Is
of obvious Importance. Too commonly
they are adulterated, and with substances
highly injurious to fabrics. The brittle