Evening star., 1921-07-10
The Home Laundry.

DWeuers in apartment houses have
had to accustom themselves to COM
bining kitchen and laundry in one
room, but the fact remins that to do
the washing in the room where food
is prepared is decidedly inappropriate
Many upto-date apartment houses
are now built with laundries in the
basement, which may be used by the
tenants. and this is a distinct step
forward in apartment house construc-
ton.
To place the laundry tubs in the
kitchen of house is fl piece of bad
management The fact is that it costs
less to do the plumbing in the base
ment than on the first floor, because
the pipes do not have TO be carried up.
So there can be no plea of economy.
TO be sure, it is desirable to have
light. dry place to do the washing,
but it is not difficult to find these
conditions in the cellar. If possible.
the lightest corner of the cellar
should be chosen.
If possible, the laundry room should
be separated from the rest of the Gel
lar by board partitions. 1t IS desir-
able on account of the dust that
comes from a furnace. The matter of
having the laundry thus separated is
matter of not great deal OF
money. A wooden floor placed over
She cement floor is certainly not
necessity. though ii does add to the
comfort for the one who does the
washing.
When having the laundry built or
renovated, get the carpenter 10 erecl
shelves on the wall: and, if possible, a
; little cabinet with drawers where
, supplies and accessories can be kept.
If you have, or intend to have. an
| electric washing machine, always LEI
| the laundry be arranged with this fact
| in view. 1t costs but a little more al
| the outset to have electric fixtures
| and drains placed 50 that the washer
| can be attached properly, but quite
| little more after the job is done.
| 1t is really not necessary to have
| a laundry stove. Many good house
| wives do not have their clothes
boiled. They find that if they are
! well soaked before washing, thor
| oughly washed and dried in direct
| sunlight this is unnecessary. Even
if you iron in the laundry ii may be
that an additional electric plug viii
be all you need for providing heat
for ironing.
1t is a good idea TO have a spread
ing drying tree in the laundry where
clothes may be dried after they nave
been ironed, or where a few pieces
may be dried when it is impossible
to dry them outside. Hooks shouio
be arranged at every corner OF the
laundry so that ropes can be hung
about the room to accommodate the
rest of the clothes.
Where conditions may be. ideal the
laundry on the ground floor. usually
adjoining the kitchen, has its adVan-
tages 1t is lighter and dryer and
accessible 10 the kitchen. Less time
need be taken in walking up and
down stairs. In one very we'll
planned house the laundry is SO ar
ranged while the grade of the yaro
at this angle of the house is such
that a single step leads from the
room to the ground level. This
j makes the task of carrying baskets
of freshly washed clothes to the dry
ing yard very simple.
i With electric irons ironing is not
the hot work that it used to be when
it was necessary to keep a hot coal
fire burning even in midsummer to
provide hot irons. But at best iron
ing is hot work and in planning the
laundry, If ironing is to be done
there. it is a good plan to have
enough windows TO provide free VEN
! tilation 1t is not an expensive prop
osition to have an electric plug on
back porch where the ironing can be
done out of doors in very warm
| weather.