Shake out each piece and put it into a tub of clear water; rub, and move about in the water to get rid of any soiled water that the clothes may contain; wring tightly.
4. Boiling:
Shake out each piece and place it in a boiler of cold water with or without soap; bring to boiling heat, and boil briskly for twenty minutes.
The boiling kills any germs and a.s.sists in whitening the clothes.
5. Rinsing:
Lift the clothes from the boiling water by means of a clothes stick and place them in a tub of clear, cold water; proceed as in the first rinsing.
6. Blueing:
Open out each piece and place one or two at a time in a tub of blueing water for just a moment; wring tightly, and shake out each piece.
The blueing tends to counteract any yellow tinge in the clothes, making them appear whiter.
7. Starching:
Dip one piece at a time into the starch mixture until well saturated; then wring.
Only certain articles or parts of articles will require this part of the process, to give them body or stiffness and, it may be, glossiness.
8. Hanging:
Shake out each piece thoroughly; fasten to a clothes-line or hang on a rack to allow the moisture to evaporate. This should be out-of-doors in the sunlight if possible.
REMOVAL OF STAINS
Foreign matter which is difficult or impossible to remove by the ordinary washing process is called a _stain_. Such matter is not dissolved by the usual cleansing agents used in laundry work, such as water and soap, but requires some special solvent to act on it. The choice of the agent to be used will depend on the nature of the foreign matter to be removed. In some cases it is difficult to find an agent which will not act also on the colour of the fabric; in other cases to find one which does not injure the fibre of the goods.
The pupils should be asked to give instances from their own experience where special solvents were used to remove stains, and be required to make a list of these. If necessary, the teacher should supplement this list with the names of other agents and the methods of using them.
OUTLINE OF LESSONS ON THE WASHING OF WOOLLENS
The washing of woollen materials is part of the Course for the work of the Senior Grade of Form IV, but, for the sake of convenience, the laundry lessons of both Grades of Form IV are outlined in one section of this Manual.
Before allowing the cla.s.s any practice in this branch of laundry work, it will be necessary for the teacher to make certain principles very clear:
1. That wool is an animal product. As such it tends to be shrunken and hardened by (1) heat, (2) alkalies.
2. That the surface of each wool fibre woven into woollen materials is seen under the microscope to be covered with notches, or scales. If these notches in any way become entangled, the material is thereby drawn up, or "shrunken".
3. That these notches may be entangled by:
(1) Wetting the woollen material and then rubbing or twisting it. When the fibres are wet, they expand somewhat and the projecting scales, or notches, are loosened. If the material is rubbed at this time, the notched edges interlock.
(2) The use of strong soaps or alkalies. These act chemically on the fibres and soften and expand them, causing the notched edges to become so prominent that they catch in one another.
NOTE.--The structure of woollen fibres may be sketched on the black-board and compared with those of cotton and linen.
To impress the foregoing principles, a few experiments will be found most useful.
EXPERIMENTS WITH CLOTH MADE OF WOOL FIBRE
1. Boil a piece of new woollen cloth for five minutes. Dry, and compare with an original piece.
2. Saturate a piece of new woollen cloth with a strong solution of washing soda. Dry, and compare with an original piece.
3. Wash a piece of new woollen cloth in each of the following ways:
(1) By rubbing soap directly on the cloth and then sousing the goods in the water.
(2) By using a soap solution instead of the soap, as in (1).
(3) By rubbing on a wash-board.
In each case dry the cloth and compare with an original piece.
After the results of the experiments have been discussed, the pupils may formulate a series of "points" to be observed in the washing of woollen fabrics.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Cotton fibres magnified]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Linen fibres magnified]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Woollen fibres magnified]
POINTS IN WASHING WOOLLENS
1. Use lukewarm, soft water.
2. Do not use strong soaps or alkalies.
3. Do not rub soap directly on the woollen material, but use soap solutions.
4. Do not rub or twist woollen cloth when it is wet.
5. Do not boil to sterilize.
6. Do not dry in extreme heat.
STEPS IN WASHING WOOLLEN MATERIALS