Until the day of washing, soiled linen should be kept in a dry and ventilated place. If damp linen is left for a prolonged period of time or kept in a damp place, it may acquire an unpleasant odor that is difficult to remove or become covered with mould stains. It is best to keep the linen in a wicker basket or wooden cage.
Before washing, the pockets of the clothes should be checked carefully for any small nails, nuts, dust, or particles of crayons or paints, etc., which might leave rust stains or damage the whole laundry. Top shirts are checked for forgotten buttons on the cuffs. Bed linen – quilt sheets or bags and pillowcases – shall be turned over on their backside and carefully brushed free of lint collected on their corners and edges. Splinters and scratches which may become enriched during washing shall be mended.
After this preliminary preparation, the clothes shall also be scrubbed of the dust which has accumulated on them.
Sorting of linen and clothes for washing
Laundry sorting is an important operation, and certain rules must be observed when performing it. – First, the articles are sorted according to the type of fabric they are made of – cotton, linen, rayon, wool or synthetic fibres.
– They are then sorted into groups of items that can be washed together.
– White cotton and linen, which are the least sensitive to the action of alkaline solutions, shall be sorted separately. In addition, the linen may be divided into finer and denser, and into less and more soiled.
Coloured cotton and linen, coloured cotton clothing, silk and woollen linen shall be sorted separately.
It is most correct to divide coloured linen into the following groups: light blue, light red, yellow, dark blue and dark red.
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Washing cotton and linen fabrics by hand
Although the housewife has a large choice of synthetic detergents, the use of soap has not been completely discontinued. What is more, after an over-enthusiasm for the efficient, practical but not without drawbacks synthetic detergents, more housewives seem to be returning to the use of soap.
Washing cotton and linen fabrics with soap and soap-based detergents
Soaking is followed by what is known as actual washing. Where the water is hard, it is preferable to use rainwater or softened water for washing. The water should not be very hot: its temperature should not exceed 60-65º C.
Above all, the soap must be well dried (bought in advance and kept for a few days in a dry and warm place). It is grated into flakes and dissolved in water. To wash 1 kg of dry linen you need about 35-40 g of soap dissolved in 7-8 l of soft water. The less soiled areas on the collars and cuffs of men’s shirts are rubbed with soap 2 – 3 times, and the heavily soiled areas are up to 4 – 5 times. These parts of the shirts shall be washed by unfolding them on a board, soaping them and scrubbing them with a damp brush.
It is recommended to boil the linen to give it a white colour. For this purpose, for every 5 litres of boiling water, add 10 to 15 g of washing powder for soaking or 7 to 8 g of washing soda. The linen is placed in the stirred cold lye, which is heated rapidly to boiling and boiled for 10-15 min. The wrung-out linen is gently wrung out and rinsed first with hot and then several times with cold water.
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In case the dirt is not completely removed by this washing, the linen should be boiled again with a soap solution. For this purpose, 15 g of grated soap or soap powder is added to every 5 litres of pre-softened water and the linen is placed in the well-mixed cold soapy liquor. The most soiled articles shall be placed at the bottom, and all the laundry shall be coated with soap. The soap is then boiled with constant stirring. The laundry boils for a maximum of 15 minutes, during which time it is constantly stirred with a wooden stirrer. In some countries, special vessels are constructed for boiling the laundry, in which it is continuously moved and poured over the boiling soap solution.
Rinsing and wringing the laundry
When the laundry is spotlessly clean, it is removed from the soap solution and wrung out. If this is done by hand, the wringing should not be done very hard to avoid damaging the fabric. It is best to spin the linen. When rinsing, the smallest residue of soap or detergent should be removed from the linen. Rinse the laundered clothes in plenty of water until it becomes clear. Hot softened water shall be used for the first rinse of the laundry to dissolve completely any residual soap or detergent. If cold water is used directly, the particles of soap which remain on the linen immediately harden and remain on the fabric, which turns grey and stiffens. For the second and third rinsing, cool water is used and finally cold water. In winter, a handful of fine white salt is placed in the last water to keep the laundry from freezing if it is stretched out to dry.
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