The Laundry iiii 



allowed to stand, the lime settles at the bottom of the receptacle and the 

 softened water may be drawn from the top of it. Permanent hardness 

 is due to the presence of sulfate of lime. Boiling has no softening effect 

 on permanently hard water. 



Another salt often very obnoxious in laundry water is iron. Its presence, 

 even in very small amounts, may give a yellow tinge to clothing, owing 

 to the deposit of minute particles of iron rust in the pores of the fabric. 



Organic matter may be present in the water used for laundry purposes, 

 which causes clothing washed in it to become dangerous to the wearer. 

 It is very desirable in all the cited cases to eliminate mischievous substances. 



A nimiber of materials for softening water are on the market. The 

 cheapest and best of them are alkalis, known as washing soda, lye, borax, 

 and ammonia. In softening water the objection to the use of any chemical 

 is the injury it may do to the fabric. 



Materials for softening water 



Washing soda (sodium carbonate) . — Washing soda is the best alkali to 

 soften water for general household use, for, while effective in its action, it 

 is not so corrosive as to render its handling difficult or its use unduly 

 harmfiil, nor is it expensive. It should never be used in its dry form, 

 however, for it is an alkali sufficiently strong to eat holes in a fabric if it 

 is used in full strength, and wherever a particle of the dry substance falls 

 a strong solution is formed. Carelessness causes many of the complaints 

 against present-day laundry methods. 



Lye (sodium hydroxid or caustic soda). — Lye is an alkali of far greater 

 strength than w^ashing soda ; one pound of lye being equal to about twelve 

 poimds of washing soda, it should be used with just so much the greater 

 caution. It should never be used save in solution and, as the solution 

 deteriorates very rapidly on exposiire to air, if any quantity is made 

 it shoiild be kept in bottles or jars tightly stoppered with rubber stoppers. 

 The compound formed by exposing lye to the action of air and water, is 

 washing soda, so there is no advantage in using it after all. Lye is much 

 more difficult to handle, and its action is so much more corrosive than is 

 that of other alkalis that it is not advisable to use it in the home laundry. 



Borax (sodium biborate) . — One of the mildest alkalis to use in the laundry 

 is borax. This alkali is more expensive than either lye or washing soda 

 and is not so vigorous in its action; but in some instances it is greatly to 

 be preferred to either lye or washing soda. Washing soda and lye, unless 

 they are thoroughly rinsed from clothing, have a tendency to cause yel- 

 lowing, particularly when starch is used afterward. Borax, on the other 

 hand, has a tendency to whiten fabrics and is added directly to starch, 

 in order to give it good color and to increase its clearness. When colored 



