1 134 The Cornell Reading-Courses 



1 1 . Dampening. — Clothes should be dampened some hours before being 

 ironed, because during the interval between moistening and ironing the 

 moisture becomes distributed evenly and does away with the necessity 

 of using a superfluous amount of water. The dampening is best done at 

 night, but only as many articles should be sprinkled as can be ironed 

 next day, for damp fabric will mildew if left wet for a few days, especially 

 in hot weather. Although clothes should be well dampened, they should 

 not be drenched. Very often, trouble in ironing starched pieces is owing 

 to overwetting. The starched part is soaked and made limp and sticky. 

 A clean whisk broom kept for the purpose is the best thing to use fo'' 

 sprinkling clothes. Some persons have used a toy sprinkling pot. There 

 is, however, a danger in its use, for it may rust and give rise to rust spots 

 on clothing. Large pieces should be sprinkled and folded separately. 

 Small pieces may be sprinkled and laid together before folding. Care 

 should be taken to fold and roll garments smoothly, as this aids in their 

 ironing. The rolls of dampened pieces should be packed closely in a basket 

 lined with a clean cloth and covered with a clean cloth. 



Table linen and other linen should be made very damp, not wet. If 

 table linen is sprinkled with a mixture of one part alcohol and four parts 

 water, the result after ironing will be a slight stiffness resembling that of 

 new linen. 



If an ironing machine is used, unstarched pieces may be removed from 

 the line while still damp and ironed immediately without the preliminary 

 sprinkling. 



Washing colored clothing 



The processes of dyeing have so improved that almost all wash goods 

 are now considered to have fast colors. This is particularly true of the 

 better grades of fabrics, in which the dye seems to attach itself with especial 

 firmness to the fibers of the cloth. Though a color may be said to be fast, 

 it is only relatively fast. Colored goods require more careful treatment 

 than do white goods. The conditions that most affect the stability of 

 colors in fabrics are: long-continued action of water and soap; strong 

 alkalis or acids; strong sunlight, which is a powerful bleaching agent and 

 is used frequently for bleaching. 



In washing colored clothing, the factors just enumerated should be kept 

 in mind. Colored clothing should not be soaked for any length of time 

 unless its color is known to be very stable. Any soap used in the washing 

 process should be a mild soap in solution, or if the color of the goods to 

 be washed is very delicate the soap solution should be replaced by soap 

 bark, bran, rice water, potato water, or cooked-starch water. The washing 

 process should be conducted quickly, and in water not very hot. After 

 washing, colored garments should be turned inside out and hung in a 



