The Laundry. 679 



the presence of sulphate of lime, and boiling has no softening effect upon 

 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, 

 due to the deposit of minute particles of iron rust in the pores of the 

 fabric. 



Organic matter may be present which causes clothing to become 

 discolored and disagreeable in appearance and which may make it 

 dangerous to the wearer. It is very desirable in all the above cases to 

 eliminate the mischievous substance. 



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

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

 and ammonia. The objection to the use of any chemical in softening 

 water is the injury it may do to the fabric. 



- Sodium carbonate, or washing soda, is the best alkali to use generally 

 for this purpose in the household, for while it is effective in its action, 

 it is not so corrosive as to render its handling difficult, nor its use 

 unduly harmful, nor is it an expensive material. It should never be 

 used in the dry form for it is an alkali sufficiently strong to eat 

 holes in a fabric if used in full strength, and a strong solution is 

 formed at each spot where the dry substance falls. It is carelessness 

 of use which causes us to complain so often of present-day laundry 

 methods. 



Sodium hydroxid, lye or caustic soda, as it is called, is an alkali of far 

 greater strength than washing soda, one pound of lye being equal to 

 about twelve pounds of washing soda, and it should be used with just 

 so much more caution. It should never be used save in solution and, 

 as this solution deteriorates very rapidly on exposure to air, if any 

 quantity is made it should 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 real advantage 

 in using it after all. It is so much more difficult to handle and its action 

 is so much more corrosive than the other alkalis that it is not advisable 

 to use it in the home laundry. 



Sodium biborate or borax. One of the mildest alkalis to use in the 

 laundry is sodium biborate, commonly known as borax. This alkali 

 is more expensive than either caustic soda or washing soda and is not so 

 effective in its action ; but it is less harmful to fabrics, and for this reason 

 there are occasions when it is greatly to be preferred. Washing soda 

 and lye, unless they are thoroughly rinsed from the clothing, have a 

 tendency to cause yellowing, particularly when starch is to be used 



