WASHING, BLEACHING, 6l/C, i289 



CHAPTER XIX. 



ON WASHING, BLEACHING, &bC. 



jN^OTHiNG is unimportant to the interests of agriculture 

 which tends to improve the method according to which the 

 daily work of a farm is carried on : this consideration has 

 induced me to treat here of the subject of bleaching. 



The object of bleaching is the removal of spots and stains 

 from cloth : those that most frequently occur, are occasioned 

 by oil, grease, or perspiration, and may be removed by soap, 

 clay, or an alkali : those produced by the juices of certain 

 fruits require different processes. 



Alkalies can be empteyed in cleansing fabrics of hemp, 

 flax, or cotton ; only those of silk or woollen are destroyed, or 

 at least injured by those substances. 



Before entering into the details of the bleaching process, 

 I will mention one common practice which is very injurious 

 to cloth. 



When household linen or articles of wearing apparel be- 

 come soiled, they are usually thrown in a pile in some cor- 

 ner of the dwelling, till a sufficient quantity is collected to 

 form a washing : the consequence is, that the linen, being 

 impregnated with animal moisture, even perhaps so as to be 

 damp, heats and ferments, and the texture of it is thus more 

 injured by lying, than by any use which is made of it as 

 clothing. To obviate this evil, soiled clothing should be 

 hung upon lines in a dry place, so that the articles may nei- 

 ther be heated nor gather moisture. 



Washing should never be commenced excepting when 

 the weather is such as to promise three or four fine days. 

 Every housekeeper knows by experience that if she is sur- 

 prised by rain before her washing is dried, she will lose 

 the greater part of her labor : besides, linen which is put 

 away at all damp, mildews and decays, nor is any thing 

 more injurious to health than the use of imperfectly dried 

 clothing. 



If a bad state of the weather should prevent the linen, &c 

 from being dried in the open air, it should be hung in the 

 barn or around a fire in the house, and not be put away in 

 closets and drawers till thoroughly dry. 



The first operation in washing is that of soaking the 

 linen: for this purpose, the several articles must be laid 

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