42 
House & Garden 
rack is about 10" wide. The 
ordinary length of the rack is 
5' 10" and the distance from 
the back of the cabinet to the 
end of racks is about IT 8". 
When the cabinet is closed the 
track which protrudes over¬ 
head can be used to hang 
clothes on. The overhead track 
is far more convenient than 
the floor wheels upon which 
some racks pull out, as the 
floor, should it be uneven, will 
prevent ease of operation of 
the racks and annoyance will 
ensue. Single dryers can be 
bought with two racks only 23" 
or so wide for smaller rooms. 
These cabinets can be sunk 
flush in the wall and take up 
no more room if the building 
is so constructed or lie against 
or at right angles to the wall. 
The heat does not permeate 
the room in well-made dryers. 
Any stove used in the laundry 
should not be in connection 
with the dryer. 
The dryer which really does 
its work should: 
1. Not overheat clothes. 
2. Not sweat theta. 
3. Not turn them yellow. 
4. Thoroughly ventilate them. 
5. Remove all odors. 
6. Dry them rapidly. 
7. Make them easy to iron. 
Theory and Practice 
It has been imagined that sun and wind 
alone dry clothes, but the fact is that air is the 
drying medium and therefore the best dryers 
provide a good circulation of air plus heat. 
Dry air has a tremendous love for moisture and 
eats it up as a blotter eats up ink. The warmer 
the air the more moisture it will hug. This 
would seem enough, just to bake the clothes, 
but baking does not remove odors and does 
render them yellow; they are unventilated and 
smell like the laundry, so people are prone to 
say “Sun drying or nothing.” 
However, the best dryers provide for a cir¬ 
culation of air. At its best the air changes 
from 250 to 300 times an hour. The air must 
change, for after one lot of air holds all the 
moisture it can, it cannot take any more from 
the clothes, and new avid air must be substi¬ 
tuted for that which is moisture-fed. This is 
accomplished by a moist air exhaust in the 
newer dryers, which are larger than the older 
types. The result is white, odorless, air-swept 
clothing. 
The stream of air is usually accomplished 
by the use of the ordinary chimney draft as¬ 
sisted by the warm products of heating from 
the heater. The hot air products of combus¬ 
tion pass through a tapered nozzle into the 
moist air exhaust pipe, and by the speed a 
suction is created which helps to pull the 
moist air out of the cabinet and up the chimney. 
When you buy a dryer see to it that the ex¬ 
haust pipe is large so that you will have wind 
and heat instead of just heat. Air circulation 
is what you are really buying. See that you 
get it. 
Superficial Points 
All parts upon which clothes hang should 
be non-rusting. 
The racks must pull out without any ex¬ 
penditure of strength and must run quietly. 
A very good little dryer, 
simple as a broiler, is the over¬ 
head slatted dryer, which, on a 
pulley, is spread with clothes 
and pulled up to the ceiling 
where the clothes dry by the 
risen heat of the room. 
In a small kitchen where the 
washing and cooking is done, 
it is a real boon, and in the 
laundry, too, it is a genuine 
convenience. 
The rack is about 32" to 
64", and on the ceiling it is 
comfortable and useful and 
out of the way. It comes in 
two sizes. 
Your clothes go directly 
from the wringer to the rack 
as in the big dryers, you obvi¬ 
ate unnecessary handling, 
clothes-pin destruction, etc. 
It can be pulled down to 
your own level and hitched on 
a wall pin so as to make it re¬ 
liably firm while you load it. 
Tables and Shelves 
My opinion is that shelves 
in a laundry are very much 
more useful than a quarter of 
a dozen tables. I have known 
people to buy two or three 
tables for laundries and abandon them for 
needed foot room, yet long for some room to 
put things on. 
The steel unit of shelves is a very conve¬ 
nient way out. By using a continuous running 
shelf, like an*amplified plate rail, any place in 
the laundry can be so handy one for placing a 
bit of soap, a clothes-pin, washing powder, 
clothing waiting for starching, or any other 
thing. Steps could, be saved and wit con¬ 
served. 
Tables are a necessity, especially the large 
7' table or smaller, as taken up in House & 
Garden for August, 1920. The wooden one 
for the laundry is quite useful and so also is 
the all-metal table. But too many tables spoil 
the temper, and the shelf is a comfort. 
The ironing board is indispensable for fancy 
things, even when*the. ironing machine is regu¬ 
larly used. 
A new departure here is the board which 
folds against the wall when not in use and 
therefore is most unobtrusive for the small 
room—even practicable for the kitchen when, 
as is so often necessary, the laundry work is 
done here as well as the cooking. These boards 
have sleeve boards attached and are fitted with 
electric attachment wires, etc., or they can be 
bought without electric fitting in case the home 
is not electrified. 
A Burning Shame 
When un-electric irons are used, there should 
be an ample supply of iron holders. If your 
irons are not of the removable insulated handle 
type, iron holders of ticking or soft bits of 
carpet can. be used. This sounds very elemen¬ 
tary, but many scorchings would not have 
taken place had the laundress not rushed to 
get through to save the hurting hand. 
This is truly a burning shame if anything 
could so be called. It is possible, too, to get 
a thin bit of asbestos encased in a bit of tick¬ 
ing and so protect the laundress from discom¬ 
fort and your clothing from destruction. 
These iron holders could be made by the 
children of the house who are always looking 
(Continued on page 54) 
A simple dryer is found in this slatted rack attached to the ceiling by 
cords and pulleys. This saves steps to the yard and obviates the usual 
bother with clothes-pins and unnecessary handling 
All the racks must be within the reach of 
the average woman, to avoid stretching. 
The heating burner must be simple and 
easily reached so that you can tell at a glance 
how much heat you have turned on. 
There must be ample screening so that 
should a gannent fall it cannot possibly get 
scorched. 
The finish of these dryers must be smooth, 
without protuberances which could in any case 
tear the garments to be dried. 
Dryers are best heated with gas, electricity 
or kerosene. Care must be given to get the 
best kerosene burner as they are troublesome 
when not perfection. 
Dryers are simple to operate, and you are 
saved: (1) tugging clothes to roof or yard; 
(2) putting up a wash-line; (3) fastening 
clothes and tearing them with clothes-pins; 
(4) carrying heavy baskets anywhere; (5) 
sprinkling and rolling clothes, because you 
keep them drying only long enough to be 
ready to iron; (6) the wear and tear from the 
exposure to dust, sunburn, fading, snow and 
other outdoor contaminations. 
