White bilk articles, as stockings and gloves, should be washed with soap, first in milk warm, and afterward in nearly boiling water. They will be improved if hung up for a short time in the fumes of burning sulphur (sulphurous acid) while still damp.
We have now to notice the domestic washing-machines which have, of late years, come into rather extensive use. A machine of this kind, when in motion, ought to pro duce at least as much agitation as will keep up a constant change in the detergiug solu tion in contact with the linen, and at the same time cause the clothes to slide over each other in a somewhat analogous manner to hand-washing. There is an old form of washing-machine called the dolly-tub, which has been in use in Yorkshire for upward of eighty years. It consists essentially of a presser or dolly, which is simply a round piece of wood, say ten inches in diameter, with from three to five legs rounded at the ends; the whole exactly resembling a footstool, but with the addition of an upright rod or spindle from its center, with a cross piece at the top for working it. Any vessel, such as a tub, barrel, or box, may be used to hold the clothes, which are washed by moving the dolly first one way and then the other, at the same time a certain pressure being exerted on them against the sides and bottom or the vessel.
Of recent washing-machines a certain class of them are modifications of the dolly machine, with spring-ribbed boards, on which the linen is rubbed by a swinging motion. Another class consists of boxes which also oscillate upon au axis, but operate by jerking the clothes and water from side to side. A third, and perhaps the most efficient class, are made upon the principle of the dash•wheel, so much used iu'large bleach-works. In this machine, the materials to be washed are lifted by internal ribs on the rim of a large wheel, and allowed to fall with some force from fully half its height into the cleansing liquid—this being of course repeated as the wheel rotates.
In a clash-wheel washing-machine for domestic purposes, by Messrs. Surnmerscales & Sons, Yorkshire, the linen is put inside the drum or dash-wheel (a sparred cylinder), which has a reciprocating action, so that, after making a complete revolution, it is reversed. The clothes are thus driven both ways through the water, and the quick
reversing action of the machine gives them a jerk or dash at each change of motion—the equivalent of the fall from a large dash-wheel. There are brushes on the inside of the drum, which are brought into play if the clothes are coarse and dirty, but are turned out of action if they are of a fine descripton. A machine of this kind, 26 in. wide, will take in 2 pair of sheets or a dozen of shirts at a time, and by turning the handle with a brisk motion, they will be washed in 8 or 10 minutes. The lather for linen is made up with one pound of soap, half a pound of soda, and three quarts of water—the last being poured in boiling. Only. nbout half as much soap is required as for washing by hand.
The wringing is performed by passing the wet clothes through wooden rollers, the upper one being temporarily covered with flannel to protect buttons, hooks and eyes, etc., from damage. The necessary pressure is obtained by a means of a spring, and before turning the rollers, the washing-c_ylinder is thrown out of gear. With the aid of mangling-boards the clothes are mangled by these same rollers.
Washing by steam, though little known in England, is practiced to a considerable extent in France. The French chemist, Chaptal, first brought the process to perfection. Besides a saving of fuel, soap, and manual labor to the extent of at least one-half, the wear and tear of the linen attending rubbing and beating is avoided. The efficacy of steam in washing depends upon its penetrating and dissolving property. are first steeped in a ley of soda or potash, or in a mixture of alkali and soap, and then hung in a wooden vessel kept full of steam by a pipe communicating with a boiler. On a small scale, a large cask, made air-tight, will answer, and a common tea-kettle will produce steam enough. There must be an aperture to allow the air to escape when the steam first enters; the air being expelled, the aperture is shut. In half an hour the dirt is sufficiently loosened to wash out with ease, and the linen is found to be extremely white.