SCREAMS IN LAUNDRY

Taranaki Daily News, 11 May 1933, Page 7

SCREAMS IN LAUNDRY

WHEN COLOURS FADE. MACHINES GIVE WARNING. Young men working in a Hendon laboratory have, it is claimed, made the fraying of shirts arid collars in laundries almost impossible. The laboratory is that of the British Launderers’ Research Association, under the leadership of Dr. R. E. V. Hampson. Some of the discoveries, shown to a Sunday Express representative, are:—A device that screams if colours do not match perfectly; scales for measuring the amount of wear in a shirt before and after washing; a washing machine that eliminates the wear of washing; a perfect process for washing wool. 1 It was found at the laboratory that, however carefully coloured goods were washed, some colours faded slightly. The researchers made a machine containing light-cells which produces a scream if the colour had faded, and remains Silent if no change has taken place. The amount of fading is measured by the intensity of the scream. Another machine has been produced which allows the substitution of soaking for clothes instead of the continuous motion of the ordinary mechanical washer. This machine is called the interrupter gear. It eliminates fraying, and will soon be in u§e in all laundries. The deterioration of wool after washing was one of the major problems that faced all laundries. The laboratory investigated and reached a solution. It is now claimed that a modern laundry can wash woollens better than they could ever be washed at home. Old-fashioned laundries often sent clothes home with iron marks on, them. The laboratory invented a hand-ironer which cannot scorch clothes, for its temperature is controlled electrically. Mangles are no longer used in laundries. The laboratory invented low pressure rollers to iron linen and table-cloths which exert a pressure of a few ounces to the square inch. It is impossible, it is stated, to break the buttons.