Foods and Household Management Part 51

page 199) to see if the warp and woof threads are equally strong, or stronger one way than the other. If the latter, it will not wear well.

3. Fray out the threads. Do they break easily? If so, the silk is not of good quality. If the warp threads are weak, the silk will split across, if the woof is weak, the silk dress will go in ribbons.

4. If you have time before purchasing, test a sample of silk by burning.

Place in a porcelain dish and heat gently for thirty minutes. The silk will vanish and the weighting remain.

Burn the threads to see if there is cotton in warp or woof. Burn end of sample. If it is the same shape after burned, it is probably weighted.

5. Close weaves wear better than more loosely woven ones and soft silks better than stiff. Guard against buying soft silks, however, that are so woven as to pull in the seams when worn.

6. Are you buying material made of reeled or spun silk? Bargains are seldom found at silk sales. Should you expect to find pure silk at 50 or 60 cents a yard or as many yards of silk thread B as A on a spool?

Remember that the demand for a cheap product means the production of cheap products. Wear something else rather than cheap silks.

7. Is the silk adulterated with mercerized cotton or artificial silk? Try the tests. (See "Shelter and Clothing," page 196.)

_Some things to remember in purchasing wool._

1. Wool mixed with cotton makes a cheaper fabric and should not be sold for all wool. It wears well, but is not as warm as all wool. Garments made of it do not keep their shape as well. Woolens are often adulterated in felting. Pull the closely woven fabric apart and untwist the fibers to see if cotton is present.

2. The burning test will help in deciding on the composition. (See "Shelter and Clothing," page 198.)

3. A good woolen or worsted fabric can always be remade. The inexpensive is not cheap unless you wish something which costs little but does not look well or wear well. One should not expect to get blankets of all wool for two dollars a pair. They cost five or six.

4. Shoddy is one kind of recovered wool and is used to cheapen cost of all-wool material. It can be detected because of shortness of the staple of wool, but when mixed is difficult to see.

5. The weave of material affects the wearing quality. A close twill weave is more durable than a basket weave.

_Some things to remember about color._

1. _Blue._ Dark blue in woolen material or gingham usually fades little.

Light blue is not as durable in color.

2. _Red._ Woolen material of this color wears well and usually fades little. Red cotton when washed looks less brilliant. It soon fades by was.h.i.+ng.

3. _Black and gray._ Woolen materials of gray, white, and black or in combination are generally satisfactory. Cotton materials of gray or black are apt to show starch in was.h.i.+ng.

4. _Lavender._ This is a poor color to buy. It fades easily in cotton goods.

5. _Pink._ Fades with was.h.i.+ng. If a deep shade be bought it may be satisfactory.

6. _Green._ Usually very unsatisfactory. In good high-priced ginghams it may not fade, but in cheap ones it is apt to turn yellow.

7. _Brown._ Good usually in ginghams, but likely to fade in woolen materials.

8. See chapters on costume design and dressmaking in "Shelter and Clothing," for suggestions in relation to colors one should wear.

The above brief suggestions must be considered in the light of the knowledge gained from the study of the chapters on textiles in the companion volume, "Shelter and Clothing."

In purchasing any materials for clothing or household furnis.h.i.+ngs, remember that demand causes production and those who are intelligent will make the right demands in the right places. Insist on the honest labeling of goods and demand that for which you pay. Why should cotton manufacturers label handkerchiefs which are cotton "pure linen," and sell them at ten cents? We too should know linen cannot be bought at that price. The United States government employs experts to examine the standards of textiles used in making army, navy, and other uniforms, and will accept only those materials from the contracting manufacturers which stand their tests. If a fuller discussion of the buying of textile materials is desired, see Woolman and McGowan's "Textiles," particularly the chapters on consumer's judgment of textiles, on social and economic conditions, and on clothing budgets.

EXERCISES

1. What rules should be borne in mind in planning to buy the furnis.h.i.+ngs for a home?

2. What should guide one in relation to where to buy?

3. What methods of ordering facilitate shopping?

4. What is meant by the ethics of shopping?

5. What important facts should you have in mind in buying table linen?

6. What knowledge should you have before going to purchase a silk dress?

7. What will you think about in selecting colors for your garments?

8. Mention five important facts to remember in purchasing wool fabrics.

9. How does the United States government protect itself in the purchase of textiles?

10. What knowledge should a wise shopper possess?

CHAPTER XXII

HOUSEWIFERY

This old-fas.h.i.+oned word is used here to include the methods and processes connected with the actual work of the house, excepting the cookery, sewing, and laundering, which have fuller treatment elsewhere. This department of household management is a combination of sanitation and the economics of labor.

=Order in place.=--Keep articles of a kind together conveniently arranged in places set apart for them, these places to be easily accessible. Make an inventory of household goods in a card file,--household linen, personal apparel, including lists of clothing put away for summer or winter, dishes, and valuables. Each housekeeper must make a scheme that suits her own needs, but a few suggestions may be helpful.

Keep _bed linen_ and _towels_, piled preferably on shelves, near bedrooms and bathrooms, marked and numbered. Put the clean underneath when they come from the laundry.

_Clothing_ should be kept in an orderly way by each member of the family.

Winter clothing and furs should be cleansed for putting away, protected from moths by wrapping in paper, hanging in tar bags, putting in cedar chests, or in trunks with some strong odored substances,--moth b.a.l.l.s or cedar oil. Camphor is too expensive. Summer clothing should be washed and put away unstarched and unironed.

_Dishes and silver_ should be carefully arranged in very definite places, and counted often enough to keep account of breakage and loss.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 79.--Madam, who keeps your house? _Courtesy of the Woman's City Club, Chicago._]

_Brooms_, _brushes_, _dusters_, and _cleansing materials_ should have a place of their own, well ventilated when possible, and all articles put away clean.

=Order in work and division of labor.=--This depends so largely upon the number of workers, and upon the equipment of the house that no definite plan can be made for all. The question must be differently answered for the woman who has a helper one day a week, or with one or two, or with a large staff of workers. However, there should be some definite plan for the days of the week and the hours of the day, and some division of work among the members of the family or between the family and paid helpers.