Shelter and clothing; a textbook of the household arts

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1913 edition. Excerpt: ...dye and weighting readily. When silk burns there is a strong odor of hair, but it is not as disagreeable as wool. It burns with a flickering bluish flame and leaves a crisp ash. Silk feels cool to wear when dry, and when wet it is very cold in contact with the skin. Good silk.has the striking physical property of high luster. This is noticeable after the silk gum has been removed by scouring. Extreme weighting of silk destroys this beauty. Silk also has the property termed " scroop." This is the rustle of silken fabrics that one sometimes hears or the crackling sound when it is squeezed or pressed. Linen is often called the fiber of the aristocracy; it is costly because of the labor involved in its manufacture. It is a very strong fiber and when carefully handled in manufacture will last years, as is evidenced by the remains of our great grandmothers' household linens. It absorbs moisture very readily, so we know that linen dish towels are better than cotton, and it also dries very rapidly. Linen, because of its vegetable composition, when burned smells like wood and leaves a slight ashy residue. It burns almost as quickly as cotton, and with a bright, flashy flame. Linen feels silky, stiff, slippery, and rigid, and is cool and heavy in weight. It is more unyielding and less elastic than any of the other leading fibers. Linen is a better conductor of heat than cotton. It is the coolest fabric to wear when dry, and when wet, in contact with the skin, is remarkably cool. During the bleaching process linen may lose 20 per cent of its weight. Linen is the most cleanly fiber, because it is longer and does not fuzz up as cotton in the spinning. For this reason the woven surface is smooth and stays clean longer. It does not retain the dye as...