Hidden Damage
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376 The Yearbook of Agriculture 1965 the detergent and dry the fabric more mediately, quickly rinse out the spilled quickly. The alcohol should be tested substance. Otherwise the chemical on the fabric, in a hidden spot, to make reaction may continue until a hole or sure it does not cause the dye to bleed. color change appears. Alcohol should be diluted before use Fibers themselves are chemical com- on acetate. Any stain remaining after pounds, and different types of fibers the detergent treatment can be treated react in different ways. with a chlorine or peroxygen bleach The speed with which they react after tests show which bleach is safe for with other chemicals (and thus the the fabric. danger of fabric damage) usually For the combination stains (greasy increases at higher temperatures and and nongreasy substances), use the when more of the chemical touches directions given for both greasy and the fiber. nongreasy stains. (FLORENCE M. Wool and silk are damaged more RICHARDSON) easily than cotton is by oxidizing bleaches and alkalies, but are less readily damaged by acids. Rayon reacts in much the same way as cotton does to acids, alkalies, and bleaches, but is somewhat more easily damaged. The manmade fibers generally are Hidden less reactive chemically than the nat- ural fibers and therefore less likely to be damaged by chemicals used in Damage the home. Among the exceptions are nylon, which is damaged easily by acids, and most spandex fibers, which may be damaged by chlorine bleaches. You CAN SEE what ordinary wear and Some fabrics with wash-wear finishes tear does to clothing. Sometimes turn yellow when a chlorine bleach is you cannot account for holes in used on them. Others do not turn fabrics or changes in color of dyes yellow immediately, but may be dis- that appear suddenly. colored or destroyed when ironed. Certain chemicals used in homes Not all finishes are affected by can make holes in fabrics or change chlorine bleaches. Fabrics with chlo- the color. rine-retentive finishes should have a Among them are strong alkalies, warning, *^Do not use a chlorine such as those in products sold for bleach," on the label. cleaning drains and ovens; strong A hot lye solution can make a hole acids, such as those in storage bat- in wool or silk quickly. A cold solution teries, brick and mortar cleaners, of the same strength, if rinsed out and some toilet bowl cleaners; and promptly, may do little damage. oxidizing and reducing agents, such A concentrated acid solution that as those in fabric, hair, and wood instantly makes a hole in nylon, bleaches and in home permanent- acetate, rayon, or cotton produces no wave solutions. immediate effect if it is used in a more The damage may appear instantly, dilute solution. Concentrated solutions so you have no doubt as to the cause, of bleaches are more likely to harm but often it does not appear until fabrics than dilute solutions. later—perhaps during washing or Combinations of some chemicals, drycleaning—when you have for- such as chlorine bleaches and acids, gotten the culprit. can do more damage than either used If damage does not appear im- separately. A mixture of a strong acid Hidden Dcmrnge 377 with a chlorine bleach, in fact, can ironed, usually a dampened, starched produce highly poisonous fumes as dress with a zipper. well as damage fabrics. They are caused by the formation of A dilute solution of a chemical, a simple electrochemical cell—a bat- which causes little damage, becomes tery, so to speak—in the garment. concentrated if it is allowed to dry Two different metals in the zipper— on a fabric, and may cause damage— usually aluminum in the teeth and another reason for promptly washing copper or nickel-plated copper in the out spilled chemicals. slide—act as the two electrodes. The salt used in many liquid starches acts A TRICKY KIND of acid damage occurs as the carrier of the electric current when the acid is formed from some in the wet garment. The small amount other substance. of acid formed in such a cell causes For example, aluminum chloride, no apparent damage until it is con- sometimes used in deodorants, can centrated by the heat of the iron. react with water (this can come from Metals from other sources also can perspiration) to form hydrochloric cause similar damage—impurities in acid, which damages the underarm a metal can act as the second electrode, area of garments. as when dampened, starched clothes Nylon hose may disintegrate on your are stored in aluminum containers legs when soot particles, contaminated before they are ironed. Salt from with sulfuric acid, settle on the hose. liquid starches may act as the carrier The acid can be formed by oxidation of the current; but in some sections of sulfur compounds, formed when the water contains enough minerals to coal is burned and water vapor is cause this type of damage. present. Similar damage sometimes The number of instances of electro- occurs in clothes dried outdoors in lytic damage has been decreasing, no industrial areas or in winter in places doubt because wash-wear fabrics sel- where homes are heated with coal. dom are dampened before ironing. Neoprene synthetic rubber, some- Nylon zippers are also replacing the times used in shoulder pads or bonded bimetallic zippers. wool interlinings, unless carefully com- pounded, can break down in time to SUNLIGHT, that age-old bleaching ibrm hydrochloric acid. agent, can weaken fibers and cause Celluloid articles, such as collar colors to fade. stays, combs, and knitting needles, also The resistance of fibers and dyes to may decompose and give off acid sunlight varies with the kind of fiber fumes when they are left in a closed and dye. Only glass fibers are com- space for a long time. Fabrics in con- pletely unaffected. tact with these materials can be Other conditions, such as the damaged. amount of ultraviolet radiation in the I have heard of similar damage in light and the amount of moisture in laundry establishments in which the atmosphere, influence the reaction. washers, dryers, and drycleaning Some dyes, particularly yellow and machines are in one room. If per- orange vat dyes, make fabrics es- chloroethylene fumes from the dry- pecially sensitive to photochemical cleaning machines are not properly damage. Yellow or orange figures in vented and get into a dryer, hydro- curtains may disintegrate, while other chloric acid can be formed by the parts are still strong. combination of heat, moisture, and Drycleaners often are blamed perchloroethylene vapor. wrongly for this damage, because the weakened spots may not show any BROWN SPOTS or holes may appear visible change before drycleaning. suddenly in a garment that is being Most of us recognize that many dyes 378 The Yearbook of Agriculture 1965 fade on exposure to sunlight and A homemaker hung the family's select "light-fast" dyes for draperies. winter clothes on plastic hangers in Some other color changes in dyes are closed garment bags with paradichlo- more difficult to predict or explain. It robenzene (a moth preventive) in a is not uncommon, for example, for hot attic. When she removed the a blue acetate dress to change to a clothing in the fall she discovered that reddish shade while hanging in a dark the hangers had apparently melted closet. into the fabric and then hardened. This kind of color change is called The temperature was not high enough "fume fading" and has been traced to to melt the plastic, however. a reaction between certain dyes and The trouble was traced to the com- oxides of nitrogen in the atmosphere. bination of paradichlorobenzene vapor Minute amounts of these oxides (less and the plastic. Plastics in some than I part per million in the air) can buttons, storage boxes, and in coatings cause fume fading. on wires in electric blankets may also Dyed acetate and triacetate fabrics be affected by this vapor. are more likely to be affected, but The perchloroethylene used in coin- fume fading also occurs in cotton, operated drycleaning machines can rayon, nylon, and wool. also cause plastic hangers to soften and Oxides of nitrogen in the atmos- stick to clothes. Be sure that all solvent phere come from natural sources, such has evaporated from drycleaned gar- as electrical storms, but the main ments before placing them on plastic source of this type of pollution is from hangers. burning fuels, such as gasoline, natural gas, and oil. Automobile exhausts are DRYING ARTICLES containing foam rub- a major source of such pollution. ber in tumble dryers has been known Inside the home, oxides of nitrogen to cause fires. Foam rubber oxidizes can come from unvented gas heaters when it is heated, and this reaction and from gas-fired appliances, such as produces considerable heat. The heat stoves and clothes dryers. Fabrics continues to build up and, together colored with dyes sensitive to oxides with the heat from the dryer, some- of nitrogen sometimes change color times causes the rubber to burst into after being dried only a few times in a flame. A fire can also start outside the gas dryer. Some yellowing of used and dryer if an article containing foam laundered white cotton articles has rubber happens to be on the bottom of also been traced to reactions with a pile of hot clothes taken out of a oxides of nitrogen in dryers. dryer. Heat can also damage fabrics even OZONE, ANOTHER GAS, is present in if they do not burn. All fabrics can be very small amounts in the air.