Extension Bulletin No. 320 February, 194 5

Agrieultttral Extension Set•viee State College of Washington PULLMAN, WASHINGTON

Planning A ·Utility By Esther Pond Horne Management Specialist

A utility room is a service room near the back entrance of the and near the . It might be a place where the men or children wash, where the and other work is done or where the hot water tank and . are placed. For some farm families the utility room might be used for such things as, sorting eggs, cleaning vegetables, cutting meat and separting milk. Many such jobs clutter the kitchen or make extra steps to the .· I n planning a utility room, first make a list of the things you want to do in the room. Then opposite each job list the equipment and materials needed to do the job efficiently. Include things you do not yet have, so that there will be a place for them when you add them to your household. Your list might look something like this:

Jobs Equipment To Be Used Materials Needed Men wash. Wash bowl or laundry tub. / Soap, towels, combs, mirror.

Shine shoes. Shoe shining board, polishing cloth I Shoe polish. or brushes.

Arrange flowers. Table or counter, flower bowls, I Water. frogs, scissors and knife.

Clean vegetables. Counter, scissors, knife, peeler, I Water, newspapers. brushes, garbage can.

Wrap packages. ~&issors, pencil. I Paper, cord and labels. Cut out garments. ~-C-o-u-nt_e_r_,-sc-i-ss_o_r-s,_p_i_n_s,-ta_p_e_m-ea_ s_u_r_e -+~-P-a-t-te_r_n_s_a_n_d_m~ . ~a-t_e~r-i_a~l.~~=====-

Sew Counter, sewing machine, lap table, Thread, trimmings, materials, sewing , scissors, pins, thimble, snaps. mirror, waste basket. 1 Sort clothes. Clothes chute or , so rting Soiled clothes, removal table. kit. ------r------I Wash clothes. Washer, laundry tubs, clothes basket \Vater softener, soap, , and cart. water. 1 Starch clothes. Pan, hot plate, table. I Starch, water. Hang clothes to Electric drying or indoor I clothes pins. dry. clothes lines.

Sprinkle clothes. Sprinkling table, sprinkler, clothes I Warm water. basket.

I ron Electric iron and ironer, Pressing pads and cloths, boards, racks ofr hanging clothes Isponge. 1 The list you make will show the size of the utility room you will need. If you are remodeling a back , or part of a large kitchen the list you make will be limited to the size of the available space. Enough space must be allowed around the equip­ ment to be able to work freely. Thirty inches (average width) is considered minimum space between equipment or passage ways. The utility room will be a work room and should not be the back entrance to the house. A small with leading to the utility room, kitchen and possibly a third one to the basement makes a good entrance. Men's or Children's Wash Room Every family needs a wash room and an everyday wrap closet near the back entrance. Men's work clothes and boots should have a separate ventilated section. The coat closet may be in the wash room or in a hall. It may vary from 20 to 30 inches in depth and 24 to 48 inches in length. Low hooks should be provided for children. If the wash room is to have a wash bowl and , the mini­ mum space needed is 3 by 6 feet. Some families want a shower in

MEN'S this wash room. Then the room WOR K CL OT HE S will need to be 3 to 5 feet wider.

EVERY­ A storage cabinet should be plan­ DAY WR AP S ned above the wash bowl for medicines, combs and hand lotion. Wash Room (6' x 8') There is space above the toilet for an 8-inch cupboard for clean towels, toilet paper and perhaps shav­ ing supplies. The The room used for washing the family's clothes must be large enough to allow space to walk around the . Also, it should have one to two feet open space at each end of the laundry tubs. There should be enough space for a 2 by 6 foot table or counter near the washer, where dirty clothes can be sorted. It also can be used for sprinkling clothes. This counter will help in doing other jobs too, such as wrapping packages, arranging flowers or sorting eggs. If there is a clothes chute, it should empty above the sorting counter. One story will need to use a hamper under the 2 HEATERS -<;>-

ELECTRIC

;'- ----BUILT-IN "-,____ IRONING -, BOARD $----- ', HAMPER HERE IF NO CHUTE ~-----+----~------~.------, WORK TABLE 2'X6' 1 1 I I CLOTHES~------~~------~: IRONER 1 CHUTE : 1 L------...J

Laundry Room-(10' x 11' 6") counter. This hamper may be a large ventilated pull-out drawer on rollers or a section of the counter top may be hinged for lifting when clothes are put in or taken out. Each piece of equipment should be placed so that everything moves in one direction, toward the place where the clothes are to be dried. After the clothes are sorted they are put into the machine (may be soaked first). Then they are rinsed into the tubs and fin­ ally into the clothes basket. A portable laundry cart for the clothes basket does away with stooping and makes it easy to move the wet clothes to the lines. Above the laundry tubs is a cupboard (6 inches deep) for storing the soaps, starch, blueing and stain removal sup­ plies. All laundry should have a place for drying clothes on bad days. This might be an eiectric clothes-drying cabinet or built-in clothes lines. The best arrangement for lines is to suspend two .% inch pipes from the or in a horizontal position, one at each end of the space to be used. Before fastening the pipe to the wall put 1~ inch harness rings on the pipe about every 3 inches apart. When the pipe is in place, fasten a clothes-line wire from one harness ring across to the one directly opposite on the other pipe. Thus when the clothes are hung the lines can be pushed close together or far apa.rt for convenience and quick drying. The Combination Laundry-Sewing Room A utility room where the homemaker can take care of the family's would give any woman a sense of satisfaction. It would mean you could have a place to wash, iron, press and sew, a place where you could shrink material or cut out a dress and even go off to some other job between sewings. A room divided into three areas-washing, ironing and sewing, would take care of many of the problems and irritations of the average family and make much easier. The room described here has been developed as a result of studies made by the Household Equipment Classes at the State College of Washington. These studies checked every motion used in sorting soiled clothes, washing, hanging clothes to dry, sprink­ ling, ironing, pressing, cutting out a garment, sewing and mending. For each task, the procedure which seemed to leave out the most unnecessary motions was the one that could be done with every­ thing within easy reach and with each piece of equipment placed in the order in which the homemaker would proceed with the task. If you were to do a motion -while the average woman washes, you would likely find her wasting many steps sorting clothes on the instead of a table, walking around the washer and tubs time and again and walking miles to hang up clothes. If she were getting ready to mend or sew, you might find her hunting in one place for a needle, another place for her thimble and still another for the scissors. Even then she might not.have collected her thread. To do these and other tasks _with the minimum time and motions, the laundry-sewing room was divided into washing, ironing and sewing areas. This also makes it easy for two or more people to work in the room at the same time. THE WASHING AREA The motion studies showed that the soiled clothes would pro­ ceed from the hamper, to sorting, soaking, washing, rinsing, starching and drying. This means the washing area should include a sorting table, at least two laundry tubs, a washer, clothes basket on a portable cart and an electric drying cabinet or indoor lines all 4 _,

BACK E.NTRANCE SEWING CLOSET 20"X30" SORTING ----, ------._,- I , > <"' ::J:r= SPRINKLING I / ' 36"X48" CUTTING I WRAPPING SEWING~ ~ I s FLOWER LAP 1 I. ,.,~ $,...,, ARRANGING BOARD 1 ~ -9- CHILDREN'S I = 1 I GAMES ____ j I ~ I 1 KITCHEN [CHAIR J OPEN SHELVES ~ I • I FOR RADIO­ t::l CHILDREN'S J SEWING ~ DOWN MACHINE _::;-=.=: =~ ~_-_-_-- ______A_ "-rovs --t-) !'-- :.n~I 00. - ----~ 'r ~~~ 11'6" • ~ 4 B ------,' \ CH1LD'S f \ P AV ~ j \ T BLE I I ~ I I I I ~ I I / '' L---..._JI ~ I 0 ~ RONING BOARD ,'\ 20"X60" I I I I I I IRONER SHOE SHINING / \ BOARD ___..: ..,.....: /

L 1 .. I r 14 ~I within a few feet of each other. j+-- LENGTH OF TUBS ~ Only enough space needs to be allowed between each place for passage way, generally thirty T-=-----=------~-=.:-=---=--=- -=---=--=-----=--=----=-----=- 22 6" inches. There must be 15 to 24 1~~·~t~~:.;'i-o --~~~~-~---~, inches free space at both ends of laundry tubs. The soaps, , starch and stain removal supplies Soap and Stain Removal Cabinet would be kept in the six-inch deep Above Tubs cupboard above the laundry tubs. The electric clothes drier* will make it possible to dry the family wash in two to four hours, however indoor clothes lines such as those described under the laundry room may be used. If the electric drier is placed just inside the door from the entrance hall, it will be a good place to dry wet garments and boots while men are in the house at noon time or at night. The Work Counter The work counter should be two or three feet wide and not less than six feet long. By extending it into the room it divides the room into the different working areas and can be used on all sides. The counter is on casters so that it can be pushed to the handiest position or back against the wall according to the kind of work being done. It could be used with the end against the wall where the ironer machine sets, if desired. The side facing the laundry area is planned for laundry purposes while the other side is for sewing and ironing supplies. The top is planned to be used for

(C) CLOTHES HAMPER TOE SPACE I ...L SCALE 1••1' V SECT! ON OF COUNTER FOR I CUTTING, FACING SEWING AREA 6' DRAW BOARDS f___ SE:TION B ~r.------~ I I Jl II T ADJU TABLE 3' p-;-=--=-===-======)r==-=--:: ======-=--=--=! ====~-~- l.I-:::: i~-;;~&:;.~-=-~-~ ON,~;" ROj.LERS ~I33• 1 OPEN SHELVES -J...,. I j SECTION A 18" r 6" ~-=...... -~,.....:;_:;,_-,- _-~..:;__:_::.._:~1_' _~_, _::-'~!=:s_::...;E::.:..~:=- -~-=~1;--VE_~_::_)_:E_O _,.....u=l~ I L___ - .. : L TOE SPACE :.1 1 0 SCAL[ 1••1' 1 SECTION OF COUNTER FOR SORTING AND TOP VIEW OF COUNTER SPRINKLING, FACING LAUNDRY AREA The Work Counter 6 sorting clothes, sprinkling, cutting, wrapping packages, arranging flowers or for games. On the laundry side, one large drawer on rollers may be ventilated to be used for the soiled clothes hamper. A partition in the hamper aids the sorting, keeping fairly clean clothes from the colored or more soiled ones. Directly below the counter are pull out boards for enlarging the table space. Below them are shallow partitioned drawers for wire, cord, labels and household tools such as, hammer, pliers and screw driver. The cupboards below have 'pull-out' shelves for laundry supplies and flower vases. A roll of 18 inch wrapping paper may be screwed to one shelf. The counter will often be used for arranging flowers and wrapping packages. The open shelves at the end of the counter provide a central place in the room for a small radio and for some of the toys with which the children would play when in the utility room. THE SEWING AREA The sewing area is on the far side of the room so that no one needs to move the homemaker's sewing if she is called to another task. The work counter separates it from the rest of the room and will be used for cutting out garments. Beneath the counter is a lap board, 25 inches from the floor. It is directly opposite the chair at the sewing machine and is convenient for pinning and basting. Drawers and cupboards below the counter provide space for storing the iron, pressing pads, unironed clothes, and old garments to be made over. Extra space is allowed for such things as empty fruit jars or frozen food packages. In the corner of the sewing area is a sewing closet. It would be placed in the opposite corner if the work counter is placed against the inside wall. If this is done the door and trays should be changed to the opposite side of the closet. On the door of the closet are racks and shelves placed so that when you sit at the machine with the door open, you can reach the threads, scissors, thimble, tape measure and other sewing supplies. Inside the closet there are slide-out trays for filing patterns, left-over and new ma­ terials, and mending materials. There should be one deep tray for stockings and one for other mending to be done. There is space between the closet and counter for a long mirror, to make fitting easy. The built-in ironing board is convenient for pressing. It should be placed just to the left of the at the end of the room, if the sewing closet is moved to the opposite corner. 7 THE IRONING AREA The dry clothes will be taken from the drier to the' work counter for sprinkling and then packed into the basket on the portable laundry cart. This cart can then be moved to the ironing board or electric ironer and placed within easy reach of the worker. The iron and pressing pads would be stored in the counter on the sewing side.· The work counter is a good place to lay flat pieces while iron­ ing-. If desired, the rack from the electric clothes drier could be rolled near the ironing area and used for hanging clothes as they are ironed. The ironing board* is adjustable in height to fit any worker and can be lowered over the lap so you can sit to iron. The board is 20 by 60 inches. This makes it wide enough to iron linens with­ out moving them often or to iron a man's shirt with th~ new 'motion­ saving' method. The end of the board is shaped to make ironing children's clothes or dresses easy. A sleeve board is built-in above the ironing board and the outlet for the iron cord is placed above it. Both the ironing board and sleeve boards should be padded with two thicknesses of heavy material like table padding and covered with removable fitted covers. Other Tasks For The Utility Room Many other tasks will likely be done in the utility room. Plan to do them at the most convenient place and to store the equipment and supplies within reach. Men Wash. Many men prefer laundry tubs for washing the face and hands. Vlith the tubs placed just inside the entrance, they are convenient for the men. A mirror could be hung at the end of the cupboard above the tubs. Combs and soaps could be kept in the cupboard. Shoe Shining. The utility room seems to be the place for shining shoes. The built-in shoe shining cabinet* has a shoe board which opens with one motion. The cabinet provides shelves for storing supplies and equipment. Brooms. There should be a closet* for cleaning equipment and supplies. A convenient place for this is a 5-inch cabinet built on the entrance door. It could be reached from the hall and from the

*Plans for the Electric Clothes Drier, Sewing Closet, Broom Closet, Ironing Board and Shoe Shining Cabinet are available from the Washington Extension Service. 8 utility room, for the door will likely be open most of · the time when the room is in use. Child's Play Table. There might be a small table and chairs under the by the sewing machine for children to use for cutting, painting and sewing while mother is working in this room. Finishing and the Utility Room The and woodwork should be painted or enameled so as to be washable. Cupboard shelves and the inside of drawers are easiest kept clean if varnished. Colorful cotton curtains will make the room more attractive. A mottled or jaspe linoleum should be cemented to the door and counter top. Good lighting is essential for getting work done quickly and easily. If the utility room can have windows on two sides, all working surfaces will be well lighted. Place the equipment to avoid your shadow on the surface. A large room should have two 100- watt ceiling lights or a fluorescent light for night work and dark days. Electric outlets for appliances should be placed 4 feet high at each working area, with the iron outlet 5 to 6 feet high.

Published and distributed in furtherance of the Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914 by the State College of Washington, Extension Service, J. C. Knott, Director, and the U . S. Department of Agriculture co-operating.

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