PLANNING

EXTENSION BULLETIN 320 MAY 1947 l

EXTENSION SERVICE INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES THE STATE COLLEGE OF WASHINGTON PULLMAN, WASHIN.GTON / PLANNING

EXTENSION BULLETIN 320 MAY 1947

~~ HELEN NOYES Extension Economist in Home Management

ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT PRE PA RED ~~ ESTHER POND SMITH Formerly Extension Economist in Home Management

EXTENSION SERVICE INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES THE STATE COLLEGE OF WASHINGTON PULLMAN, WASHINGTON

it help you with those countless big and little jobs which have to be done.

A utility room is a service room located preferably on the first floor of the house near The size of the utility room and the amount the kitchen and the rear entrance. This loca­ of storage space needed is determined by the amount and kind of work to be done there. If tion makes it easily accessible from inside or a back porch, a bedroom, or part of a large outside the house. It provides a place for kitchen is being remodeled into a utility room, work. All washing equipment, includ­ the uses of the room will be limited by the ing an indoor clothesline, can be incorporated amount of space available. into this room. It provides a place for men to wash, and for such jobs as sorting eggs, clean­ The utility room is a workroom and not a ing vegetables, cutting meat, and arranging back entrance to the house. A small rear hall flowers. If so desired, space can be set aside that leads to the kitchen, the utility room, and for a well-planned sewing room. The hot­ the basement makes a good entrance. water tank and furnace may be placed in the To plan a utility room, first make a list of the utility room. work to be done there. Then list the equipment A utility room should be designed to save and materials needed for those jobs. The list you hours of labor. Plan it carefully, and let may be something like this:

Jobs Equipment to Be Used Materials Needed

Men wash. Lavatory or sink, mirror. Soap. towels, combs. Shine shoes. Shoe-shining board, polishing cloth or Shoe polishes. brushes. Arrange flowers. Table or counter, flower bowls and holders, Water. scissors, knife. Clean vegetables. Counter, scissors, knife, peeler, brushes, Water, newspapers. garbage can. Wrap packages. Scissors, pencil, pen. Paper, cord, labels, ink, pen. Cut out garments. Counter, scissors, pins, tape measure. Patterns, materials. Sew. Counter, sewing machine, chair, lap table, Thread, trimmings, materials, sewing closet, scissors, pins, thimble, mir­ snaps, etc. ror, wastebasket. Sort clothes. Clothes chute or , sorting table. Soiled clothes, -removal kit.

Wash clothes. , laundry tubs, clothes Water softener, soap, , basket, cart. water. Starch clothes. Pans, hot plate, table. Starch, water.

Hang clothes to dry. Electric drier or indoor clotheslines. . Sprinkle clothes. Sprinkling table, sprinkler, clothes basket. Vv arm water.

Iron. Electric iron, ironer, board, racks for Pressing pads and cloths, hanging clothes. sponge, water.

Page Three and drains need to be installed in every home as soon as the budget permits. Even without such con­ veniences, washday can be made Tubs easier, if a little thought is given to the convenient arrangement of Electric Drying the laundry equipment. r-:::1 Cabinet r 1__=_j A floor drain, a drain pump on your washing machine, or a hose G to siphon water out of tubs are - ---<> all devices that reduce fatigue in Adjustable Wide washing. - Ironing Boord 10- XII's" ------< --~~·~~~~~- --- Stand Erect While Working Hamper Here Stooping is tiring work. One­ if No Chute third of the energy needed for hanging up clothes can be saved by having the clothes basket at your waist height instead of on the floor or ground. For sorting

Fig. 1.-A floor plan for a with an electric drying cabinet. clothes use a table instead of the floor. If your washing machine is too low, raise it with blocks of wood under the legs. Or better yet, buy a machine that is ad­ justable in height.

Washing clothes is one of the most tiring Boxes, stools, backless chairs fitted with jobs the homemaker has to do. Too often the casters, or benches may be used to hold tubs equipment for the job is inade­ quate, the space for doing the I work is too small, and it is diffi­ I I I I I cult to get enough hot water to I I I I I . I do a good job. 'Adjustable :24" Hamper: Wide I l I I Research studies of washing 1 Ironing : l-c_r---c.; J 1 Board 1 operations in homes show that 1,20"X60" / much fatigue is caused by lack of \ I \1 I /-¢- organization of the work, unnec­ I I \ ,' ,, essary . stooping and stretching, \ / ,_..... -, ... , and the lifting and carrying of 8 heavy loads. " Automatic Automatic Use Good Equipment " \ Washer Dryer Piped hot and cold water, and \ ,I' electric power are two of the B s Soaps greatest helps in making wash­ day easier. An electric pump and water heater and stationary tubs Fig. 2.-A floor plan for a laundry room with an automatic electric washer and drier.

Page Four and clothes baskets at a height to prevent should empty on the sorting counter. In a one­ stooping. A laundry cart (see p. 8), a coaster story house with a utility room on the main wagon, or a frame set on the wheels of a baby floor or in an old house where a clothes chute carriage will carry your wet clothes to the line. cannot be installed easily, a large, ventilated Space Allowances pull-out drawer on rollers will serve as a Enough space must be allowed around equip­ hamper for soiled clothes. The section of the ment for you to be able to work freely. The counter top over the hamper may be hinged so that it can be. lifted up when clothes are put in or taken out for washing. ~ LENGTH OF TUBS --+j Space must also be allowed in the laundry room to dry clothes and to iron. (See pages 6 T-=----,.------=---~-=--=- -=--=--=-----=--=------=- to 9.) 2i 6" 1u=~~~~~:p-= --~~~~----~~0 v Placing the Equipment The order in which laundry work is done with a nonautomatic washing machine is: sort­ Fig. 3.-The soap and stain-removal cabinet above the tubs. ing clothes, removing , soaking clothes, washing them in the machine, rinsing them, minimum space allowance for passageways and placing them in the basket, and hanging them for space between large pieces of equipment is on lines or placing them in a drier. Equipmen~ 30 inches (the width of the av- I erage door). At each end of the J . 0 t I laundry tubs, 18 to 24 inches of -----,-----,.----.--.-----r--r---r--' Kitchen open space are needed.

There should be enough Basement space near the washing ma­ chine for a table or counter 2 ,_ - feet wide for sorting dirty ----s

clothes. The length of this Coots table will vary according to the 24" X 30" ~-~·\\ . size of the family wash. Many ,\ families need a table from 6 to I " 8 feet long. This may also be Portable Ironing Boord I used for sprinkling clothes, 15" Wide Supplie~ I 2 . wrapping packages, sorting 1 11 1 I 9 6 X 12 \ s~r': .eggs, and arranging .flowers. / \ [12"~n1s" 1- It needs to be 36 to 38 inche:; / Hot Plate from the floor. ¢--/ ·/ A small sink may be placed Drying {QJ Rock ~t8 · Washer near one end of the counter. In ~ Cupboo•d it, men may wash; it also pro­ r----~--. . €) vides a convenient water sup­ ply for removing stains, mak­ ing starch, and sprinkling DB~Hompe•[ ___(l , clothes. A hot plate for use in making starch is placed on this counter. The clothes chute Fig. 4.-A pla,p for a, laundry room with drying lines.

Page Five when they cannot be dried out of ~ · ~ ' ~ • doors. Built-in clotheslines may be used for this purpose, or an electric clothes drier installed.1 The space required for racks or driers and their location in the E ~ ~~ ~ laundry room are shown in Fig­ ~ - ~~ ures 1, 2, and 4. ~~ ~" ~~ A good arrangement for indoor """ , ...... ~)I. '"~...,. ..l. lines is to put 1 ~-inch harness .ll. ' ""t rings about 3 inches apart on the ' opposite ends of a rectangle made of ~-inch pipe. Fasten the pipe to the wall or ceiling in a hori­ F ig. 5.-A rectangle of %.-inch pipe fastened to the ceiling m akes a drying rack. zon tal position (see Figures 5 W ires are attached to harness rings placed 3 inches a part. and 14) ; and fasten clothesline wire to rings opposite each other. should be placed so that you can proceed from If there are open joists, as in a basement, a one task to another in this order with only a drying rack of wood and pipe may be made. step or two from one place to the ne~ct. For each corner of the rack, nail a 2 x 4 at right In a laundry room with an automatic wash­ angles to a joist and brace it, as shown in ing machine, the order in which the work is Figure 6. Bore a hole in the lower end of each done is: sorting clothes, removing stains, plac­ 2 x 4 and slip a length of pipe, with the required ing clothes in the machine, placing them in a number of harness rings on it, through each basket, and hanging them on lines or putting pair of opposite holes. Use a nut or cotter pin them into the drier. on the end of the pipe to hold it. When the pipe Figs. 1, 2, and 4 show how equipment may be is in place, fasten clothesline wire to the rings placed in 1Jtility rooms for easier washdays. opposite each other. The wire should be loose Each family will have to work out an arrangement to fit the size and shape of the room available. Be sure in any arrangement to use the best equipment you can afford, place it to prevent stoop­ ing and to allow work to proceed in its best order, and allow suffi­ cient space to move freely around the equipment.

All laundry rooms should have F ig. 6.-A basement drying rack may be m ade of 2 x 4's fastened to the joists a place for drying clothes on days and braced. W ires are fastened to harness rings on a length of pipe.

1 Plans for a homemade electric drying cabinet can be obtained from your county Extension office.

Page Six Fig. 7 .-Details of the wooden drying rack on pulleys. enough to allow the rings to slide along the time. Place the line near the utility room door pipe so that they can be pushed close together so you wiil not have to carry clothes farther for convenience or far apart for quick drying. than is necessary. Plant grass under your clothesline and keep it mowed. This makes it Another arrangement is to make a rectangu­ both pleasant and easy to hang up the clothes. lar rack of pipe or wood strips and fasten it to Four well-spaced sturdy posts of wood or the ceiling by a system of pulleys. This rack can then be lowered when clothes are being metal pipe are the best supports for an outdoor placed on it and raised when they are to be clothesline. Crossarms are placed at each end dried. It can be pulled up to the ceiling when to hold the wires for an outdoor line. Stretch not in use (see Figures 7 and 16). the wires taut. Rust-proof wire makes the best line. Clean A clothesline within easy reach will do much it occasionally with a cloth dipped in kerosene, to take the "stretch" out of laundering. Six then wipe it dry with a dry cloth. Wipe the line feet is a good height for most women. with a clean damp cloth each time before using Remember-a clothes basket on a cart at the it. right height to prevent stooping will sav~ · Y9U about one-third of the energy ordinarily used in hanging up clothes.

The dry clothes should be taken from the lines or the drier to the work counter for A satisfactory outdoor line must be taut, sprinkling. Then they should be placed in the 2 easily cleaned, the right height (about 6 feet), basket on the portable laundry cart. This cart and long enough to dry all the clothes at one can then be moved to the ironing board or elec-

2 Plans for constructing the adjustable wide ironing board and the laundry cart are available from your county Extension service. Page Seven Fig. 8.-A clothes basket on a cart at the right height to prevent stooping saves Fig. 9.-A well-equipped laundry room with sorting table and washing, drying, about one-third of the energy ordinarily and ironing equipment. The homemade electric clothes drier is placed in the corner Fig. 10.-A broom cabinet placed on used in hanging up clothes. near the washing equipment. The cabinet at the left is for shining shoes. a door.

Fig. 13.-A sewing area may be a part of the utility room. The utility table is used for cutting. Supplies are stored in drawers in the table. The sewing closet has Fig. 11.-A built-in ironing board 20 storage space for mending, for patterns, and for sewing inches wide speeds up ironing. It . is ad­ Fig. 12.-The wide ironing board lowered so that the worker can justable in height. sit down while ironing. equipment. _ --~

Fig. 14.-A drying rack made of %-inch pipe fas­ Fig. 15.-The drying rack in the homemade electric Fig. 16.-A wooden drying rack suspended from the tened to the wall and ceiling. Note that the basket clothes drier. The frame of the rack is made of *-inch ceiling by a system of pulleys. It is lowered for placing is placed on a cart to prevent the user's having to tubing. It is fitted with rollers so the rack can be pulled clothes on the rack and raised for drying. It is pulled stoop to reach wet clothes. out to hang up the clothes. to the ceiling when not in use. s Strip Heaters I Men's Coats 20"X32" Electric 36" X 60" ;----' Adjustable Wide ~ Ironing Board ' 20"X60" ' ... , .... ______

Kitchen ------rr'G"x 14' - Basement Sewing Movable Counter for: Machine Sorting Hot Plate -----, Starchmoklng I B Sprinkling I Arranging Sewing' Flowers Lop : Children's Boord 1 Gomes I Cutting I Wrapping Sewing 5::::8\I I Closet Shoe Shining ) \ 20"X 30" Boord ---.,'

Fig. 17.-A floor plan for a utility room that provides space for laundry work, rlothes drying, a utility table, and a sewing area.

tric ironer and placed within easy reach of the A sleeveboard may be built 4 inches above worker (Figure 8). the ironing board. Both the ironing board and the sleeveboard need to be padded with two The Built-In Ironing Board thicknesses of heavy material, such as table A convenient type of ironing board is 20 padding, and covered with removable fitted inches wide and 60 inches long and has a shaped covers. end for ironing dresses or children's clothes. A An outlet for the iron may be placed above board of this size is wide enough for you to iron the sleeveboard or beside the cabinet 48 inches linens without moving them often or to iron a from the floor. An outlet at this height keeps man's shirt by the new motion-saving method the iron cord from catching on the board. (Figure 11). A fold-back clothes rod on the inside of the An ironing board should be adjustable in door of the ironing cabinet or on a near-by wall height so as to permit the worker either to sit in provides a place to hang garments on hangers. a chair or to stand while ironing (Figure 12). A towel bar for hanging damp pressing cloths Such a board needs to be made to adjust at 1 Yz­ is also a convenience. - inch intervals, from 21 to 34 inches from the The work counter is a good place to lay flat floor. 2 This also makes possible the adjustment pieces after they are ironed. If desired, the of the board to comfortable heights for grow­ drying rack rna y be used for hanging clothes ing girls. as they are ironed.

Page Nine ------.-., s I \ I \ I I I roner 1 Me n's t;====::::.' Supplies \, __ ,:l; I Coa t s I Shoe I 2 0 "X 3 2" Shi ning -- -,------; - - .J , Board ' ------~------/Ad j ustable Wide (, Iron ing Board --- -,,, 20" X 60" Lavatory - Ki tch en ------.__ -- - Movable-·-- Co unter for : Sorti ng Hot Plate Automat1c Starchmaking Sprinkling I Wa sher Arranging Sewing 1 Flowers Lap I Children' s Board : 8 · Games Cutting A utomatic Wrapping Dr ye r Roll of Pape r Sewing Closet 20" X 30"

Fig. 18.-A plan for a utility room with automatic washing and drying equipment, a utility table, a sewing area, and a place for men to wash.

The Combination Laundry-Sewing Room . ·areas, or so as to be used on all sides. The side A utility room may include a place for sewing facing the laundry area is planned for laundry and mending, as well as space for washing and purposes, and the other side is for sewing and ironing. In such an arrangement, table space ironing supplies. for cutting out garments, storage for sewing supplies, and equipment for pressing garments are provided. Plans for a combination laundry­ sewing room are shown in Figure.s 17 and 18. Shower 30" X 30" The Work Counter The movable work counter (see Figure 13) does double duty as a cutting and sewing table and as a space for sorting or sprinkling clothes, wrapping packages, arranging flowers, or play­ ing games. This work counter should be 2 or 3 feet wide and not less than 6 feet long. If it is on rollers, it can be pushed to the place in the room most convenient for the work you are doing. It may Fig. 19.-A washroom and shower room for men to be placed so as to divide the room into working use near the back entrance is a convenience on every farm.

Page Ten On the laundry side, there may be one large radio and for some of the toys with which the ventilated drawer on rollers for use as a soiled­ children might play when they are in the utility clothes hamper. A partition in the hamper aids room. the sorting and keeps the cleaner clothes away from the very dirty ones. Directly below the The Sewing Area The sewing· area is placed on the side of the room opposite the door so that the home­ maker's sewing can remain undisturbed if she , . .,.:, ,; ... -. ...',.:,.- .,,,. ""····. ,.,; -_I- - _I is called to another task. The work counter3 ~~------U= =-~= _:-.71 I separates it from the rest of the room and is ~g~~.- ~:,. .., ~"· t-- =_: __ -__-:1 used for cutting out garments. Beneath the \W~~.....,;lil~u-:.:J-- ' I counter is a lapboard, 25 inches from the floor. It is directly opposite the chair at the sewing machine and is convenient for pinning and bast­ , ~;ti~~~ mg.

I I 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 may be used for such things as frozen-food packages. In the corner of the sewing area is a sewing closet (Figure 13). On the door of the closet,3 racks and shelves are placed so that thread, scissors, a thimble, a tape. measure, and other sewing supplies can be reached from the sew­ ing machine. Inside the closet, there are slide­ out trays for filing patterns, leftover and new materials, and mending supplies. 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. The ironing board is near by for pressing. Fig. 20.-A plan for a closet for chore and play clothes, with low hooks and a shelf for small children to use.

counter are pull-out boards for enlarging the table space. Below them are shallow, parti­ tioned drawers for wire, cord, labels, and house­ ( , hold tools, such as a hammer, pliers, and a Washroom screw driver. The cupboards below have A place near the back entrance for men to shelves for laundry supplies and flower vases. wash is needed in every farm home. This may A roll of wrapping paper may be screwed to the be a sink in the utility room (Figures 2 and 4), end of the table. or a separate washroom may be planned near The open shelves at the end of the counter the rear entrance with a washbowl, toilet, and provide a central place in the room for a small shower (Figure 19). A room 4 feet 3 inches by

3 Plans for constructing the work counter and the sewing closet can be obtained from the county Exten­ sion office.

Page Eleven 4 feet 6 inches or 3 feet by 6 feet4 is large are placed. Opposite the hangers are hooks 68 enough for a washbowl and toilet if the door inches from the floor for hanging up overalls. and window are located so as to allow room A shelf for children's caps and mittens is for· the fixtures. placed about 44 inches from the floor. The A storage cabinet above the washbowl pro­ hooks below it for coats are placed 9 inches vides a place for combs, hand lotion, and shav­ apart. ing supplies. A cupboard for clean towels, The slatted rack for boots is 4 feet long and toilet paper, soap, and cleaning supplies is also 18 inches wide. It is built 3 inches from the needed in this room. floor and is removable so that cleaning under it is easy. Storage for Work Clothes A place to keep chore clothes is needed near Shoe Shining 5 the rear entrance. A closet 2 by 3 feet is large A built-in shoe-shining cabinet has shelves enough for most families. If there are children for storing supplies and equipment, and a board in the family, provision should be made for that opens for shining shoes. their play clothes, with hooks, shelves, and rods Brooms placed at a height that they can reach. If closet A convenient place for storing cleaning space is not available, hooks and shelves may equipment and supplies is in the hall that leads be placed just inside the entrance to the house. to the kitchen or utility room. A cabinet 5 It is also convenient to have the wraps stored inches deep may be built on the entrance door 5 near the place where the men wash. Children's to a room (Fig. 10) , or a small closet may be clothes can often be stored in small or odd­ built for this purpose. shaped spaces that cannot be used for anything else. Sometimes such a space is found under Finishing the Utility Room the stairs. Light-colored walls and woodwork make a In cold or rainy weather, coats need to be room seem cheerful and attractive. A washable stored in a warm place if possible. The electric finish is the most satisfactory type for a utility clothes drier mentioned on page 6 may be used room. Cupboard shelves and the insides of for drying wet garments. Provision must be drawers are easier to keep clean if they are var­ made for storing rubbers and overshoes. Slatted nished and waxed. racks are desirable for this purpose, as they not Lighting only keep the boots off the floor but also allow Good lighting is essential for getting work them to dry faster. It is easier to clean under done quickly and easily. If the utility room can the rack if it is made so that it can be lifted off have windows on two sides, all working sur­ the floor. A vent in the wall or door provides faces will be well lighted. Place the equipment ventilation. so as to avoid shadows on the work surfaces. A The closet shown in Figure 20 provides large room needs two ceiling lights, each of shelves for caps and mittens and hooks for which has a 100-watt incandescent bulb. Fluo­ coats. The closet is 2 feet deep and 50 feet rescent lights are often used to light work areas long. The shelves are 10 inches wide. The such as are found in the utility room. highest shelf is 70 inches from the floor. The one below it may be placed from 52 to 58 inches Convenience Outlets from the floor; there may be hooks below it for Electric outlets for appliances should be coats belonging to the grownups. These hooks placed about 4 feet high at each working area are placed 12 inches apart. At one end of the in order to be within easy reach and still keep shelf is a long hook on which coats on hangers the cords off the floor.

4 Plans for washrooms of this size are shown in Extension Bulletin 332, Planning Adequate Bathroo'tnS. ~Plans for the shoe-shining cabinet and broom closet are available from your county Extension office.

Page Twelve

Printed and distributed in furtherance of the Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, by The State College of \Vashington Extension Service, E. V. Ellington, Director, and the U. S. Department of Agriculture co-operating.

547-10m-s2700