Solutions to every exercise in Chapter 10: Care and Maintenance of Fabrics in Institutions of NCERT Human Ecology and Family Sciences, Part 2 (Class XII). The chapter has two activities (Activity 1 and Activity 2), four review questions at the end, and one practical (stain removal). All of them are answered below in the book’s order.
1 Activity 1 (page 191)
Q. Do a survey of types of washing machines available in the market. Collect pictures and paste them in the given boxes. (Boxes: Top Loading Washing Machine, Front Loading Washing Machine, Two Tub Machine)
Answer: Visit two or three shops (or look at brochures), paste one picture in each box and note these points under it:
| Point to note | Top loading | Front loading | Two tub |
|---|---|---|---|
| How clothes are put in | from the top | from the front side | note it from the machine |
| Kind | note it from the machine (fully automatic, semi-automatic or manually operated) | note it from the machine | note it from the machine (the book: semi-automatic machines are generally two-tub) |
| Washing method | agitation or pulsation | tumbling | note it from the shop (the book links agitation and pulsation to top loading machines) |
| Operator’s work | fully automatic: set the controls once; semi-automatic: intervene at frequent intervals | fill and drain rinse water with each cycle | |
| Capacity (from the shop) | write the kg load given on the machine; domestic machines handle about 5-10 kg | ||
Also note the controls you see: water level control, temperature button/dial/panel, number of rinses, and the spin speed in rpm (the book gives 333-1100 rpm as the range and 600-620 rpm as the optimum).
2 Activity 2 (page 195)
Q. Make a list of the type of fabric articles in your home. Categorise them according to the maintenance activities done within the household, sent to commercial laundry or use made of certain professionals.
Answer: A sample list, categorised as the book describes:
| Done within the household | Sent to commercial laundry | Given to professionals (dhobi) |
|---|---|---|
| everyday clothing: shirts, kurtas, salwars, school uniforms, socks | bigger household linen: heavy curtains, bed covers, blankets | bed sheets and pillow covers for washing and ironing |
| small articles of daily use: handkerchiefs, towels, dusters | special articles: silk sarees, woolen suits and coats (dry-cleaning) | cotton sarees and dupattas for starching and finishing |
| kitchen napkins, aprons | carpets, zari articles (zari polishing) | office shirts and trousers for ironing only |
The book’s levels: household laundry takes care of clothing and small articles of daily use; bigger articles of household linen and some special articles go to commercial laundries; dhobis collect material from the household for washing and/or ironing and finishing.
3 Review Questions (page 200)
Q. What are the two aspects of care and maintenance of fabrics?
Answer: Care and maintenance of fabrics includes two aspects:
- Keeping the material free of physical damage and rectifying any damage that may have occurred during its use (for example by mending and repairing).
- Retaining or refreshing the appearance in terms of removal of stains and dirt, and retaining the textural and visual characteristics of the fabric.
Fabrics are chosen for specific properties, so these must be retained for the expected life of the material; good care prolongs its serviceability.
Q. What are the factors which affect the process of cleaning of fabrics?
Answer: The care and maintenance requirements of a fabric depend on:
- Fibre content: the fibre or fibres it is made of.
- Type of yarn.
- Fabric construction techniques.
- Finishes given to the fabric.
- The purpose for which it is used.
The care requirements set by these factors apply to the laundry processes the book lists: stain removal, role of water, soaps and detergents, methods of washing, finishing treatments, ironing and hot pressing, and folding.
Q. How are the different sections organised in a commercial or institutional laundry?
Answer: Commercial laundries are organised in different sections, each dealing with a specific job:
- Job sections: washing, water extraction, drying, pressing and ironing.
- Customer sections: some laundries have a separate section for hospital and institutional work, and another for individual and personal work.
- Special sections: dry-cleaning; fibre-specific articles like woolens, silks and synthetics; special articles like blankets and carpets. Some also have arrangements for dyeing and special finishes like zari polishing.
- Support units: most laundries have units for inspection, sorting out of materials and pretreatments like mending, repairing and stain removal.
Equipment: washing machines of 100 kg or more per cycle, separate dry-cleaning machines, hydro extractors, driers, flat bed ironing and pressing equipment, roller ironing and calendaring machines, folding and packaging tables and trolleys. Records: the article is checked on receipt, damage or special care is recorded, an invoice is given, and code tags matching the invoice identify each customer’s items.
In an institutional (hospital) laundry the work runs in 10 steps: collection from departments, transportation to the laundry plant, unloading and sorting, washing (100 kg per load), hydro-extraction (60-70% moisture removed), drying, pressing-ironing-folding-stacking, mending and segregation of condemned articles, packing, distribution.
Q. What are the differences in processing laundry work in commercial laundries and hospital laundries?
Answer:
| Point | Commercial laundry | Hospital laundry |
|---|---|---|
| Customers | individuals or institutions; several centres; transport service | the hospital’s own departments (Emergency, OT, OPD, wards) |
| Fabrics | may have separate sections for dry-cleaning, woolens, silks, synthetics, blankets and carpets | mostly cotton, dyed with wash-fast dyes; only the blankets are woolen |
| Main concern | cleaning and finishing; some offer dyeing and zari polishing | hygiene, cleanliness and disinfection; disposables burnt where infection is a threat |
| Finishing | pressing and ironing, folding and packaging | no starching or whitening; ironing and pressing may not be done to perfection |
| Stains and repair | stain removal, mending and repairing as pretreatments | stubborn stains may not be taken notice of; repair and condemnation may or may not be included |
| Process | check → record damage → invoice → code tags → job sections | 10 steps from collection to distribution; bed linen sorted as clean, mildly soiled, very soiled |
| Records | customer’s invoice and code tags | receipt for washable linen for collection and disbursement to each department |
4 Practical 1: Stain removal (page 201)
Theme: Care and maintenance of fabric products: Stain Removal. Task: To remove different types of stains like ball pen, blood, coffee, tea, lipstick, curry, grease, ink.
Purpose: A stain is an unwanted mark or colouration on a fabric caused by contact and absorption of foreign matter, which needs special treatment before the actual washing process.
Conduct: identify the stain first, since the right procedure depends on it.
Procedure: take two samples of each stain on white cotton cloth of 4″ × 4″. Treat one and keep the other as the controlled sample. Remove the stain using the book’s table (white cotton, so the “Cotton and Linen” column applies):
| Stain | Fresh (cotton) | Old (cotton) |
|---|---|---|
| Blood | soak in cold water, then wash in dilute ammonia | steep in cold water and salt until removed (1 oz to 2 pints) |
| Ball pen ink | steep in methylated spirit; wash with soap and water | |
| Curry | wash with soap and water; bleach in sunlight and air | same as for fresh; bleach with javelle water |
| Grease | wash with hot water and soap | treat with grease solvent (petrol, methylated spirit); wash with hot water and soap |
| Ink | rub with cut tomato and salt, wash; or soak in sour milk or curd for half an hour; or apply salt and lime juice for half an hour | prolonged sour milk / salt and lime treatment; steep in dilute oxalic acid; rinse with dilute borax solution |
| Lipstick | steep in methylated spirit; wash with soap and water | work glycerine in to moisten and soften; leave a short while; rinse, wash with soap and water |
| Tea and coffee | pour boiling water through | spread borax and pour boiling water through; or steep in glycerine until removed |
Observation: compare the treated sample with the controlled sample and record how far each stain was removed.
Note: after the practical, stick the control and treated samples in your file. (The silk, wool and synthetics treatments are in the full notes.)