the mystery of the disintegrating laundry
January 27, 2016 8:03 PM   Subscribe

Why was laundry disintegrating on urban clotheslines in the 1920s? Chemical Heritage Magazine has the answer!
posted by moonmilk (18 comments total) 29 users marked this as a favorite
 
I love the fact that there exists something called the "Chemical Heritage Magazine." MeFi never fails to deliver...
posted by Wizzle at 8:07 PM on January 27, 2016 [26 favorites]


The Chemical Heritage Foundation is based in Philadelphia and, in addition to their museum and educational work, serves as an excellent event space for small conferences.

They have never disintegrated my clothes.
posted by Tomorrowful at 8:38 PM on January 27, 2016 [21 favorites]


Perhaps those who washed their own clothes were unable to find anyone to blame in a manner that is recorded in history? Also, what happened afterwards ? Clothes just kept dissolving until well into the 20th century? Good grief.
posted by mikhuang at 8:41 PM on January 27, 2016 [2 favorites]


If it was just water, UV rays, and sulfur dioxide from coal smoke it would seem like laundry washed at home would be affected too, but people blamed the laundry services?

That's a really good point, edeezy.

This is reaching, but maybe the lye-based soap of home launderers left the clothes more alkaline and that neutralized enough of the acid -- or maybe similar soap was simply rinsed off more completely by the laundry services.
posted by jamjam at 8:43 PM on January 27, 2016 [5 favorites]


I expect most families in the 1920s would have purchased soap, not made it themselves. Wouldn't commercially-produced soap be thoroughly neutralised?

I think some other possible factors are:
  • People who didn't use commercial laundries simply didn't wash their clothes as often;
  • The people who used commercial laundries lived in the cities, where there was more pollution;
  • Wet laundry from the commercial launderer arrived late in the day, so it took longer to dry.
posted by Joe in Australia at 9:18 PM on January 27, 2016 [4 favorites]


I wonder if they're having problems like that in Beijing right now?
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 10:06 PM on January 27, 2016


My assumption was extra time spent sitting wet, which is more time for the chemical reaction to go on. If you were doing laundry at home you would hang things up to dry right away, if they are delivering wet clothes, they could end up hanging around wet for a long time before the drying process starts.
posted by idiopath at 10:07 PM on January 27, 2016 [1 favorite]


> I expect most families in the 1920s would have purchased soap, not made it themselves. Wouldn't commercially-produced soap be thoroughly neutralised?

Commercially-produced laundry soap wasn't available until the 1930s, IIRC.
posted by desuetude at 10:49 PM on January 27, 2016 [2 favorites]


By 1910 more than 1,300 tons of sulfuric acid were being released daily into the atmosphere of New York City. When wet cloth was exposed in the laboratory to coal smoke, then sunlight and heat, it broke down rapidly, matching exactly the processes first observed by customers. Kohnstamm scientists determined that this precise reaction was caused by the interaction of water, ultraviolet rays, and the sulfur dioxide found in coal smoke. These three factors reacted to form sulfuric acids on the surface of the fabrics, leaving them weakened and damaged. Unexpectedly, this laundry dilemma proved to be the canary in the coal mine, pointing the way to a much larger and more urgent environmental problem.

The "good old days" were one but not the other.

I love the fact that there exists something called the "Chemical Heritage Magazine." MeFi never fails to deliver...

Hey, as a kid we always had the latest copies of Chemical Week around the house because my dad was a chemical engineer.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 10:56 PM on January 27, 2016 [2 favorites]


Fascinating!
posted by monopas at 11:10 PM on January 27, 2016


Commercially-produced laundry soap wasn't available until the 1930s, IIRC.

Sunlight Soap was first produced (for laundry use) in 1884, and Lux flakes a few years later.

But! Apparently linens were often soaked in a lye solution to bleach them. This was called bucking, and it would explain why cotton clothes, specifically, were harmed by exposure to air and sunlight after passing through a commercial wash: the commercial wash may not have used lye to bleach clothes, or it may have rinsed them more thoroughly. Maybe home washing unwittingly protected linens by leaving an alkaline residue in the cloth.
posted by Joe in Australia at 11:39 PM on January 27, 2016 [6 favorites]


Fascinating! Refreshingly brief and to the point, as well—the article covers its subject effectively without getting bogged down. A great little nugget of history that I never knew existed, set at the intersection of social science, chemistry, and environmental quality. My favorite type MetaFilter. Thanks!
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 3:32 AM on January 28, 2016 [2 favorites]


Also, what happened afterwards ? Clothes just kept dissolving until well into the 20th century?

Rising levels of lead in the atmosphere from the use of leaded gasoline buffered the acid in the air.

That's my completely made-up answer.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:38 AM on January 28, 2016 [1 favorite]


My assumption is that the disintegration of the clothes of those unable to afford commercial services just didn't matter as the lives of the poor didn't matter.
posted by Obscure Reference at 4:59 AM on January 28, 2016 [1 favorite]


Yet another argument for Fluff and Fold. Spend the extra on the dry, it's worth it!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 5:56 AM on January 28, 2016 [1 favorite]


Their clothes disintegrated? Doesn't matter, it's too late; I'd already seen everything!
posted by blue_beetle at 6:11 AM on January 28, 2016 [3 favorites]


Commercially-produced laundry soap wasn't available until the 1930s, IIRC.

I don't even care whether this comment is serious or a joke.
posted by Literaryhero at 6:18 AM on January 28, 2016


I wonder if they're having problems like that in Beijing right now?

You need sunlight to make it happen.
posted by JoeZydeco at 11:47 AM on January 28, 2016 [2 favorites]


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