AMERICANS AT WORK LAUNDRY WORKERS

[Music] apparel off proclaims the man that was Shakespeare's comment on well-dressed citizens of the 17th century today Americans at work in laundry and dry cleaning plants keep our apparel looking new and fresh they brighten Blue Monday and wash days become leisure days leaving the housewife more time for Less laborious [Music] Pursuits our personal valet have become so expert at caring for our clothing that we never doubt their ability to help us is there a dark stain that looks as if it will never come out it will be completely gone when you see the Garment again these people make your work easy year by doing it For You Laundry and Dry Cleaning workers have the knowledge to make every item really clean and new looking time after time from receipt to delivery every worker shares the responsibility for your satisfaction and continued use of his Service as in a manufacturing plant these men and women use conveyor belts to move their work from loading room to delivery station instead of making a new product however these workers renew old ones the people in the Sorting room have the job of Distributing the various items in a bundle of laundry to the specialized cleaning departments they are also responsible for tagging each bundle so that when your clean laundry is returned it is all there each of the net bags in which small pieces are washed is is given a numbered tag that will identify your individual laundry in each department on conveyor belts and in elevated baskets laundry is distributed throughout the plant small pieces go one way large things [Music] another giant wash Wheels capable of handling 400 lb of wash at once are completely automatic in operation a housewife would have to load a home machine 50 times to equal one cycle of the wheel the larger heavier laundry sheets bed spreads blankets and tablecloths are washed the same way but in specialty Wheels designed for the heavier loads good grooming a term meaning being welld dressed in clean pressed clothing is a part of our high standard of living the quantity of laundry handled each day by these men and women is an indic of the importance we all attach to this standard [Music] one has only to watch as bundle after bundle descends from the overhead baskets into the washing machine to know the size of the job of the laundry and dry cleaning worker wash day in a commercial laundry is every weekday not just Monday some of the customers deliver and call for their laundry others have it picked up and delivered at home they depend on these workers to relieve them of a timeconsuming arduous task in days gone by the accepted method for washing clothes was to beat them with stones in the water of a nearby River or stream hardly a way to preserve your Sunday Best then wash day was a community Affair now wash day is a community service performed by the laundry and dry cleaning worker the baskets into which the wet laundry goes from the wash wheel actually form the two halves of the extractor drum for proper balance the bags are distributed evenly around the Sid of the [Music] shells the centrifuge does the work of wind and sun in a matter of minutes rather than hours the spinning drums extract the majority of the water from the bags of laundry leaving the Pieces Just damp enough to be properly ironed folded and packaged clean and wrinkle-free [Music] the multi-purpose drums again act as conveyors this time between centrifuge and the unloading station the net bags are emptied and sent back for a fresh load [Music] the numbered tag goes along with the wash in the conveyor basket from the moment a bundle of laundry is received by the sorter until it is wrapped for delivery it never seems to stop [Music] moving in a modern laundry there are many ways to take wrinkles out of wearing apparel rotating ironing boards on which the presser positions each piece move under a a steam iron that does the job without hand pressure small pieces like handkerchiefs and washable clothing are positioned and pressed while still slightly damp to give them the crispness of new cloth the neat packages the customer receives from the laundry are in keeping with the quality of work that goes into washing and pressing each garment a well- cared for article of clothing will never show its age until it becomes un fashionable the number of white shirts processed in a laundry each day is not surprising whether he wears them on the job or not every man uses dress shirts for either work or special occasions to handle the thousands of dress and Sport shirts that might go through a single plant daily special pressing machines have been designed to Aid the women in the shirt Department this drying form unit requires three operators each handling a different part of a shirt on forms that make a shirt come almost to life giving the impression of an animated headless scarecrow the collar sleeves cuffs and body of a shirt are pressed [Music] most ingenious is a machine that smoothly folds the sleeves of a shirt in one fast movement placing them in precisely the way a traveler never seems to be able to manage when folding shirts into a suitcase as each shirt is folded a protective bag is flipped over it to protect it until the wearer is ready to put it [Music] on the women in the flat Department are an energetic group shaking and folding the large items the flat work before putting them into the ironing machine there is a special technique to removing the folds and twists in a large sheet and a special way of placing it so that it will feed smoothly between the rolling of the [Applause] ironer one after another sometimes two small items side by side the flat work rolls through to come out soft and wrinkle-free [Music] every piece of laundry is handled carefully treated as gently as possible to make maintain the quality of work expected of these men and women nothing is too small or too large to receive individual [Music] attention where a little extra touch is necessary or requested the laundry worker is capable of doing that too in the hand pressing Department hand irons are used to finish delicate work like curtains or complicated Ruffles and pleat on clothing this is work that requires has an experienced hand and patience nothing is gained by hurrying over a difficult area but with their skill gained from constant practice these women move the work rapidly along in the rapping Department speed is of great importance the finished work could pile up rapidly if the worker were low the customers who have taken advantage of the time saved by having their laundry done for them can expect it to be ready when promised from start to finish sorting to wrapping a time schedule is followed and delivery time is met all the laundry is finished every piece brought in is returned no safe economical effective method is in General use for dry cleaning clothes at home the commercial plants designed for the job can remove almost any spot refresh and press the Garment each piece brought in is marked with a tag to identify its [Music] owner fluids are used to clean the garments in a matter similar to doing laundry in a wash wheel the clothing is not wellet through because the fluids do not penetrate the fibers as water and detergent will the tumbler agitates the clothing as the fluid lifts out the [Music] dirt a rotating extractor removes the excess fluid from the material leaving a small amount in the Garment the nature of the liquid used causes them to evaporate quickly leaving no odor and no unclean clothing dry cleaning wearing apparel regularly will make it last as long as the wearer has use for [Music] it some spots in a garment may be more deeply embedded than others and normal cleaning methods may not be sufficient to remove them a spotter a worker skilled in removing difficult stains uses special fluids and a stiff brush to perform a disappearing act a magician might envy Presto before your very eyes the spot is gone the weight and heat of a steam press gives a clean garment its shape creases are in the right places wrinkles are removed the Press operator puts the finishing touches to the [Music] [Applause] Garment few things give a man or woman the feeling of well-being that comes with wearing clothes that are clean and neat the members of the laundry and dry cleaning International Union AFL CIO concentrate on keeping us all looking smart and well dressed whether at work or play Americans at work for you Americans at work presented as a public service by the AFL [Music] CIO next week another story of Americans at work Americans whose skill and effort help keep keep our country great and strong [Applause]