The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California

Carpets And Rugs

There is no excuse for allowing grit and sand to accumulate at the base of the pile when proper cleaning is all that is required to remove it. Therefore, there is no need to give consideration to this factor in the purchase of a rug.

How To Distinguish Wool, Cotton, Linen and Jute

In examining threads of various kinds, it is advantageous to have two solutions, one acid and the other alkaline. The acid should be a 40 percent, hydrochloric solution, while the alkaline solution may he made by dissolving one tablespoon of lye in a pint of water.

In making tests, both solutions should be boiling hot. In order to study a fiber, a thread should be removed from the fabric, and if it is one that has been treated in any way, it should be thoroughly washed so as to remove all sizing, gum, glue, or whatever may have been applied to the thread. Usually treatments of this kind do not penetrate to the center of the thread, so that clean fibers can be obtained by opening the thread with the point of a penknife. In addition to testing for solubility in acid or alkali, the thread can be cut with shears, singed with a match, plunged into water end on, combed out with the point of a knife, so as to separate the individual fibers and reveal the length and thickness when examined with the magnifying glass. In comparing threads of practically equal size, a great deal can be told by breaking the thread with the fingers.