Wonderful World of Wash 'n' Wear, The (1958)

[Music] my name is Jeffrey Lynn I have a story to tell you my story is about fabrics and folks like you and that engrossed young couple over there there was a time not too long ago when if something like this happened well how would you feel indignant sick all over after all a ruined suit or a cleaning and pressing job is expensive but my how times have changed annoyed certainly but only the mild annoyance that comes from knowing it'll take less than an hour to wash and dry them before putting them right back on just think less than an hour that's a miracle a miracle that could only happen in the wonderful world of wash and wear [Music] yes something besides the time has changed something quite important that's the real story one that begins over here in the bottom of the laundry basket of the average home of the average family for about 6,000 years now give or take a couple we've faced the problem of covering our bodies with clothing first the Fig leaves since then we've relied pretty much on four sturdy natural fibers animal and vegetable like for instance wool silk cotton [Music] and linen yes since the Stone Age man has spent a lot of time seeking better materials for his clothes plus a good deal more towards finding easier and different always newer always better ways to get his clothing clean right up to to today's automatics but we all know that the Fabrics we used couldn't always be cleaned by washing wool for example raw unprocessed wool just sheared wool's always been and is a leading warmth fiber for outerware especially has excellent wrinkle resistance good draping qualities is easily dyed a lot of design appeal yet no matter how now we bettered our laundry methods Through The Years this little woolly lamb just won't coton to washing true some wool items can be handw washed but even [Music] so that lad's growing as fast as crab grass or that sweater shrank we all know wool shrinks like no other natural fiber so with wool clothing it's either costly timeconsuming dry cleaning or we clean and press it as best we can with spot remover and an [Music] iron used to be some guys even pressed their pants under the mattress uh the newspapers prevented the Springs from leaving Impressions so while better washing methods solved some of our washing problems we knew further progress might be found found in something other than natural fibers for our clothes textile manufacturers clothing makers fabric designers all ask what can we find that's an improvement over wool or blends with it what looks feels drapes Fashions better than wool and for that matter cotton linen and silk we Americans go for that kind of challenge we said find something with all the good things of natural fibers and none of the draw backs that's when the test tube boys knuckle down to work so began years of research a tireless work of Many Men of spending well let's not get into how much money to create the modern man-made fibers for Fabrics that we enjoy today day and night researched chemists like this fellow pursued a dream of new exciting completely different synthetic fibers it's quite a dream quite a story if I get a little too technical we'll someone please ring a bell you see for the first time since creation men were going back to the elements to create a molecule so soon I'll start over beginning with pure chemicals scientists researchers chemists stole a leaf from the silkor worm and literally spun new kinds of threads threads and fibers that had to measure up to all the desirable qualities of resilience that is to hold or return to original shape softness lightweight strength durability and resistance to weather at first slowly then with a speed almost too Swift to follow the magic of modern chemistry rocketed us into a new world of modern Fabrics continuous exciting technological discoveries gave us such man-made fibers as rayon and acetate and such synthetics as nylon acran decron Orlon verel Crestland Dell zephram and many others including the new resin treated Cottons of all these however the big three soon proved to be nylon dayron and Orlon why because they measured up to every expectation for their basic reason for [Music] being take that young fellow wears a suit of dayron washable doesn't wrinkle easily holds its shape better than wool his girlfriend wears a sweater of Orlon soft with a luxurious feel lightweight yet warm and weather resistant and uh peeping Tom has a nylon jacket very light yet it holds its shape because of its [Music] elasticity not only lightweight but plenty tough oops watch out son yes a fiber so strong that many a paratrooper many an Airman owes his life to a Nyon parachute well no one of these modern fibers meets all our clothing needs but when we we married them with the age-old natural fibers we raised a brand new family of fabrics with greater strength resilience and new versatility more important these complimentary Blends meant that more and more clothing items could use new man-made fibers a few for example suits and shirts of dayron with cotton silk or wool soft finish flannels Tweeds skirts and cashmir likee sweaters made with orlock women's attractive blouses and sheer lingerie fashioned from nylon as well as a combination of other synthetic and natural fibers all these enjoy greater freedom from wrinkles many feature permanently set creases or fashionable pleats how's it done well let's go back to the laboratory you see all true synthetic fibers a thermoplastic sry sorry I'll try to make it simple it means heat simply softens the fibers so they can be molded and remolded this is nylon remember the fibers are strong yet soft pliable resilient or elastic that's why if you mus them up they tend to return to their original shape that's right wrinkles in modern fibers like to go back where they came from or as clothing makers say wrinkle resistant now when you wash modern fibers you actually help to banish wrinkles as the fabric seeks its original shape know why water and detergent sure they help the slippery fibers slide smoothly back to their wrinkle-free state those little nylon fibers are plastic only when hot so that's the critical time when wear wrinkles tend to scoot back home or new wrinkles might appear heat does the job of keeping the fabric free fre of wrinkles if and it's a mighty big if the fibers are not cooled off too quickly Let's do an experiment there's a temperature higher than I've mentioned so far when fiber resiliency disappears and the fabric can be molded into any shape we want this little plastic swizzle stick will show you what I mean let's call it a dayron fiber see how it can be molded with heat now watch cool this dayron fiber quickly and we give it a permanent shape it will hold this shape unless we heat it again above the softening Point did I say we had problems in washing natural fibers believe me new methods and techniques had to be developed in washing and drying modern fibers and delicate Fabrics consider on wash day people use by tradition hot water for their laundry and by tradition they like to agitate the dirt out so they know it's been agitated and when they use an automatic dryer they know that the hotter the temperature the faster the job gets done all this is enough to scare a modern fiber half to death no wonder washing directions on clothing tags usually read hand wash in warm water and hang up to drip dry yes from a styling and comfort standpoint we reached new highs with modern Fabrics but our washing methods modern as they were simply could not meet the particular washing needs of modern fibers almost seems like we were back to beating our clothes again with a paddle on a riverbank well almost plus we used to hang them up to drip dry a somewhat messy chore Even in our bathrooms it wasn't long before some laundry manufacturers recognized that modern Fabrics needed different care and soon new washers made their appearance some new automatics feature Gent Cycles or offered a choice of shorter wash times others provided a warm wash water temperature a few had a cold rinse all tried to meet the new washing requirements of modern Fabrics requirements which were to become even more exacting because the Laboratories of Science and the apparel industry suddenly catapulted us into the wonderful world of wash and wear modern fibers alone or in blends with natural fibers brought new Innovations in cool crisp comfortable clothes everything from shorts and Casual slacks to colorful sport coats from Sun happppy sport shirts to fine weave dress shirts the sheerest of slips and blouses bath robes to rainwear to beach wear at first summer Weare then all weather wear suits and top coats for men fashionable sweaters skirts and synthetic Furs for women even believe it or not tuxedos modern fibers and fashionable weave Fabrics soon accounted for one out of every three sales based on the increasing usage of wash and wear manufacturers are expecting to more than double today's put within the next 2 or 3 years for example they'll turn out 3,440 th000 suits 5,500,000 jackets 13, 900,000 slacks and 2,900,000 business shirts a success story climaxed only by modern apparel clearly associated with the word automatic the automatic suit I'm wearing one now a suit designed to be repeatedly worn then washed in an automatic washer and Tumbl dried in an automatic dryer then worn immediately with the creases and pleat still in place but with the wrinkles gone Small Wonder it's called a limited care item but to give it even limited care requires certain basic musts knowing them will help you in buying wash and wear generally speaking these are are warm wash water short washing cycle gentle agitation water cool down gentle spinning cold rinse right drying temperature and drying cool off but speaking specifically la laundry research Specialists asked what is warm here's a shirt washed in water that wasn't hot enough the wear wrinkles especially around the belt line just couldn't return to their original position and disappear we call this losing their plastic memory this skirt was washed in water that was too hot these aren't wear wrinkles they were put in by draining and spinning action they were set because the hot water wasn't tempered with cold looks like the drier temperature did some work in unmolding some of the preset pleats could be the lady's temperature went up a bit too when she saw the results actually washing temperature should be over 120° but always under 145° and certainly drying temperatur should rarely be more than 20° hotter remember our little experiment we found heat was very important not just to remove soil or to dry faster but because heat must remove all all wear wrinkles without disturbing preset creases and pleat and what is gentle certainly not the bongo drum agitation that man handled this delicate garment specifically wash and wear must be laundered in water that is medium only long enough to remove soil gently at low agitation speed to protect delicate fibers and in water that is cooled down gradually prior to rinsing this protects and sets the fibers so that wrinkling is minimized during the rinse and spin action wash and wear garments must never be compressed while they are hot they should be rinsed in cold water gently spin dried at a low speed to extract most of the water for drying and avoid setting in wrinkles finally they should be Tumbl dried at the right temperature with a proper cool off period a tall order it most certainly is no wonder what wash and wear makers tell you to follow your automatics instructions to the letter assuming the washer can do the job with one Automatic Laundry pair you can and here it is the RCA Whirlpool Imperial Mark 12 a truly miraculous washer and dryer each with its own special wash and wear cycle each completely equipped to meet every exacting requirement of the most modern wash and wear fabrics and just as important they provide the head of the family with all the Carefree advantages of completely automatic lint-free laundry service everything is simplified with this color keyed control panel watch she just turns the automatic fabric Guide to the modern Fabrics used in washing Weare dayron nylon Orlon plus emboss cotton and blends reading across the fabric guide we automatically see the correct cor settings for every operation with every control color keyed to the fabric guide she simply dials to color no guesswork no need to refer to complicated instruction books to achieve the best the safest the desired results according to the automatic fabric guide and remembering the basic musts she selects the low agitation and spin speed she selects cold tap temperature rinse waterer and medium washwater temperature now she selects the special wash and wear cycle and a 4minute wash time the only actual decision she makes is how much water to use and that simply depends on the size of a wash and wear load she can choose an infinite water level for greatest economy on partial loads filled and with all the clothes in well almost stall in and with the water level reset washing begins 4 minutes wash time apparel washed so gently in her favorite detergent at low agitation and by thorough balanced sergul washing action wash water temperature just right to get clothes sparkling and remove all wear wrinkles this is equally true of this regular washer or the big capacity washer dryer combination where wash and wear gets the same thorough gentle care while being exclusively washed with water not in water after the washing agitation in the regular washer the wash water is now gradually cooled down by cold water tempering while the clothes are still in suspension this cools the fibers and avoids wrinkles that might occur during the drain out and during the spin cycle as clothes receive their thorough cold water spin spray rinses followed by the low agitation deep Cold Water Rinse and then low speed spinning to damp dry the clothes and now the wash and wear is ready for the dryer drying wash and wear is equally important remember we want enough heat to soften fibers and remove wear wrinkles but not enough to disturb preset creases as with the washer she uses the dryers automatic fabric guide again color keyed for every fabric she simply dials to color no guesswork on her part to choose the special wash and wear setting she selects it choosing perhaps 30 minutes drying time depending on the load and with this single setting she automatically gets the proper safe drying temperature for wash and wear and now the clothes are gently tumble dried in safe tempered heat again this is equally true of the regular dryer or the washer dryer combination always fast safe drying of wash and wear that protects every fiber with the right temperatures and whether in the combination or regular dryer during the final 10 minutes wash and wear items are gradually cooled down as they are tumbled in unheated air a special feature that prevents wrinkles from being set when the dryer stops and the Sunshine fresh results the wash and wear suit the wash and wear dress ready to wear trouser creases razor sharp dress plates all in place seems like a miracle and it is the most modern the most automatic washing and drying service to match the most modern Fabrics in family wear I believe this is where we came in in case you're worried they step back just in time my