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Show Woman's World Needs, Use, Fabric Durability Are Keys in Selecting Linens i &j Crlla JJaLj DIT'VE been keeping a home for J seven years," said an intelligent intelli-gent homemaker to me recently, "and now my linens need replenishing. replenish-ing. But I'm not certain that I know just bow to buy them correctly." cor-rectly." Contrary to opinion, brides are not the only ones buying linens today. to-day. Many a homemaker is seeing 10-year-old sheets fall into shreds at each laundering, while bath towels tow-els are developing holes in alarming alarm-ing proportions. Should the choice be muslin or percale sheets? What thread count is best to select? How should the yarn count affect the choice of sheets? How large should bath towels tow-els be? Are cotton or linen towels better for dishes? These are but a few of the bewildering questions a DN homemaker must be able to answer before she can make her choice. Correctly Chosen Sheets Are Satisfying Decide on the best size before you ever get to the store to do your purchasing.' pur-chasing.' Anyone who has ever been troubled by having sheets that are skimpy will realize the wisdom of this point. Beds are more comfortable, comfort-able, easier to make and stay well-made well-made longer if there is sufficient tuck-in on all sides. For the standard five-inch thick, 76-inch long mattress, the 108-inch torn length is most desirable. If you select one less than 99 inches long. Measure blankets for quality . . . there will be skimpiness on the tuck-in. tuck-in. A single width bed requires a C5-inch width. A three-quarter bed requires a 72-lnch 72-lnch sheet and the double bed requires re-quires an 81-inch width sheet. Most sheets are labeled as to size on the tabs but, if they are not, measure them to be certain. The type of the sheet usually gives the thread count. A type 180 sheet signifies there are 180 threads per square inch, a type 128 sheet means that many threads to the square inch. Usually, the higher the thread Have towels long enough. Count, the better the quality of the Bheet. The number of threads in each direction should be equal to get the greatest benefit from the sheet. Weight on sheets is not nearly as Important. Light weight may mean a very fine yarn or few yarns, so that sheet is poor and sleazy. OLots of wear on a sheet comes from the top hem. Hems should be at least four inches and, if you can find a sheet that has both top and bottom hem, the sheet will wear longer. Few women have linen sheets and cotton is thoroughly satisfactory. For everyday wear, the best choice is muslin; for "best" accasions, a good quality percale frequently is chosen. Hemstitched sheets do not wear particularly well; if you have them, use for "best" occasions. Otherwise, Other-wise, the plain edges will give best wear for both occasions. Tinted sheets are attractive if you . want to match or contrast the bedroom, bed-room, but only fast-colored ones should be chosen. White sheets give best all-around service. Pillowcase Requirements Are Identical With Sheets After you have selected a sheet for thread count and weight, select pillowcases in the same type. Pillowcases Pil-lowcases that sre six inches longer than the pillow are best for appearance appear-ance and wear. When pillowcases are too wide for the pillow, as many of them are that you receive for gifts, turn them inside in-side out and stitch on both of the long sides to make them fit properly. prop-erly. Pillow fillings are another consideration consid-eration to bear in mind when you choose bedding. Those filled with a combination of duck and geese down are best from the standpoint of comfort and lasting wear. Chicken and turkey feathers are used in the cheaper pillows, and frequently have stiff quills in them that may be uncomfortable. Make certain the feathers are clean or the fillings will develop a rancid, musty odor. Kapok filling is good if you have allergies to feathers. However, kapok ka-pok tends to pulverize when used for a long time and will lose resiliency, resili-ency, thus making a replacement necessary, with its consequent expense. ex-pense. Pillow ticking should not be heavily heav-ily sized for the filling will come through readily Rub the ticking to test it; if dust flies, sizing is present. Hold Blankets In Light To Check Yams A good blanket always is marked for size. If you think you are getting get-ting a bargain, have the blanket measured and compare it with those which have size stated on the label. Hold a blanket up to ihe light to see if the yarns are well distributed. distrib-uted. If you see thin spots, you can be certain that these wiD wear out soon. Blankets may be cotton, rayon, woo or a combination of two or more of these fibers. Cotton makes a strong blanket, wool a warmer one. A part wool blanket with less than 25 per cenl wool is no warmer than a cotton one. Virgin wool does not necessarily mean the blanket is of the best quality. qual-ity. The best blankets have long fibers Virgin wool may be stronger if it is of good quality but, if it is poor, it might be better to buy a reprocessed wool. The sizes on most bathroom towels tow-els are important. Select those 20 by 40 for most practical purposes. You may have some that are 28 by 44, but any larger than that will make the towels a laundering problem, prob-lem, either by adding a lot of excess weight if the laundering is done commercially or by being too heavy If you do your own. |