Home Economics / Home Management · Lesson 9

Repairs, water and soaps, laundry agents and equipment, stains, special garments, storage and ironing

JAMBWAECNECO

What the syllabus asks

JAMB: Maintenance of clothing (simple garment repairs; laundry agents: water, detergents, fabric rinses, stiffening agents, bleaches; laundry equipment and tools; laundry work: management of the family wash, stains and stain removal, care of special garments; storage of clothing). JAMB Home Economics D3 (laundry and care of clothes).

WAEC: Maintenance of clothing (simple garment repairs; laundry agents: water, detergents, fabric rinses, stiffening agents, bleaches; laundry equipment and tools; laundry work: management of the family wash, stains and stain removal, care of special garments; storage of clothing). JAMB Home Economics D3 (laundry and care of clothes).

NECO: Maintenance of clothing (simple garment repairs; laundry agents: water, detergents, fabric rinses, stiffening agents, bleaches; laundry equipment and tools; laundry work: management of the family wash, stains and stain removal, care of special garments; storage of clothing). JAMB Home Economics D3 (laundry and care of clothes).

What you will learn

Carry out simple garment repairs.
Explain water hardness and compare soaps and detergents.
Describe fabric rinses, stiffeners and bleaches and their safe use.
Identify laundry equipment and care for it.
Plan and carry out the family wash.
Classify stains and remove them correctly.
Care for special garments and household articles.
Store clothes properly.

Key points

Repair before washing; darn small holes; patch larger ones.
Temporary hardness: boil; permanent: washing soda.
Soap: scum in hard water; detergent: works in hard and cold water.
Rinses: softener, blue, vinegar; stiffeners: starch, gum arabic, borax.
Bleaches: hypochlorite (white cotton), peroxide (wool, silk); never mix bleach with ammonia or acids.
Laundry process: sort, mend, stains, soak, wash, rinse, finish, dry, iron, air, store.
Protein stains: cold water first; grease: absorb, solvent; rust: lemon and salt.
Wool: lukewarm, squeeze, dry flat; synthetics: warm, drip-dry, cool iron.
Iron: double parts first; dark fabrics on wrong side.
Store clean, dry, aired; protect from pests and mildew.

Start here: Simple garment repairs

Clothes last longer when small damage is repaired promptly: “A stitch in time saves nine.” WAEC lists simple garment repairs under maintenance of clothing.

Reasons for repairing clothes

Extends the life of garments, saving money.
Prevents small damage from growing larger.
Keeps a neat appearance.
Allows hand-me-downs within the family.

Common repairs

Replacing buttons: use strong thread doubled; form a thread shank under the button on thick fabrics so it can fasten easily; secure with a few backstitches on the wrong side.
Re-stitching open seams: turn inside out, restitch along the original line, overlapping the old stitching at each end.
Re-hemming: slip stitch or hemming stitch a fallen hem.
Darning: weaving thread across a thin place or small hole to rebuild the fabric. Used on socks, knitwear and small holes in woven fabric. Work on the right side, with matching thread, extending beyond the weak area, leaving small loops at the turns to allow for shrinkage.
Patching: sewing a piece of fabric over or into a larger hole.
- Calico (hemmed) patch: strong, for household articles and work clothes; patch on the wrong side, edges hemmed.
- Print patch: for patterned fabrics; the pattern is matched exactly so the repair is less visible.
- Flannel patch: for thick, non-fraying fabrics (herringbone stitch).
- Iron-on patches: quick, for casual and children’s clothes.
Replacing zips, elastic and hooks.
Reinforcing areas of strain (knees of children’s trousers) before holes appear.

Rules for good repairs

Repair before washing, so holes do not enlarge.
Use matching fabric and thread (colour, fibre, weight).
Pre-shrink new patch material.
Keep stitches small and neat.
Press after mending.

Mending kit

Needles, threads of common colours, darning wool, spare buttons, scissors, thimble, pins, tape measure, iron-on patches. A family mending basket encourages regular repairs.

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Practice questions

1. Hard water forms scum with soap because it contains

calcium and magnesium salts
sodium chloride
chlorine
carbon dioxide

Show answer

A: calcium and magnesium salts
These form insoluble salts with soap.

2. Temporary hardness can be removed by

adding soap
freezing
filtering
boiling

Show answer

D: boiling
Hydrogencarbonates decompose.

3. Washing soda is

calcium carbonate
sodium hypochlorite
sodium carbonate
sodium chloride

Show answer

C: sodium carbonate
It softens water.

4. A fresh blood stain should be soaked in

bleach immediately
cold water
boiling water
hot soapy water

Show answer

B: cold water
Heat sets protein stains.

5. Chlorine bleach must NOT be used on

wool and silk
white cotton
white linen
cotton towels

Show answer

A: wool and silk
It damages protein fibres.

Key words

Darning: Weaving thread to fill a hole or thin area.
Patching: Covering a hole with fabric.
Hard water: Water with calcium and magnesium salts.
Scum: Insoluble product of soap and hard water.
Saponification: Making soap from fat and alkali.
Detergent: Synthetic cleaning agent.
Optical brightener: Additive that makes whites look brighter.
Laundry blue: Rinse additive that counters yellowing.
Starch: Stiffening agent from cassava or maize.
Oxidising bleach: Bleach that adds oxygen, e.g. hypochlorite.
Reducing bleach: Bleach that removes oxygen, e.g. hydrosulphite.
Stain: Mark not removed by ordinary washing.

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