Bookvica

[LAUNDRIES IN THE SOVIET UNION] Pracheshnyye i dezinfektsionnyye ustroystva pri nikh [i.e. Laundries and Disinfection Equipment]

Ashe, B.

Item #2250

Leningrad: Kubuch, 1929. 250, [2] pp., 1 table: ill., graphics, tables. 26x18 cm. In original publisher’s brown cloth. Loss of the piece of the spine, light soiling of the boards. Otherwise in very good condition.

Scarce. First edition. 1 of 3,000 copies. One of the first Soviet books about laundries.
In the late-1910s, Moscow witnessed the emergence of the first baths and laundries. With the establishment of the Soviet rule, the mechanization of production became a topic of major importance and the construction of mechanic laundries constituted its’ significant part: “Washing dirty linen by hand is, on the one hand, unhealthy for workers, and on the other hand, it does not provide sufficient hygienic processing conditions for the linen itself.” (Laundries and Disinfection Equipment) Against this background, in the mid-1920s mechanic laundries began to appear in all major cities across the USSR.
Written by Boris Ashe in 1929, this book provides instructions for the calculations and projects of mechanic laundries and disinfection equipment for private and public usage. The edition was aimed at “spreading among the broad masses of the idea of the need and rationality of replacing manual labor in laundry with the work of a machine.” In the book, the author provides a detailed description of the equipment necessary for manual and mechanic laundries and offers recommendations about their proper usage. Ashe also acquaints readers with methods of calculating the required sizes, quantities, productivity and power of machines and devices that make up the equipment of both types of laundries. The book gives all the necessary instructions regarding the design of individual buildings and premises for laundry and the rational placement of equipment in them. Importantly, Ashe reveals a “secret key” to high productivity of laundries and poses the main requirement for the layout of the premises: “Separate rooms intended for different laundry processes should be located in the sequence of the course of these processes.” While in the edition the author provides information on both manual and mechanic laundries, he clearly shows preference towards the former and underlines all the downsides (such as higher expenses) of the manual laundries. The publication is supplemented with numerous black and white illustrations, schemes, and graphics showing different laundry equipment, layout designs, flow rates in cubic meters and pressure losses in meters of water column per 100 meters of pipe length (folded table), etc.
The book consists of 7 sections: Overview of laundry processing in laundries, Laundry equipment, Laundry equipment design and calculation, Dimensioning and layout of laundry rooms, Laundry disinfection devices, Laundry heating and ventilation, and Indicative design data.
Overall, one of the earliest Soviet editions about mechanic and manual laundries and peculiarities of their organization.

No copies found in Worldcat.

Price: $650.00