PAPER FROM RAGS 17
(a) The general colour of the consignment must be taken into account, as
on this will depend the amount of caustic soda and bleach required to bring
the half stuff to a sufficiently good colour. The more caustic soda and bleach
required, the more 'tender' will be the resulting half stuff.
(b) The amount of 'mulch' which will have to be thrown out as useless,
such as silks, wool, etc. A large quantity of these contraries will reduce the
ultimate yield of cellulose.
(c) The 'weight' of rag—that is, the weight of a given bulk—determines
in a rough way the ultimate strength of the fibre, or, in other words, shows
whether the rags have been well worn or not. Naturally, rags which have
not been much worn or washed will yield a stronger and harder fibre than
those which have been well worn and often washed.
(d) The general size of rag is also very important. When the pieces are
large they are quickly sorted, and when the garments are fairly complete the
sorters find it much more easy to discover the buttons and fasteners. On
the other hand, when the rags are strippy and contain large quantities of small
pieces, such as the fronts of shirts, cuffs, seams, etc., they take much longer
to overlook, and the chances are that many more buttons, metal fasteners
and pieces of elastic are missed, and ultimately find their way into the half
stuff.
With Seconds, the amount of caustic soda and the length of boiling vary
greatly, and in order to keep these regular, or within reasonable limits, the
rags must be sorted tor a uniform standard in the rag loft, and this should be
regularly checked. If insufficient caustic or too short boiling is given, the fact
will soon reveal itself in the breakers, as the bleaching will require to be more
drastic and some of the colours will be difficult to destroy.
If, on the other hand, more caustic has been used than is necessary, it may
not be noticed, but it will certainly cause the half stuff to be very soft and
tender, and strength will have been unnecessarily wasted.
There is another grade of soft coloured rags sorted and sold as distinct
from Seconds. These are called Prints, or more usually Old Light Prints, or
Extra Light Prints, and they consist of much the same kind of material as
Seconds, except that they are mostly, 'printed' cotton, as distinct from the
white* and coloured rags of Seconds.
These rags are often stronger than Seconds, and they frequently cost a
little more, but they require more drastic treatment to remove the colours,
many of which are nearly unfadable nowadays, and bring up the colour of
the half stuff.
The aforementioned constitute the most important grades of old soft rags
in general use.