The Agony of Ironing
by Nancy Mehegan
I always thought ironing was... awful.
The shirts never stayed on the ironing board, slipping away from me. I watched my Mother iron my father's work shirts and thought "this is agony". I'd rather walk on a bed of nails. Am I alone in my ironing phobia? And then came Ruth...
Ruth set us Free
Ruth Rogan Benerito was born in New Orleans in 1916. Her mother, a feminist, encouraged her daughter in her love of science, in spite of the rampant sexism she would encounter. Ruth earned scholarships and ultimately a PhD in chemistry from the University of Chicago.
Permanent Press Clothing is Born
Ruth's specialty was the use of cellulose chemistry to solve practical problems in the cotton, wood 
and paper industries. Then Benerito moved on to her best known work, the invention of the "easy-care cotton" process, which resulted in "wash and wear" clothing. It's also called "pernament press" fabric.
She discovered that certain chemicals — notably formaldehyde and substances related to it — could make cellulose fibers resistant to wrinkles.
After retiring from the Southern Regional Research Center in 1986 at the age of 70, Benerito taught in the Chemistry Department at the University of New Orleans.
I had no idea a woman invented permanent press clothing. Thanks for the blog. It made my morning.
Posted by: Laura | Tuesday, June 09, 2009 at 07:58 AM