Kitchen Uniforms Should Be Cool, Comfortable and Stylish
The Art Smock For Childhood Creativity
All About Cotton and Cotton Fabrics
Work Clothes: What's Appropriate And What's Not
Work Coats Can Protect You and Your Clothing
Deduct the Cost of Your Work Clothes From Your Income Taxes
Kitchen Uniforms Should Be Cool, Comfortable and Stylish
Go to any top restaurant and you will see the kitchen staff wearing stylish, clean kitchen uniforms. Any successful restaurateur knows that offering the best food and service counts for nothing if the kitchen staff is dressed in dirty, unattractive uniforms. On the practical side, kitchen uniforms are essential for hygienic and safety.
All kitchen staff must wear uniforms appropriate to their position. Apart from looking good, the right uniform will show who's who in the zoo. The dishwasher's uniform should be as identifiable as the chef's uniform. Hats, shirts, jackets, shoes, pants and aprons for kitchen staff come in many styles, as well as colors. With safety in mind, every person who works in a kitchen should wear shoes that have non-slip soles.
For added individuality, you can have your kitchen staff's uniforms embroidered with either a logo or the name of the restaurant. This may cost a little extra but it will do a lot to impress your clientele. Most kitchen uniforms are made from fabrics that are comfortable, the most popular ones being poly-cotton, Egyptian cotton or twill cotton.
Individually designed uniforms are a great way to enhance the overall theme of a restaurant. For example, if you run a Mexican restaurant, your kitchen staff will look great in uniforms with a Mexican style. Not only will they look great, but they'll feel great and their levels of performance will improve.
Kitchen uniforms of yesteryear were thick, uncomfortable and heavy. Working in any professional kitchen is a hot and sweaty job but, today, kitchen ware is made from fabrics that can help keep the skin cool by allowing perspiration to quickly evaporate.
If you fit your kitchen staff out in smart uniforms, you're likely to see them working even harder. Team spirit and morale will soar and, at the end of service, the customer will have had a wonderful experience at your restaurant. The food was superb, the ambiance just right, and the service tip-top!
The Art Smock For Childhood Creativity
If you have a child you have art projects and that means you need a good fitting art smock. You need to ensure that the creative projects don't end up ruining their clothes. You also want to ensure that you don't squelch their attempts at creative expression by making them neurotic about a bit of mess. Developmentally children need this type of expression and you need cleanliness.
When you look at the art smock selection don't go in for the too small permanently folded plastic child versions. These generally are too small to actually provide the kind of protection you're looking for. Of course, you don't want something so big (like one of your older shirts) that there will be messes thanks to tripping, falling, and sleeve dipping.
Children that have the ability to express themselves freely tend to be healthier. By providing them with a suitable, well fitted art smock you can allow them more freedom while teaching them how to clean up after themselves. Sometimes an adult smock will fit a child better than a child's size, but make sure it's not a solution that is too big.
Once you find the smock that will fit them well and protect their clothing, add in some fun. Give their smock that artistic feel and even paint their name on it. Make it theirs and make it special so that they will always use their "real" artist smock when they are creating their own art.
Cover the floor area well but don't forget that little feet can trip. Canvas coverings work well only if they are tightly attached to the floor. You want to allow your child the freedom of expression while protecting the area subject to their expression.
Washable paints are a natural and necessary selection. Always supervise artistic expression, applaud the use of their new artist's smock, and praise them even for efforts to stay clean.
All About Cotton and Cotton Fabrics
Cotton is considered the oldest and first known fabric used to make material for medical scrubs and nursing uniforms. Over the last 1000s of years cotton has been the staple of all fabrics. Today it is still produced and used basically as it was in the beginning.
History:
The exact date of the beginning of cotton is unknown, however pieces of cotton fabric cloth found in Mexican caves dates back at least 7,000 years old. The cotton was found to be much like the cotton we grow today. Cotton was being grown and spun into fabric in Pakistan as far back as 3,000 BC. It is known that about the same time cotton fabric was being used by Egyptians in the Nile Valley. By 800 AD cotton had spread across Europe by Arab merchants. Christopher Columbus found cotton growing in the Bahama Islands when he discovered America in 1492. By the early 1500s, cotton was used throughout the world for making fabric. In the United States the first cotton seed were believed to be planted in Florida in 1556. Shortly thereafter in 1607 farms in Virginia along the James River were producing cotton.
Cotton fibers were first spun into fabric by machines in 1730 in England at the beginning of their industrial revolution. However, a new machine invented by Eli Whitney revolutionized mass production of cotton for use in the textile industry. In 1793 the Cotton Gin was patented. This new invention could harvest the cotton 10 times faster than by hand. The cotton gin made it possible to supply the needed cotton and the value of the U S Cotton crop rose from $150,000 to more than 8 million dollars.
Manufacturing process:
Cotton is still today harvested by a modern day version of the cotton gin where the cotton seeds are removed and the cotton fibers, called lint, are bailed and sent to the factories. At the textile mill machines open the bails and clean and mix the cotton lint. This is done by blowing and beating the lint. The cotton fibers are separated into long and short fibers. The short fibers, usually shorted than one inch, are sent out for use in other industries. The long fibers, measuring from 1” to 1 ¾ long are fluffed up and deposited into the carding machine. The carding machine further cleans the cotton fibers and lines them up side by side in the same direction. By combing and cleaning the fibers, the carding machine makes the fibers into a soft untwisted rope called a sliver.
The cotton sliver then is fed into the spinning frame where it is spun into cotton yarn. Modern day spinning devices can rotate up to 2,500 revolutions per second. The spinning process spins the cotton sliver into the yarn that will be woven or knitted into fabric.
Characteristics:
Fabric made from cotton is still today the mainstay of material used to make clothing especially uniform garments. This is mostly due to its generous characteristics. Material and apparel made from 100% cotton will have the following characteristics:
· Soft and comfortable to wear
· Durable and lasting
· Weather resistant
· Strong
· Absorbent
· Easily washed and dried
· Flame retardant
· Hypoallergenic
· Wrinkles easily (some garments today are blended with polyester to prevent wrinkling)
Uses:
Cotton fabric is still widely used in the garment industry today. Sometimes called the mainstay of the garment industry cotton fabric is used either alone (100% cotton) or is blended with other natural or synthetic fibers. Some common uses of cotton fabric are:
· Industrial clothing
· Nursing Uniforms
· Medical Scrubs
· Formal clothing
· Casual clothing
· Home furnishings
· Rugs and durries
· Draperies and curtains
· Bed clothing and products
· Handbags and luggage
· Canvas
· Shoes
· Medical products
· Bookbinding
Care:
Cotton material is very easy to care for and can be cleaned and dried under just about any conditions. Cotton fabric can be machine washed in the hottest of water. It can be bleached without fraying. Cotton fabric can be ironed at high temperatures without damage. As always you should refer to the care label found on any garment before cleaning or ironing.
Cotton is one of the major factors in world prosperity and economic stability. Actively traded daily in the futures market, cotton is a mainstay of the financial industry as well as the textile industry. Cotton is grown worldwide with the leader in production being China followed by the United States. Other major cotton producing countries include India, Pakistan, Brazil, Turkey, and Greece.
Work Clothes: What's Appropriate and What's Not
It's never easy to choose the right outfit for work, even worse if you're too self conscious about how you look. The corporate world has diversified to such an extent that it can be tricky to choose the appropriate shirt or blouse from the wardrobe. So it then becomes crucial to give information that will help those of society who have just gotten new jobs that they can't afford to lose. Below is a guide on which work clothes are appropriate.
Appropriateness is the key word and it's pretty loud and clear. Going to work dressed up in a tight skirt or in a blouse that exposes your breasts will pass the wrong hints to the boss who has his eyes set on a bit of office fire. Since employees are still human they can get distracted by such clothing and lose their focus. Try wearing knee high skirts and decent, buttoned up blouses if you're a woman. It also isn't appropriate to wear clothing that reveals underwear.
People make judgments of people during the first few seconds of meeting each other. The first impression rule basically means that your image communicates a lot to the next person. That's why work clothes have to be presentable. Presentability means ones clothes mustn't be un-ironed; dirty; torn and not possess sexually explicit images or words. Such clothes can give a negative first impression that will determine how people generally treat you at work.
Wear comfortable clothes and you will feel relaxed and freed from a nagging self conscious state of mind. It doesn't help wearing something you like but rarely feel comfortable in. Going through the wardrobe a selecting flat shoes and long dresses will save you the expense of being uncomfortable enough to bend down.
Appropriate clothes for work are: buttoned up blouses; golf shirts; turtlenecks; decent sweaters and sneakers; flat shoes; boots and simple high heels. If you're desire is to be inappropriate then you can experiment with midriff tops; tight and short skirts; slippers; morning shoes and clothes with offensive pictures and statements.
And if you were wondering about hats and jewelry the answer is just as well simple. Flat base caps and summer hats don't have a place in the working environment. Instead wear a decent woolen hat if it's clearly cold or religious head gears that can't be left at home.
But when all is said and done the best thing is to have a chat with your boss and ask him about the clothing policy at work. Chances are he will guide you through instead of firing you because you were negligent enough not to ask.
Work Coats Can Protect You and Your Clothing
In many industries, a work coat is essential for the employee. Whether working indoors or outdoors, a strong and durable work coat can help your clothes from becoming soiled and also protect you in certain cases. Extremely hazardous jobs require very specialized material for work coats, as in the case of a fireman.
The choice of a work coat depends primarily on your occupation. Outdoor workers need a strong, durable and waterproof coat. These are manufactured in a multitude of styles, fabrics and fasteners. The reason that tough material such as heavy duty nylon is used is because of its innate strength and resistance to tearing. This cloth is ideal for wearing in harsh cold winters.
Choose a high quality work coat with a heavy-duty, extra-large brass zipper as well as over-locked seams. Good lining such as fleece or flannel will protect you from the cold. Elbow patches and a center vent in the rear of the coat will ensure that the jacket is comfortable and hard-wearing.
You will also have a vast choice of work coats to choose from if you work indoors. Many buildings have ducted air-conditioning, so your choice of a coat will probably be one manufactured in a light fabric such as unlined cotton or nylon.
The indoor work you do will dictate the work jacket you choose. The most important factor to remember is to choose a coat that is comfortable and allows for easy movement. Work coats may need to be in regulatory colors and styles, depending on your employer.
Your work coat should fit you well, and not be too tight for ease of movement and driving or traveling. If you need to change your work coat often, make sure the fasteners are Velcro, buttons or zippers. Work coats need to be easy to keep clean, and you may need to purchase 3 - 4 if you wear one every day.
Deduct the Cost of Your Work Clothes From Your Income Taxes
The cost of your work clothes and uniforms may be deducted from your annual income tax bill. Not being a tax expert or an accountant I cannot say for sure that you can take this deduction. It is always best to check with your tax preparer concerning your state tax laws and rules. However, there are certain things you can do to assure the tax deductions if applicable in your state.
First and foremost you must obtain and retain all receipts for your work clothes and uniforms. Your receipt should state the description of the product, the company name who sold you the uniforms, the date of sale and the amount paid for the work clothes. Keep these sales receipts in a safe place for future proof of the purchase. You will not be asked to produce this receipt unless the state or the Internal Revenue Service performs an audit.
Be cautious about where you buy your work clothes and uniforms. All retail stores will supply a receipt at time of purchase. Be careful when buying at an online web site. Most web site companies will automatically email you a receipt upon purchase. However sometimes the electronic communication breaks down and the receipt is not transmitted or you entered the incorrect email address at checkout. For these reasons you should never buy from a web site that does not provide a phone number which is easily to find on the web site. This way you can call and request your receipt.
If you happen to change jobs and you no longer require the work clothes or uniforms you deducted it is a good practice to attach a copy of your pay stub to your uniform receipt. This will prove to the tax man that you were employed in a place that the said deducted work clothes were required. This will justify the deduction at that particular time.
Here are a few words of caution concerning your tax deductions for your work clothes and uniforms. Do not try to deduct if your employer provide you a uniform budget included in your paycheck or you obtain reimbursement from your employer for work clothes or uniforms. Also, don’t try to deduct your work clothes or uniforms if your employer does not require you to wear them at your place of work. Either of these is considered tax fraud and is illegal.
The tax code is very complicated and varies from state to state. Always check with your tax preparer or accountant before deducting your work clothes or uniforms from your income taxes.
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