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Cleanliness has long been a key consideration that has become a priority for many of us, especially in today’s unprecedented times. Clothes washing is understood as an essential and necessary task in the pursuit of acceptable levels of hygiene in order to satisfy social, cultural and health standards within most communities. To better understand how modern day laundry methods, practices and services have developed and evolved, we shall take a look at how it used to be and who carried out these tasks in both the household and in communal settings. Let me take you on a journey through civilisation to explore a brief history of laundry.

Given the sheer cost of wool, cotton and hemp, in Ancient times, meant that clothing could no longer just be discarded unlike our abundant throw away culture of today. Clothing had to be re-worn, and in some cases re- cycled, therefore washing became a necessary function. Early civilisations washed their clothing in rivers using primitive forms of detergents. Long before the invention of modern detergents, the task of removing dirt, grime and stains from clothing and bedding necessitated an enormous effort requiring manual labour and lots of muscle power. Laundry piles were typically thrown and slapped against rocks, using twisting and wringing techniques, with someone stomping systematically on clothes using paddles and washboards in order to literally beat the dirt out of the fibres. Ancient detergents utilised from animal fats made from ‘lye’, commonly referred to nowadays as urine, were routinely used. Chamber lye was collected from chamber pots and used in the laundry process. In Ancient Eygpt, a cleaning agent called Natron was used most typically as a bleaching agent in the laundry process. So who carried out the laundry task?

Owing to the sheer scale and enormity of the laundry task meant it was restricted to being carried out only a few times a year by male labour. In Ancient Rome men, referred to as Fullones, carried out laundering tasks for the whole community,  providing a communal washing service. By the Middle Ages, the function of male Fullones waned giving way to women doing their own laundry in their own households. This signified a major shift in gender roles bringing about a gendered division of labour throughout developing communities. This not only shaped how domestic chores were allocated between men and women within the home but also outside the home. For example, the rise and spread of communal washouses or ‘lavoirs’ (a large wood or stone tube that held hot water) spread throughout and across Europe where women gathered together to undertake laundry chores replacing male labour, in communal settings.

Fast forward to the 19th Century and we see basic versions of the washing machine emerging, which incorporated manual ‘agitation’ technologies. These machines were  accompanied by a hand operated wringer, commonly referred to as a mangle. This device replaced the need to hand squeeze all the excess water out of a laundry load, which undoubtedly was a major improvement on how things had been.  Around 1904 adverts for the modern washing machine started to appear with the USA leading the way. This invention propelled forward the way laundry was now processed making it a lot less labour intensive for women who predominantly carried out most household chores. Nowadays we have, arguably, the best of technologies that make the laundry process of wash, dry and iron seem like a breeze in comparison to our predecessors. Where will the next advancements take us I wonder in our pursuit for cleanliness?

Our journey has looked at a brief  history of laundry: its origins and development; the evolution of laundry practices; and its methods and services, which has shown us how our predecessors paved the way for what we take for granted today. It has also highlighted a shift in gender roles over time from: the practices of washing clothes in rivers; to the communal efforts of the male Fullones; to the long and enduring hard efforts made by women in the household and communal spaces. All of which have laid down the blueprint for the innovation that brought about the emergence of modern day technologies and advancements in laundry methods, both in individual households and in the development and evolution of commercial laundry services of modern times.

We at Pressed not Stressed hope you have learned something new about the fascinating world of laundry.