Welcome to Writing Rural with Alley. I'm Alley, and this is Episode 10, Washing Laundry by Hand. You can find this episode's notes and helpful links to learn more on my website, alleyhart.com that's alleyhart.com Washing Laundry by hand is defined as not using a machine to clean the laundry, but having to physically do something to make it clean. Many people have washed a single piece of clothing like this, but not an entire load of laundry. Let's go over what's needed to wash more than a single piece. Washing can be defined in one of two ways. The first is by removing the dirt, grime, or stains from the garment, clothing, leather, bedding, or whatever needs to be cleaned. The second would be to kill all of the germs in the laundry. Both ways will have soap thoroughly distributed throughout the laundry. Then the soap is fully rinsed out. It might surprise you to learn that it wasn't until 1848 that medical professionals learned that washing hands helped reduce infections. Until then, they believed it was bad humors or smells that caused diseases. If you want to know more about bad humors, I will leave a link in the show notes. It was over 20 years later when in 1876, a scientist found bacteria for the first time, kicking off the new era of hygiene. If you're thinking, "Hey, soap's been around longer than that," you would be correct. There has been evidence of soap found as far back as Babylon in roughly 2800 BC. Before people realized soap killed germs and bacteria, they washed them in soap to get rid of dirt, grime, and stains. The first known soaps were a mix of wood ash and animal fats. Yes, it really makes soap that kills germs. I'll leave you a link in the show notes if you want to learn more about the process. These were used in Egypt and Babylon. During the medieval times, soap became known as the work of the devil. Some historians believe this led to or at least contributed to the Black Plague. It was around the 17th century that hygiene started to make a comeback. In ancient civilizations, washing laundry was done at the river. People would dip the laundry in the water, then rub the soap on. Afterwards, it would be rubbed on a washboard or rock, twisted or wrung to get the water out. Sometimes beaten on rocks to get the dirt out, and then wrung out repeatedly until the soap was out of it. Some American pioneers boiled the laundry and then laid it out on flat surfaces and beat it with wooden paddles. Today, we have replaced the pounding and beatings with an agitator. This can be many things as long as the agitator gets the water and soap distributed well throughout the laundry. Also, getting water through the clothing to rinse them is equally important. Agitators can be many things, including ones that look like large toilet plungers. Yeah, you heard that right. But they are made of hard metal or plastics with swirls inside to move the water. These are made to be used in an up and down motion. This is the one that I have personally used. Ours broke when I was a teen, and while we were waiting for the new order to be delivered from our order to Leman's non-electric catalog, I had to roll my pants leg up and walk and stomp all over them. I have also seen people use half of a wooden barrel or a 55 gallon barrel, cut in half the long way. They attach a long scraper with a lever to move it back and forth on the bottom of the barrel. It looks like an ice cream or a cookie scoop. The ones that have the lever to scrape it off of the bottom of the scoop. Some Amish communities, but not all of them, use a wooden paddle as an agitator. An invention that happened in 1797 and significantly improved how washing was done was the wringer. This is a hand crank machine that has two to four rollers. The laundry was placed between the rollers and cranked through. This got rid of about 50 % of the water. There are many instances of people getting their fingers injured in this machine. I've even heard horror stories of it taking out full arms, but normally it was just fingers that were in danger. My grandmother once told me that originally they only turned one way and wouldn't go backwards. After too many young children lost limbs, someone invented a wringer that would turn forward and backward so that they could get any small child or fingers out of the machine. Some ringers also had release buttons that would pop the top rollers up to release the fingers. Have you ever heard of the phrase, getting put through the wringer? That's where this came from. In Rome, washing laundry was originally a man's job. However, during the Middle Ages, laundry became a woman's chore. This lasted up until washing machines became a common household appliance. In fact, one of the reasons people were so unsure about washing machines becoming a common item was because they were seen as a machine that would take women's jobs away. One side argued it took away the jobs of the women who washed laundry for a living. The other argued it made it easier to do and save time, giving the women more time to work outside of the homes and not have to come home and do laundry also. Something I learned is that laundry detergent is not a soap. It is actually chemicals that suspend dirt in water. The agitation of the water moving in the wash is what removes them from the fabric. Some believe that the harsh chemicals also help in the breakdown of fibers. Washing laundry is a fairly simple process. If using a washtub or other container to wash them, there is a washing stage and two rinsing stages. But more rinsing stages can be added if needed. Sometimes if there is a very tough stain, it will be scrubbed with a scrub brush. I once saw an elderly lady use a boar bristled hair brush, and when I asked why she was using a hair brush, she said it was cheaper and better than the new fangled fashioned ones. Between the wash and the rinse and then the rinse again cycles, every individual piece of clothing will need to be wrung out, whether by hand or with a wringer. If washing at the river, this is done an individual piece of clothing at a time. You don't want your laundry floating down the river, but using the moving water can help when rinsing. Also, a single piece of laundry is washed and rinsed until it is clean and not a specific number of times. Something I have learned from personal experience is that washing laundry is a physically demanding process. I know if you haven't done it, it is surprising to hear, but it is a workout. Another thing is that jean pants are very difficult to wring out by hand, especially around the waist and pockets. Cloth diapers will need to be rinsed to get all the yuckiness out before washing, and a 10 to 15 minute soak in vinegar water after the final rinse. This will help to sterilize them, but also helps to get rid of any smells. And they will smell. Plus, the water temperature can affect you as you wring out the laundry. If the water is cold, if it is cold outside, or frankly, the wind is just a few degrees below the air temperature, your hands will be cold. If they are too cold, they will hurt. It feels like a burning sensation. Sometimes you'll want to add warm water to the cold to make the water warmer. This can be tedious when you have to boil the water. It takes time for the water to reach boiling and you'll need to start the next pot as soon as you dump your first so that it might be done when you're ready for it. Another thing to consider is that clothing will need to dry. You will have dripping while drying, but more so if they are hand wrung out. In ancient times, clothes were placed over tree limbs and bushes to dry. I couldn't find an exact time when clothes lines were invented, but they were used during medieval times and maybe even before. However, in a winter, they can literally freeze outside if it is below the freezing point. However, in colder climates, people used inside clothes lines or wooden racks hung from the ceiling to dry the clothing where it was warmer. When we dried clothes in the house, if we had electricity, we placed a fan in the room to decrease the drying time. When our kids were young, we hung several lines in the attic of the house and used that to dry out the clothes. In the winter, we just left the door to the attic open to let the heat up there. Humidity can impact drying times also, even inside of the house. While washing laundry is a relatively simple process, it can be a bit of a learning curve. However, it is the physical demands of washing for at least 45 minutes and all of the wringing out of the laundry that will take people by the most surprise. Keep in mind that this is a regular load of today's laundry. We have to take into account how many people are having laundry done. When I had young kids in cloth diapers, we did about three loads every three days. I had to have several clothes lines because if it was raining, it might take three days for the laundry just to fully dry, and the wash itself could be an all-day project. Yes, there are other ways that laundry has been washed in history. Many other things have been used instead of soap, including plant roots, soap nuts, and urine. EW! Fun fact, today we have a twofer. First, it is estimated that 30% of the world's population will own a washing machine by 2025. That is two years from the time that I am recording this. Second, did you know that for a regular sized load of laundry, you are not supposed to use more than one tablespoon of detergent? For large load of 12 or more pounds, you need two tablespoons at the very most. I wish someone had informed me before the repairman did. Now for everyone's favorite part, what could possibly go wrong?

Well, let me tell you! Likely to go wrong:

your character did not thoroughly rinse out the soap. This will leave the clothing stiff in unrinsed areas. And if too much soap is left, the clothing will look like it is shedding white fakes.

Also likely to go wrong:

if your character is new to washing laundry by hand or they have not done it for a long time, they will be exhausted like they just had a hard workout when they get done. Doing laundry this way is a lot more physically demanding than most people realize.

Possible to go wrong:

if your character is using a wringer washer, they could get a finger seriously injured in the wringer.

Also possible to go wrong:

if the water is too cold, your character's hands will hurt and almost feel like their hands are burning. This can be very dangerous in cold climates or in the wintertime. It could easily turn into frostbite under the right circumstances.

Unlikely to get wrong:

your character dumped their bag of laundry or their laundry basket into the river and all their clothes floated away. While most people would know better, some people wouldn't think about the water current until it was too late. Bye bye, laundry.

Also unlikely to go wrong:

while most of the recorded history shows women who washed laundry for a living helped each other out, it is also possible they could end up fighting or in a bitter rivalry over their businesses. That sounds like it would be a great romantic tension line, but it would work well for many other purposes, too. Improbable, but technically still in the realm of possibilities: someone could end up in a scalding hot tub of wash water. This could be a small child that fell in. The washer themselves, or a helpless victim they threw in for tipping badly, assuming they tipped back in those days. I actually couldn't find that out. Also improbable, but technically still in the realm of possibilities: if you are writing a story where the character has to beat the laundry, they have to have a great self-defense weapon. They could beat up bad guys or attacking animals, unless it is a beaver. Beavers are made for biting through wood and would likely be able to bite through the laundry paddle. Thank you for listening. To get the show notes or if you want to learn more, you can find that on my website, alleyhart.com that's alleyhart.com. subscribe or follow for more episodes. A new episode comes out every Monday. Until then, happy wordsmithing.