Wash day long ago
History · Early Years · The School
Heating the water
There was no washing machine long ago. First, water had to be heated over a fire, in a big pot. This used a lot of firewood or coal too. That alone could take a long time, before any washing even started.
Scrubbing and wringing
Clothes were scrubbed by hand, often on a rough board called a SCRUBBING BOARD. Soap had to be rubbed in by hand, bit by bit. Then clothes had to be wrung out, to squeeze the water out. A MANGLE, a machine with two rollers, helped squeeze water from wet clothes.
A whole day for it
All of this took so long that many families set aside one whole day each week just for washing. It was called WASH DAY. Nothing else much got done on wash day.
Wash day started early. Heat the water, over a fire, in a big pot. Scrub every item by hand, on a rough board. Wring each piece out, or feed it through a mangle. Hang it all up to dry, and hope it does not rain. That was one whole day's work for one week's clothes. A washing machine today can do the same amount in about an hour, with almost no effort at all.