Laundry

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Curious History of Your Home
Episode: Laundry
Host: Ruth Goodman
Release Date: October 14, 2024

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Introduction

In this captivating episode of The Curious History of Your Home, domestic historian Ruth Goodman delves into the intricate and often surprising history of laundry. From ancient civilizations to modern advancements, Ruth explores how the simple act of washing clothes has shaped societies, economies, and women's liberation. This comprehensive journey uncovers the evolution of laundry practices, the development of cleaning agents, the social implications of laundering, and the transformative invention of the washing machine.

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Ancient Laundry Practices

Early Civilizations and Their Techniques

Ruth begins her exploration in ancient Mesopotamia, highlighting the Sumerians' innovative laundry methods. An Akkadian cuneiform text from Ur describes a process where clothes were submerged in water and slapped against rocks to remove dirt—a combination of friction and water proved effective ([02:15]).

Transitioning to ancient China, Ruth shares the folk legend of Chi, one of China's four great Beauties, who washed clothes with such grace that it allegedly made fish hide in shame. She explains that Chi likely utilized plant ash, an early detergent form that produced potassium carbonate when mixed with water, enhancing cleaning power ([03:45]).

Egyptian Rituals and Innovations

Ruth emphasizes the significance of laundry in ancient Egypt, not just for cleanliness but also for religious and magical practices. She narrates the story of a midwife performing a dawn spell to aid a first-time mother during labor, necessitating clean laundry as a critical component ([05:10]). Archaeological evidence, including tomb depictions, shows that laundry was integral to daily life, with men washing linen in the Nile or large vats, highlighting its societal importance ([06:25]).

Roman Laundry Enterprises

Ruth illustrates how the Romans transformed laundry into a profitable venture. The introduction of large wash houses, staffed by fullones (launderers), revolutionized the process. Romans employed plant ash, lime ash, and even urine as detergents—the ammonia in urine acting as a powerful cleaning agent ([07:50]). Despite the essential role of fullones in Roman cities, their status remained low, as evidenced by political rumors targeting influential figures like Cicero by associating them with the unglamorous laundry profession ([08:30]).

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Medieval Period: A Return to Domestic Labor

With the decline of the Roman Empire, Ruth explains that industrial wash houses fell out of favor, and laundry reverted to a predominantly female responsibility. Women, whether housewives or servants, managed the arduous task of washing clothes by hand. Ruth recounts her personal experience working in period laundries, describing the meticulous process of sorting, soaking, washing, and drying garments ([10:50]).

Cleaning Agents and Techniques

Ruth details the range of cleaning agents developed during the Middle Ages, such as milk and salt for wine stains, lemon juice for ink spills, and honey for gold thread stains. She references Leonard Maskell's Profitable Book of 1583 as a source cataloging these ingredients and advising on methods to achieve fresh-smelling laundry ([12:30]). However, she also points out the use of questionable substances like animal dung and hemlock, which, while effective for removing grease and bleaching, left clothes with unpleasant odors and potential health risks ([14:15]).

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Victorian Era: Industrialization and Chemical Innovation

The Victorian period marked significant advancements and challenges in laundry practices. Ruth describes how laundresses, such as Anne Harris at Hampton Court, employed a variety of chemicals like chloroform, gasoline, and turpentine to tackle tough stains. These substances, while effective, often caused severe skin irritation and posed health hazards ([16:40]).

Social Dynamics and Power of Laundresses

Laundresses occupied a unique social position, especially in large households and royal courts. They were privy to intimate details of their employers' lives, including personal health issues and private matters, granting them a form of informal power and influence. Ruth highlights the story of Sarah Breedlove, who transitioned from a laundress to becoming Madam C.J. Walker, America's first female self-made millionaire, demonstrating the potential for upward mobility within this profession ([20:05]).

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Evolution of Ironing: From Manual to Mechanical

Ancient and Medieval Techniques

Ironing, often perceived as a modern convenience, has ancient origins. Ruth traces its evolution from Chinese open metal pans filled with hot coals to Greek pleating irons and medieval Europeans' use of mangle boards and flat irons heated over fires ([22:50]).

Victorian Innovations and Beyond

The Victorian era introduced iron designs resembling modern counterparts, though they required frequent reheating. The invention of the electric iron by Henry W. Seely in the late 19th century and the subsequent development of steam irons revolutionized the process, making ironing more efficient and less labor-intensive ([25:30]).

Global Disparities in Ironing Practices

Ruth notes that not all regions adopted electric ironing simultaneously. For instance, in parts of Japan and rural China, traditional methods persisted well into the 20th century, highlighting global disparities in technological adoption ([27:10]).

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The Washing Machine Revolution

Invention and Early Developments

Ruth narrates the story of William Blackstone, who invented the world's first home washing machine in 1874. His innovation not only simplified the laundry process but also set the stage for future technological advancements ([28:45]).

Technological Advancements and Adoption

The washing machine underwent significant improvements, including the addition of electric motors by Tesla in 1894 and the introduction of automatic washing machines in the 1930s. By the mid-20th century, electric and steam-powered washers became widespread in Western households, drastically reducing the time and labor required for laundry ([30:20]).

Global Adoption and Traditional Practices

Despite technological progress in the West, many cultures continued traditional laundry methods. Ruth cites the Dhobi Ghat in Mumbai as an example of an enormous open-air laundry where thousands of men still wash clothes by hand, demonstrating the enduring nature of manual labor in certain regions ([31:50]).

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Social Impact: Women's Liberation Through Laundry Innovation

Ruth passionately argues that the washing machine was a pivotal invention for women's liberation. By alleviating the time-consuming and physically demanding task of laundry, women gained the opportunity to pursue education, work outside the home, and participate in political activities. She posits that the washing machine deserves recognition alongside other major advancements like contraception and voting rights for its role in transforming women's societal roles ([33:10]).

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Conclusion

Ruth Goodman masterfully illustrates that the history of laundry is not merely about cleaning clothes but is deeply intertwined with technological innovation, social change, and gender dynamics. From ancient riverbanks to modern washing machines, the evolution of laundry practices reflects broader societal transformations. This episode underscores the profound impact that seemingly mundane domestic tasks can have on shaping human history and advancing social progress.

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Looking Forward

In the next episode, Ruth promises to explore the fascinating history of garden sheds, from prehistoric storage built from woolly mammoth remains to modern outbuildings tested by natural disasters and inventive young minds.

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For those intrigued by the extraordinary history of everyday items, subscribing to Noiser+ offers ad-free listening, exclusive content, and early access to new episodes. Visit noizer.com/subscriptions to join.

Transcript

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[Alice]

BC and we're in Egypt on the banks of the River Nile. The sky is painted a deep navy blue, the water like a dark spill of ink across the landscape. Slowly, a woman emerges from the river and climbs onto the grassy bank. Though her naked body is illuminated by the fading moonlight, she doesn't mind there's no one around to see her at this pre dawn hour. Sliding her wet feet into her sandals, she slips a robe over her skin before bending forward and plucking a fistful of rushes from the bank. She loads them into a basket before heading home. When she reaches her house, she enters the kitchen and starts rummaging through various boxes and baskets. First she selects a pot of salt and sprinkles the grains over the rushes. Next, she pulls out a long curved stick of ivory from a locked drawer. It's covered with intricate carvings of wild creatures and gods with the heads of animals. She carefully places this on the low table in the middle of the room. The woman continues to move through her kitchen as though in a trance, juggling pots of honey and milk and miniature figurines of goddesses until her table is piled high with an assortment of curiosities. You see, this woman is a midwife. Like most ancient Egyptians, she believes in performing magic to aid a birth. Today she'll pray to the gods to protect a first time mother during the dangerous hours of her labor, and the spell she has in mind must be performed at dawn. With all her ingredients collected, the woman trots into the garden and hurries towards an Egyptian lavender bush. A fresh white linen dress is laid carefully over it. She rinsed it in the waters of the Nile yesterday before leaving it outside to dry in the sun. She picks up the dress and presses it to her nose, inhaling the scent of fresh lavender. As the fabric touches her face, she feels with relief that it's completely dry. The woman throws the dress on just as the first rays of sunlight creep above the horizon. It's time to perform her spell. A spell which would not be possible without that vital final ingredient, clean laundry. Thanks to tomb depictions and other archaeological evidence, we know that laundry was a significant part of ancient Egyptian life, and not only for midwives with magic to perform. Paintings show men washing linen in the Nile or in large vats and laying them to dry in the sun. Of course, other ancient civilizations did the laundry too. Humans have always needed clean clothes. But before the advent of modern detergents and machines, how did people get their clothes washed, dried, crease free and smelling fresh? Let's find out. I'm Ruth Goodman. I've spent my life exploring the extraordinary history of everyday items, the little things we often take for granted. You see, every object in your home has a fascinating hidden history, a story that's just waiting to be told. This week we're ironing out the story of laundry. So come with me and together we'll explore the curious history of your home. One of the earliest records relating to the washing of clothes comes from the Sumerians, an ancient civilization who lived in modern day Iraq between 4000 and 1700 BC an Akkadian cuneiform text from the city of Ur, dubbed at the cleaners, describes the Sumerian laundry process through a conversation between a bossy client and a launderer. The launderer explains that he'll take the clothes to the river, where they'll be submerged in water and slapped against the rocks and stones. This combination of friction and water was effective at removing dirt. They were then air dried by the wind a few thousand miles to the east. The ancient Chinese washed their clothes in much the same way. A folk legend about a girl called Chi, who was known as one of China's four great Beauties, describes her washing clothes in a stream. Apparently, she did it with such grace that it would shame the fish into hiding out of sight. It's possible that Chi may have used plant ash to aid her Washington Plant ash, or the residue from burnt plant matter, was a very early form of detergent. When mixed with water, it produces potassium carbonate, an effective Cleaning agent. Thanks to the Book of Rites, a commentary on the social, political and ceremonial practices of the Zhou dynasty, we know that this chemical was widely used. The book states, when your hat, belt and clothes get dirty, wash them with plant ash. As we saw in the introduction, clothes washing was an important ritual for ancient Egyptians. With a Nile at their fingertips, there was no excuse for dirty laundry. The ancient Egyptians altered the laundry process slightly from their Sumerian ancestors. Instead of slapping clothes against rocks, boys and men, often slaves, would fill basins with water from the Nile and stamp on the clothes floating inside to remove any dirt. Centuries later, Roman city dwellers transformed laundry into a profitable profession. They turned the simple Egyptian washtubs into large wash houses, where men, known as full owns, stomped around on the clothes in huge basins. As with the Egyptians, these businesses often employed slaves to do this work. But it wasn't only clothes and water that these washermen had to wade through. You see, the Romans cleaned their clothes with plant ash, lime ash and urine. Now, that might sound like a way to make clothes dirtier, but the ammonia in urine acted as a powerful cleaning detergent. Although it's perhaps best not to think about the state of their feet, fillones were indispensable in Roman cities, but that doesn't mean they were respected. In an attempt to discredit the prominent but unpopular politician Cicero, his rival spread a rumor that he was the son of a launderer. You might be surprised to hear that laundry was a male profession in these ancient societies. But while it's true that men worked in the laundry trade, women who couldn't afford to send their clothes out to be washed likely took on the chore themselves. As with many domestic tasks throughout history, once there's a way to make money by industrialising it, men get involved. It's also possible that the physically demanding work of washing clothes on a mass scale was deemed more suitable for men.

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All this changed in the medieval period. As towns declined after the fall of the Roman Empire, industrial wash houses became a thing of the past. Women were mainly responsible for the household washing again, be they a housewife in their own home or servant in someone else's. This state of affairs persisted for centuries and let me tell you, it was hard work and women loathed it. I've actually had the pleasure, or rather displeasure, of working in period laundries. See what you think of this Victorian process. At the weekend, women would sort through the garments that needed a wash for any holes or rips. Remember, laundry was a vigorous process, so even the tiniest tear could turn into a massive hole if not fixed first. With everything darned and patched to perfection, it was time to separate the clothes. Wool went into one pile, then cottons, linens and delicates into others. Dirty clothes were left to soak to help dissolve and soften dirt and stains. The longer the soak, the less work the washing would hopefully be. Women had to rise at the crack of dawn on a Monday. Getting laundry done early in the week ensured all clothes were cleaned and dried before church on a Sunday. Once upon, the real physical labour began. If you lived near a stream or river, you'd plod down with your bucket and fill it up with water. Those in urban settings relied on communal wells or pumps. Bucket full, you'd heave it back to your house and set about heating the water in every available pan or kettle in the kitchen. For centuries, laundry had been washed with cold water, but from the 17th century, hot water was used to break down and activate the soap. Then a wash bat, a long stick like instrument or dolly was used to vigorously swirl the clothes around, beating out any dirt or grease. Before long though, the water became muddied and it was time to empty out the basin and begin the process again. Finally, clothes were wrung out and hung up to dry. This could take hours, depending on the amount of laundry you had, which is why women would wash the cleanest clothes first to save on the amount of water changes. From my experience, it wasn't the physical labour that was the problem, although don't get me wrong, that was Exhausting? No. I found that the moving from the intense, steamy heat of the washroom to the freezing cold river or well was almost unbearable. Of course, it wasn't only water that was used to wash clothes. We've already seen that the ancient Chinese and Romans used plant ash and urine as detergents. But from the Middle Ages onwards, people developed a more precise range of cleaning agents. Milk and salt were excellent for removing wine stains, while lemon juice cleared ink spillages and general spotting. Honey was the go to for stains on gold thread. Embroidery and velvets were to be washed with the juice of the soapwort plant. Don't worry about memorizing these ingredients. They're all listed in Leonard Maskell's Profitable Book of 1583. Maskell even helpfully advised readers to dry their washing by hanging it on lavender bushes or laying it on grass in order to get it smelling fresh. This added freshness was perhaps necessary because some of the cleaning products used in the past were questionable. Dung, for example, animal dung was laid in a bucket of water overnight, and the dung infused liquid was applied to clothes the next day. Apparently, it helped loosen grease and dirt and also possessed bleaching properties, although you have to rinse it thoroughly afterwards. In English clergyman William Harrison's description of England from 1587, he declared, in some places also women do scour and wet their clothes with dung, as others do with hemlock and nettles. But such is the savor of the clothes touched with awe that I cannot abide to wear them on my body. Dung clearly wasn't the detergent of choice for everyone. While some cleaning products were a bit smelly, others were toxic. The Victorians relied on chloroform, gasoline and turpentine to remove stains, while gin was often poured in to aid the drying process. With this assortment of chemicals, it's no wonder that history is filled with accounts of women's skin being chapped and reddened. From Washington. The year is 1538, and we're in the laundry building at Hampton Court, one of Henry VIII's palaces. Inside, the air is humid. Steam clings to the window panes, yet the atmosphere is jovial. Around a dozen women are chatting and laughing together as they do the royal household's washing. In the center of the room are two large wooden basins. The laundresses pour an assortment of chemicals into each, stir them around, then waft the fumes to their noses to check the consistency. It's as though they're witches brewing a potion. Although these solutions are not for performing Spells, but for washing. Each mixture has been made for different garments, and it's vital not to mix them up. Put the wrong type of fabric in the wrong basin and there's a good chance you'll ruin the King of Queen's clothes. All of these women have heard of King Henry VIII's legendary temper, and they'd much rather stay in his good books. After a few minutes of stirring, the door opens. An older woman walks in, heaving a bunch bulging sack of laundry that looks fit to burst. This is Anne Harris, Henry's personal laundress. She tips the clothes out onto a long table and expertly sorts them into piles. The King's outerwear is extracted first and hung up on brass pegs. This includes hunting jackets, a few waistcoats and velvet cloaks. These items won't be washed, but simply brushed with a damp cloth. Next, Mistress Harris draws out all the different pieces of linen, sorting them into piles. Which ones are embroidered? Which ones are particularly delicate? Which ones are stronger and can take more vigorous type of laundry? From a separate bag, she withdraws a tangle of bandages, holding her breath as she does so. They're stained a gruesome yellowy orange and are sticky with pus. The putrid smell they emit is foul, and the other laundresses cover their noses. The women share a solemn look. Their king, Henry viii, is clearly unwell. Two years earlier, he suffered an injury while jousting and it's never fully healed. These bandages are sure signs that his leg is riddled with infection. But they know better than to gossip about the King's health. Even down here, you never know who's listening. So the bandages are thrown into a second basin, where they'll be washed without question. All evidence of the tyrannical king's illness will be scrubbed clean. Anne Harris seems to have been well paid by Henry viii, but laundry was often considered a job for those who occupied the lowest rungs on the social ladder. In fact, history shows us that whenever women had any sort of disposable income, one of the first things they would spend it on was paying someone else to do the laundry. But that doesn't mean that laundresses were without power. In large houses and royal courts, laundresses were privy to the most intimate of their employer's secrets. As we saw at Hampton Court, Harris likely knew more about the state of Henry's health in his final years than many of his courtiers. Laundresses could also keep track of pregnancies, menstrual cycles, possible infertility and the state of a couple's marriage. Anything that occurred in the bedroom behind closed doors was revealed on the linen. There are also remarkable tales of laundresses rising up through society. In St. Louis, Missouri towards the end of the 19th century, a woman called Sarah Breedlove worked as a laundress. She washed clothes day and night, earning just $1.25 per shift. Though her ambitions transcended the washrooms, as a black woman, it was almost impossible to find a better paid job. However, her humble work provided an unexpected springboard, possibly due to the chemicals that were used to wash clothes. Breedlove suffered from scalp ailments and hair loss. Her interest in hair led her to a job with a hair care entrepreneur and before long she had devised her own line of products. Branding herself as Madam C.J. walker, she launched her own beauty company and went on to employ thousands of other African Americans in her business. She's even reputed to have been America's first female self made millionaire, a groundbreaking feat made possible by the scents earned doing the laundry.

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[Alice]

One element of laundry that we haven't addressed yet is ironing, Though you might imagine that it's a modern concept linked to the invention of electric irons, it actually goes back millennia. Archaeological evidence suggests that thousands of years ago, Chinese people ironed their clothes using open metal pans filled with hot coals. When the Greeks came along, they heated a rod called a gophering iron and used it to produce pleats in their robes. Medieval Europeans used a combination of mangle boards and rolling pins, but also started to use flat irons heated over the fire. It was during the Victorian era that the iron took the form most recognizable to us today. Victorian housewives heated slabs of metal shaped similarly to our modern iron. The trouble was, these only retained the heat for so long, after which they'd have to be put back on the fire to warm them up again. To prevent the process from taking hours, many Victorians kept a set of two or four, which they used in rotation. By the end of the 19th century, American Henry W. Seely had invented the electric iron, and by the middle of the 20th century, steam irons, complete with electric cables and thermostats, were the norm. These changes were revolutionary and vastly improved the ease and efficiency of ironing. But not for all. In her 1938 autobiography, American activist Margaret Sanger wrote of watching women doing the washing in Everywhere on the banks of rivers, women were eternally pounding laundry. You could almost feel the threads parting company with a terrific beating. Washing with stones and ironing with sticks. What Sanga described was a common sight in Korea. Two women knelt on the floor opposite each other, beating the laundry with wooden sticks on a smoothing stone or tatumi twa. To many Koreans, this rhythmic sound epitomized home comfort. The year 1874, and we're inside a modest home in Indiana. Down a flight of wooden stairs and inside a drafty room sits a man called William Blackstone. His face is etched with tiredness. Every few seconds he scrunches up his mouth to stifle a yawn. Although dawn is breaking outside the first flecks of smoke, sunlight warming Blackstone's skin, he doesn't welcome it. He has a task to complete before sunrise. In front of Blackstone, illuminated by the light of his dying candle, is a small, round wooden tub perched on a three legged stool. A handle is attached to the outside and the wooden walls concealer, corrugated interior, and a heavy metal paddle. Blackstone opens the tub and pours the jug of water in, twisting the exterior handle as he does so. He smiles in satisfaction as he hears the water sloshing around inside. With his other hand he feels the bottom of the tub for any leaks, but there are none. Time for the next step. Blackstone grabs a pair of socks from a nearby laundry pile and adds them to the tub. Again he turns the handle, this time with more vigour. After a few minutes, he reaches inside and pulls out the socks. Not only are they now soaked with soapy water, they're looking a lot cleaner than when they went in. Clapping his hands in excitement, Blackstone leaps to his feet and strides out of the room, heading upstairs to where his wife is just beginning to wake. Today is her birthday. What better present for her than the world's first home washing machine? It didn't take long for news of Blackstone's washing machine to spread. At first he sold his machines for just $2.50 before making enough money to move his company to New York in 1890, where it remains today. All of Blackstone's machines came with the following advice Always fill the machine with good suds to this line, then put in about six shirts or clothes to that amount. This machine is then guaranteed unless above instructions are not followed. The decades after Blackstone's invention saw a golden age of washing machine innovation. In 1894, Tesla added an electric motor and by 1921, 70% of all washing machines were electric. The 1930s saw the birth of the automatic washing machine, whose ads sought to win women over with its apparent ease. According to commercials, all they needed to do to wash the clothes was put em in, set the dials, take em out. Finally, doing the laundry was easy. Or was it? It's important to remember that electric washers were largely western developments. In other parts of the world, many cultures continued with more traditional methods. In 1958, only 3.2% of Japanese women had a washing machine. And as recently as the 1970s, a large portion of women in rural China were using lye as their primary detergent. Even today, there are parts of the world where electric washers and dryers are scarce. Take the Dhobi Ghat in Mumbai, for example. An enormous open air laundry where thousands of men wash clothes by hand. If you were to ask me what invention has had the biggest impact on our lives today, I'd be tempted to answer that it's the washing machine. Its development truly liberated women, freeing them from the dreaded laundry days where they were stuck at home scrubbing, soaking and ironing for hours on end. The washing machine enabled women and girls to work outside the home, get an education and get involved in politics. I believe the washing machine deserves to sit right alongside contraception and the vote when it comes to women's liberation. Who'd have thought that something as humble as doing the laundry could have such a huge impact on society? In the next episode, we have a route through the garden sheds of the past. The death of a woolly mammoth provides the building material for a prehistoric storage space. But tsunami in Japan puts a sturdy outbuilding to the test. And an American Boy Scout assembles parts for the nuclear reactor he's building in his mum's shed. That's next time on the curious history of your home. Listen to the next episode today without waiting a week. By subscribing to Noiz A Plus, head to www.noiza.comscriptions for more information.

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