tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post8885396775848898831..comments2024-03-23T12:38:46.260+00:00Comments on The History Girls: WASHING LINEN IN PUBLIC: early modern laundry in a small household, by Jane BorodaleMary Hoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241989732624913706noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-59611157067790380982012-09-24T12:23:25.257+01:002012-09-24T12:23:25.257+01:00Penny - yes I wonder whether it could have been th...Penny - yes I wonder whether it could have been the bare legs that gave them that reputation, or maybe that laundresses were out and about so much: Mark Girouard says that laundresses were historically a rather ungovernable lot, with much independence, and that great-house laundries in the Victorian era were easily accessible from the stables...<br /><br />Jane - that's an interesting question isn't it, lye must eat away at fabric if left too long, but I don't know. There were many different strengths of lye, made from different ingredients and extensions of the process; oak ash apparently was very strong, and a doubly-strong solution could be made by making the ash from straw which had itself been soaked in lye, and that really dirty fabric was actually boiled in the lye. There must have been laundry errors where things got ruined, don't you think. I don't think I'm going to experiment, mind!Jane Borodalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04869783602793206715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-70074022685344528882012-09-23T21:18:57.547+01:002012-09-23T21:18:57.547+01:00Wonderful post! Absolutely fascinating.
Wonderful post! Absolutely fascinating.<br />H.M. Castorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08716936870601385683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-91907987460289348422012-09-23T20:32:46.099+01:002012-09-23T20:32:46.099+01:00Wonderful post, and I have a question. Lye (from w...Wonderful post, and I have a question. Lye (from what I've read) is a caustic substance. In the process you describe of repeatedly pouring lye over clothes, were precautions taken to minimize skin contact? And if the solution of lye was too strong, did it destroy the clothing as well?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07338002014574933192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-44389708097316651122012-09-23T16:48:22.660+01:002012-09-23T16:48:22.660+01:00Such an interesting post and one that matches the ...Such an interesting post and one that matches the post about lighting fire!<br /><br />But - brrrr! - I feel I should pin up that image of laundry on the icy lake to shame me whenever I feel oppressed by housework.<br /><br />Looking at one of the other pictures, I wonder if it was the laundresses custom of bare "paddling" legs that gave them their slightly "easy" reputation? (Though I am not sure where I picked up that impression.) That plus their poverty, perhaps?Penny Dolanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-87878146284785846082012-09-23T13:04:39.697+01:002012-09-23T13:04:39.697+01:00Jane, you could well be right about the Peg Questi...Jane, you could well be right about the Peg Question. I had another look at those 'washing lines' and they are indeed poles.<br /><br />By the way, I was using a twin tub in 1975 when I had my first baby - we bought an automatic with some of my earliest earnings from writing!Ann Turnbullhttp://www.annturnbull.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-76090669679510378472012-09-23T10:46:30.131+01:002012-09-23T10:46:30.131+01:00I think, after reading all this, I appreciate the ...I think, after reading all this, I appreciate the washing machines and detergent more than ever!catdownunderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06959328192182156574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-26642568480789184812012-09-22T22:36:53.634+01:002012-09-22T22:36:53.634+01:00Thanks - Sue I bet your mother was relieved when s...Thanks - Sue I bet your mother was relieved when she got the washing machine - although built-in wringer still sounds like it needed nurturing. I remember my mother washing with a twin tub and that seemed like a lot of work that went on for hours, forking things across with bleach-white wooden tongs and draining it all soapily and steamily at intervals into the sink... we're very lucky aren't we.<br /><br />Ann - I've been thinking about the Peg Question - and hypothesise whether their invention only happened once suitable (i.e. cotton) cord that didn't stain the linen became available - haven't in the least bit tested it but assume that hemp, for example, might leave a stain? The early washing lines I've seen in pictures are poles supported on cleft sticks (even in the one here) and imagine their thickness wouldn't suggest peggablity? But it might not be that at all. I'd love to know -am sure that someone else out there must know the answer...? A peg blog - that would be great!<br /><br />PS. Apologies to Eve Edwards for inadvertently stealing her blogpost title from August, in the immediacy of my domestic preoccupation completely forgot you'd done a lovely laundry post!Jane Borodalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04869783602793206715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-79542143085542012292012-09-22T14:25:20.132+01:002012-09-22T14:25:20.132+01:00Brilliant! Thanks so much. Didn't know so much...Brilliant! Thanks so much. Didn't know so much of this...adelehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15826710558292792068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-72224504823244554352012-09-22T13:58:12.637+01:002012-09-22T13:58:12.637+01:00Truly fascinating. Thank you!Truly fascinating. Thank you!Essie Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04611324005960689918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-6988536483055665332012-09-22T09:46:52.241+01:002012-09-22T09:46:52.241+01:00Yes, what beautiful paintings! And thank you for ...Yes, what beautiful paintings! And thank you for this detailed and fascinating post. It has always puzzled me why for so many centuries women draped their washing over bushes to dry! Things must have got blown away, or stained with greenery or bird's mess. Your top picture (which I have a larger version of in a book) shows a washing line but not, apparently, any pegs. I find it hard to believe they had not been invented! <br /><br />Hope you get your mod cons back soon, Jane!Ann Turnbullhttp://www.annturnbull.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-43856917801547655652012-09-22T09:21:08.334+01:002012-09-22T09:21:08.334+01:00And great paintings! I'd never seen any of th...And great paintings! I'd never seen any of them - absolutely fascinating (and the last one - absolutely FREEZING!)Joan Lennonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15763862159032836768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-52777669357668553842012-09-22T08:24:53.831+01:002012-09-22T08:24:53.831+01:00Fascinating!
I do hope you get an oil refill soon...Fascinating!<br /><br />I do hope you get an oil refill soon.Jan Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00471022034388834235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-33278440762484197382012-09-22T05:06:08.535+01:002012-09-22T05:06:08.535+01:00Oh, and fascinating to hear where the word "b...Oh, and fascinating to hear where the word "bucket" comes from!:-)Sue Bursztynskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09362273418897882971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-13699092451848990092012-09-22T05:04:41.886+01:002012-09-22T05:04:41.886+01:00Swine poo, eh? :-) Reminds me of the Roman cleanin...Swine poo, eh? :-) Reminds me of the Roman cleaning detergent, which was urine. Got togas white as nothing else could! I can just remember living in a small Victorian worker's cottage when I was about four years old. It had a separate laundry/kitchen/bathroom. My mother would heat washing water on the stove, because we didn't have hot water; there was a bathtub which she filled from the stove and she was thrilled to get her first washing machine with built-in wringer, long after we left that house. While we were there, she washed her clothes in the manner of an earlier time.Sue Bursztynskihttp://suebursztynski.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.com