Old Recipe for Washing Clothes

[M.D. Holloway]

Years ago an Alabama grandmother gave the new bride the following recipe:

This is an exact copy as written and found in an old scrapbook - with spelling errors and all.

WASHING CLOTHES

Build fire in backyard to heat kettle of rain water. Set tubs so smoke wont blow in eyes if wind is pert.

Shave one hole cake of lie soap in boilin water.

Sort things, make 3 piles
1 pile white,
1 pile colored,
1 pile work britches and rags.

To make starch, stir flour in cool water to smooth, then thin down with boiling water.

Take white things, rub dirty spots on board, scrub hard, and boil, then rub colored don't boil just wrench and starch.

Take things out of kettle with broom stick handle, then wrench, and starch.

Hang old rags on fence.

Spread tea towels on grass.

Pore wrench water in flower bed.. Scrub porch with hot soapy water. Turn tubs upside down.

Go put on clean dress, smooth hair with hair combs. Brew cup of tea, sit and rock a spell and count your blessings.
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Paste this over your washer and dryer Next time when you think things are bleak, read it again, kiss that washing machine and dryer, and give thanks. First thing each morning you should run and hug your washer and dryer, also your toilet---those two-holers used to get mighty cold!

For you non-southerners -wrench means rinse.

[peppy]

Are we really that much better off with all of the luxuries we have?

Oh and if you washed a lot of modern clothing like that, you would not be able to wear it again.

[ZOO]

I love the re-use component, too. Wash the porch with the leftovers. We'd be better off if we re-used as much as we could.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by peppy

Are we really that much better off with all of the luxuries we have?

Oh and if you washed a lot of modern clothing like that, you would not be able to wear it again.

When I lived in india, I think my clothes were washed that way. After 3 months, some of the clothes were basically rags.

[tabs]

This is the obama idea of utopia...

[vash]

"sit a spell?" lazy woman...what about the biscuits..and tending to the fields? and them biscuits are going to need some fresh butter!!

[vash]

to be serious. on my travels, i pack nothing but travel clothing. easy dry stuff. i wash my own clothing in the sink, with these sheets of detergent..that dissolve easy, suds up big, and rinse fast.. hang them dry for a few hours. IT IS HELL! i kick the cats out of the way running in my front door to go and hug my washer/dryer. i will die when the meteor hits, and the electricity shuts off for good.

[M.D. Holloway]

we wear too much clothing anyway...

[vash]

Originally Posted by LubeMaster77

we wear too much clothing anyway...

not everyone...some need some extra coverage..

[John Rogers]

A long time ago when I was in the Navy and we HAD to wear whites all the time, the only place I ever saw that could get out the collar stains and beer stains were the "laundry boys" at Subic Bay PI. They used large wash tubs with Ivory Snow detergent and jumped in and used their feet for a bit and the whites were clean! As a matter of fact the bar girls used to use Ivory Snow to clean their hair.........

[Rikao4]

used to pay about 2 bucks a bag..
she would beat my uniforms with a rock..
dry them on the river shore..
if you wanted something 'pressed'
she had this large iron...
that she would place hot coals inside ..
wore what I had on out..
left everything else behind..

Rika

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by vash

i will die when the meteor hits, and the electricity shuts off for good.

+100

I would hug my air conditioner before I hug my washer. I would hate to have to watch TV in the dark!

[imcarthur]

What that Alabama grandmother knew was you have to get it hot. I was briefly in the pro laundry chemical biz.

The key to clean laundry:

Temperature. 150F is about ideal.

Good agitation. The average housewife will cram too large a load into a washer. Side load washers give better agitation - if you don't overfill - with laundry or water. Too much water will dilute the chemicals & reduce agitation.

Detergent. Commercial detergents will burn your hands. It is a nasty alkali. Tide etc is pretty much crap but you use what you can. Liquid detergents will disperse better & faster than granular.

Bleach. Use fresh bleach. It does have a shelf life. The stuff you buy in a store is 3% - if it is fresh. After a month - not so much. Commercial bleach is 7%. It burns your hands & destroys any clothing it touches directly. Chlorine gases off optimally at 155F (if I remember correctly). If it doesn't all gas off due to low temps, residual chlorine will dramatically reduce life of the fabric & could irritate sensitive skin. A cold bleach soak will work if given time & a good wash & rinse afterwards.

Ian