How women impacted the History of Laundry

Soap/Detergent

From ancient times, chemical additives were used to facilitate the mechanical washing of textile fibers with water. The earliest recorded evidence of the production of soap-like materials dates back to around 2800 BC in ancient Babylon.[2] (info found on wiki) (www.ancientpages.com) Soap pictured

ANCIENT BABYLON Art below (mozaweb.com)

VANISHED: THE FORGOTTEN SACRIFICES OF THE NEGRO WASHERWOMAN

Carter G. Woodson article about the sacrifices of the Negro washerwoman. Full article found; https://blackthen.com/vanished-the-forgotten-sacrifices-of-the-negro-washerwoman/

She gave her life as a sacrifice for others. Whether as a slave or a free woman of color of the antebellum period or as a worker in the ranks of an emancipated people, her life without exception was one of unrelenting toil for those whom she loved. In the history of no people has her example been paralleled, in no other figure in the Negro group can be found a type measuring up to the level of this philanthropic spirit in unselfish service.

WASHBOARDS a part of everyday chores

A "fluted" metal washboard was patented in the United States by Stephen Rust in 1833. Zinc washboards were manufactured in the United States from the middle of the 19th century. In the late 20th century and early 21st century, ridges of galvanized steel are most common, but some modern boards are made of glass. Some writers claimed that using a washboard was superior to using older laundry machines, because they save water and heating costs, and are not so hard on the clothing, this method is still used in many parts of the world (found on wiki)

Ironing in the 18th and 19th century

Two kinds of irons were in common use in the 18th-19th centuries. Shown below are flat-irons or sad-irons (the 'sad' part comes not from a weary laundress, but from an archaic word for solid.) These were in fact solid pieces of cast iron that were propped before the hearth to heat. Considerable experience was required to judge the temperature and to keep the face of the iron free of cinders and soot. Two irons at a time were recommended: one to use, and a second to be heating.

Article found at https://twonerdyhistorygirls.blogspot.com/2010/01/pressing-matters-yes-ironing.html

Every laundress had her own method for judging an iron's proper temperature, but the most common was spitting on the iron's heated face to see how fast the spit would sizzle away.

Slightly less hazardous were box-irons, see demonstration below. These irons were wedge-shaped boxes with a sliding-door on the back. A fitted iron insert, called a slug, would be heated and slipped inside. The advantages were that the heat would be more evenly distributed, the face of the iron could remain spotlessly clean, and several slugs could be kept heating at once to insure a near-constant source of heat. An average box-iron weighed about four pounds; the weight made ironing easier, and helped press the cloth with less muscle. Larger box-irons could hold live coals inside, and were called charcoal-irons.