This is no longer a special event, as any day can be washing day. However go back in time to the mid 19th century and washing day was a major event. Due to the effort involved in washing clothes, washing day was perhaps a monthly event. More affluent families who had more clothes to wear were fortunate, as even for these people, washing day was not a weekly event. A large country house benefited from dedicated laundries and staff, but for the vast majority washing clothes was undertaken in the kitchen or rear yard.
Soap was referred to as early as 2,500 years BC, but in the UK it was used sparsely, as a tax levied in 1721 made soap extremely expensive, this changed in 1853 with the repeal of the soap tax. Bleach was sometimes used as well as starch to stiffen cotton and linen.
Before the advent of the washing machine a wooden tub and ‘dolly’ was used. The dolly made of a wooden pole with legs (similar to a 3 legged stool) beat and agitated the clothes in the tub. By 1891 the first washing machines appeared, but cost and preference meant the dolly tub remained the common method of washing. To remove stains soap and a scrubbing board would be used.
Once clean, clothes were rung out to remove excess water and then taken in a wicker washing-basket to be hung out to dry. Where a washing line was used clothes pegs made of wood held the clothes in place. However, in many villages the clothes were draped over hedges or lain out on fields. Clotheshorses were another way of drying clothes indoors and out. The mangle (wringer) was a mid 19th century invention that squeezed water out of clothes using two wooden rollers.
Finally once the washing was almost dry, came ironing. Still seen as a chore today! Before the electric iron flat irons heated in front of a fire were the norm. Some were ornate with patterns of everyday scenes fashioned into them. Most were just plain black and just plain heavy!
We have a varied selection of washing day miniatures and kits on our web shop in both 1/12th and 1/24th scale, so you can recreate washing day again in your dolls house.