Monday, May 30, 2016

Timing

How long after the inventions of fabrics did we have the invention of "doing the laundry?"

2 comments:

Assistant Village Idiot said...

As recently as a century ago, middle-class people in wealthy countries tended to have only two sets of clothes, Sabbath and everyday. Collars, aprons, cuffs, and the like were the items that were laundered. Sheets, stockings, and undergarments, too, I imagine. Laundry was hard to do, even with those new-fangled wringers, so folks avoided it.

james said...

But they did wash them, and did so even when you had to take the clothes down to the creek and beat them on stones (seen it). (If I had to guess I'd suspect that the first fabrics were for storage/carrying.)