Melanie Parker of Elmbridge Museum tells us about the
VICTORIAN WASHDAY


Most of us, with our modern automatic washing machines and tumble dryers, have very little idea of what the Victorian housewife had to endure when tackling the household laundry.

Doing the washing wasn't necessarily all hard work, however. That is, if somebody else was doing it for you! Country houses had dedicated laundry maids whilst wealthier town residents used laundries, although the washerwomen who came to collect the dirty linen were notorious spreaders of influenza and scarlet fever. Newly-built terraced houses often shared a wash-house in the backyard.

Washing was a long and laborious process, often taking up to a week to complete. The Girl's Own Paper of 1899 recommended the following programme!

Monday - Steeping (soaking)
Tuesday - Washing
Wednesday - Folding and Starching
Thursday - Ironing
Friday - Airing

Washing 1850's style with tub and dolly

In fact, many households would have begun steeping on Saturday evening, with clothes reserved for 'Sunday-best' being worn the next day. Washing itself, the most arduous of tasks, could then take place on Monday when a quick meal of cold meat from the previous day's joint could be prepared.

Country houses and communal wash-houses in towns were normally connected to a water supply, but many country people had to draw water from a well in the garden, or even in the village. Most cottages also had a butt for the collection of rainwater - highly prized since it was so soft. The laundry was soaked overnight, sometimes in lye, an alkaline liquid obtained from wood ash. Stains were removed with a variety of country recipes made from such items as coal and onions!

Many households used a copper for washing. This was a large cast-iron tub built into the corner of a room with a brick surround and space underneath for a fire to be lit to heat the water. Smaller houses had only a wooden tub - sometimes an old barrel from a brewery - or, towards the end of the 19th century, a galvanised zinc tub. Water for these tubs was heated directly on the range.

Soap was used in the days before detergents. White laundry went in first as it needed the hottest water. This was removed with tongs and darker items followed. The washboard was used for delicate items, a dolly or posser for other laundry. Some items required boiling, taking anything from half an hour to half a day! In those households without a copper the laundry had to be boiled in a pan over the fire. I can't help imagining that many times the pans must have boiled over and put out the fire! The laundry was rinsed three times, and in the final rinse a 'blue bag' (a calico bag with a special blue powder) was added with white items to maintain their original brightness.
After the final rinse everything was put through a mangle to squeeze out any excess water. The laundry was fed between two rollers, usually made of wood but sometimes covered with rubber, and turned by a handle at the side.


Victorian flat iron


A 'Blue bag'

The washing was then hung out to dry, sometimes on a line strung across the street. When it rained it was dried indoors in front of the fire, hung over wooden frames known as clothes horses or maidens, or on racks suspended from the ceiling. The damp smell of drying clothes in this way gave rise to the expression 'about as pleasant as a wet wash day'.

A few items, such as caps and men's shirts, needed starching. Wheat, potatoes and rice were used to produce the necessary starch until commercial manufacture began on a significant scale in the 1840s.

Finally the laundry was pressed using a 'flat iron' or, if it was a larger item, put through the mangle again. The flat iron was heated on the range but, with no temperature gauge to work with, just imagine the number of items which got scorched!

A 'posser'

A small laundry display is currently on show at Elmbridge Museum, above the library in Church Street, Weybridge. Admission is free and the Museum is open from 11am until 5pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and on Saturdays from 10am - 1pm and 2pm - 5pm. The Museum can organise special washday sessions for local schools.