Laundry Tips (That Spans The Generations)
Home » Lifestyle »Recently, I’ve been watching a lot of programmes about social history, which I’ve always found fascinating. I love learning about the seemingly mundane things, the day-to-day stuff that doesn’t really make the history books. I was watching one about the ordinary folk in the 1600s; the women washing the clothes in the river, beating them with wooden paddles to drive out the dirt, having a good gossip! Then another programme, about the Victorian era, waking up at 2am for laundry day and using things like milk and butter to get out stains. Then soaking the clothes, before using a technique called dollying, to dislodge the dirt; before putting through a mangle to get rid of excess water. And that’s all before ironing. Can you imagine? Laundry taking a whole day, if not days!
I often chat to my mum about her childhood, and the things she remembers, and I love hearing about what life was like back then, and it makes me realise how easy we have it with modern day appliances these days.
My mum was born in 1948, and told me she remembers her mum washing the clothes using a washboard, in a tin bucket, and hanging them out on the line. I asked if nanny had a mangle – apparently not, but she remembers her Godmother having one.
Mum also remembers a washing detergent called Dolly Blue, and how her mum would scrub the collars of her dad’s shirts with a bit of soap and a scrubbing brush, because that was where most of the dirt would accumulate. This reminded me of the Victorian programme, where they spot cleaned the stains, minimising the need for lots of soap, and saving precious resources. Ultimately, the action of washing clothes doesn’t change that much.
Once the 1960s came, both my nanny and grandad worked, and mum would do the laundry – taking everything to local launderette to wash, before brining it all back home to hang on the washing line. She said she remembers the women in their gossiping, and also arguing over who got the machine first! Sounds like nothing much has changed then, since the time of the Stuarts!
Mum told me she didn’t get a washing machine until her and dad became managers of their first pub – before that she would have to wash many thing the old fashioned way. I was the generation of cloth nappies, so she would, erm, dispose of the waste, and then chuck the nappies into a bucket of bleach, before washing out – by hand. Mum, you trouper you!

Now onto my memories… We lived in a flat above a pub, so didn’t have a washing line in the garden (oh what a novelty that was for me, when I finally moved out of home into my own place!)
I remember a clothes horse that rested across the bath to dry stuff, as well as mum putting shirts on hangers and hanging them from the shower pole – something I still do, when I can’t hang washing outside. I remember the Ali Baba type washing basket we had, and the separate tub for dad’s socks!! I also remember the time I got told off for something or other, and threw a tantrum, grabbing that sock tub, taking the lid off and tossing the socks out around the bathroom (where it was kept) in anger, what a weird child I was!
I remember learning what the symbols clothing labels meant during textiles lessons at school, so that has come in very handy for me as an adult, it meant no accidental shrinking of clothes in the wash!
Now I’ve shared a little bit of my family’s social history, here are some laundry tips, from my nanny, my mum, and from me.
Laundry Tips (That Spans The Generations)
- Keep two wash baskets – one for lights and one for darks. If you have the space, have another one for underwear. – mum
- Have a fun washing basket in the kid’s rooms to encourage them to put their dirty clothes in that, rather than the floor. – mum
- Encourage everyone in the house to empty pockets, and to unravel socks, sleeves etc, so that you save time when putting the wash in the machine. – me
- Should you have some particularly stinky clothes, a flowery smelling disinfectant can help! – mum
- To keep woollens soft, do a final rinse in vinegar and water. – nanny
- Always fill a washing machine to capacity so as to save energy and detergents. If you need a couple of items washed, you can always do them by hand. – mum, me
- When washing duvet covers and pillow cases, invert them before washing so they are ready to put back on the duvet and pillows without getting yourself in a tangle when making beds. – mum
- Before hanging clothes on the washing line, run a cloth along it to get rid of any dirt, and (shudder) spider webs. – me
- If you have no option but to hang clothes in your house to dry, make sure you leave a window open for the condensation to escape. You don’t want a build up of that in your home, causing damp and mould. – me
- Teach everyone in the house how the washing machine works. And for kids, from a young age, so that they know how to do it when they grow up and leave home! – mum, me
You should also check out the laundry tips from parents over on the Beko website – there are some fab ones for getting rid of stains.
Disclosure: Collaborative post in association with Beko
March 11, 2016 @ 4:45 pm
I love the social history ! It shows you how different things were. i promise i won’t complain half as much about the washing now !
March 11, 2016 @ 6:09 pm
Same! Never again will I complain about the appliances that make our lives so much easier!!
March 10, 2016 @ 6:00 pm
Lovely post. I too like watching programmes like that, they fascinate me. I remember my mum washing shirt collars like that… when I was young. Great tips, I especially like the one that says you should teach everyone how to use the washing machine… my 17yr old hasn’t got a clue. Going to show him right now! x
March 10, 2016 @ 6:27 pm
They are really fascinating to watch aren’t they? What scares me are the recent “Back in time” ones, where I actually remember the decades that the kids on there don’t… makes me feel well old!!! xx
March 8, 2016 @ 12:58 pm
Great tips, I recently had to show my husband how to work the washing machine. I have literally no idea what he’s been doing with it for the last decade?!?
March 10, 2016 @ 10:01 am
haha! My husband actually had to teach me how to use our new washing machine >_< I'm not used to fancy buttons!!
March 7, 2016 @ 1:41 pm
Ha, many of the things you wrote about could have been recounted by my mother, she was born in the 40s and she never had a washing machine until we were nearly teenagers! We had a special tub for dad’s socks too, haha, and I do turn my bedding inside out when they go in the wash so I can iron and put them back on easily.xx
March 10, 2016 @ 10:02 am
Wow – way to go your mum! Could you imagine not having a washing machine?!
March 7, 2016 @ 10:00 am
I remember my mum having a twin tub and she’d have a day each week for washing. I used to love helping. I didn’t love it so much when I got older and it was one of my jobs! :)
March 10, 2016 @ 10:03 am
Every day seems like a wash day these days!
March 6, 2016 @ 11:09 pm
Oh what an emotional post. I remember laundry with my mum and I still love hanging it on the line.
March 10, 2016 @ 10:06 am
I love hanging laundry on the line – love the way it smells so fresh when you bring it in.
March 6, 2016 @ 6:41 pm
Brilliant tips and I love that you involved your family in this one ;-)
You definitely should do more posts like this x x
March 10, 2016 @ 10:07 am
Thanks Cass. Trying to find my way again with blogging! xx
March 6, 2016 @ 11:12 am
Fab tips, I am a bit rubbish generally at laundry.
March 5, 2016 @ 4:03 pm
I hate that the spiders seem to congregate on my washing line and hide in pegs – wish they would invent a spider proof washing line
March 10, 2016 @ 10:07 am
Tell me about it – that would be such a great invention
March 5, 2016 @ 1:04 pm
I can remember my mum having a twin-tub & the washing taking up most of the day on Mondays! Thanks for sharing your laundry tips x
March 5, 2016 @ 9:31 am
Great tips! Makes me very great fun for my drier lol as I seem to always be doing the laundry!!
March 10, 2016 @ 10:08 am
I miss having a washer/dryer – so handy in the winter months!
March 4, 2016 @ 11:26 pm
We have a standing joke that every time we see a mangle we have to take a photo and send it to my dad as he always says how his mum had one. My grandmother-in-law is still convinced you shouldn’t wash baby clothes in a washing machine!
March 10, 2016 @ 10:09 am
What a fun thing to do! I am not sure if I’ve ever actually seen a mangle in real life! Ooh, I wonder why that is for the baby clothes? I remember washing all of my son’s baby clothes before he would wear them, but still slung them in the machine :D
March 4, 2016 @ 7:58 pm
This is such a lovely post reminiscing about the past. Your washing tips are really useful and I also have a darks and whites washing basket to separate the washing.
March 4, 2016 @ 7:37 pm
what a lovely post!! Fantastic tips. Love number 7, I am terrible for getting tangled in the duvet covers lol
March 4, 2016 @ 4:18 pm
Such a lovely post and I love these tips! It’s amazing how far laundry has actual come throughout the years.
March 4, 2016 @ 4:34 pm
Thank you! Tell me about it… I couldn’t imagine hand washing ALL of the laundry – what a nightmare! I grumble over the couple of bras I have to hand wash haha
March 4, 2016 @ 12:54 pm
Aw what a lovely post. Great memories of times past and actually in many ways how little has changed. I am desperate for a tumble drier but then I do love hanging all my washing out on the line, it’s such a nice time to think and quite peaceful. Lovely post.
March 4, 2016 @ 4:35 pm
The core things do seem to remain, and not only that, things that were used to clear up stains in the past, are just home remedies of which we now have chemicals for. There is part of me that wishes we could mix some of the new with the old; I’m sure life would be happier! I do love hanging the washing on the line – love the smell when you bring it indoors :D
March 4, 2016 @ 11:50 am
Some great tips, how social washing clothes once was. I remember my gran having a big washing machine in her kitchen where you put everything in the top and used huge wooden tongues to get them out and move them around in the wash. Now it’s just bung it all in and hope for the best, socks go missing and tissue loves everything. I’m definitely going to try and make everyone sort their clothes out properly, save me a bit of time.
March 4, 2016 @ 4:37 pm
Ooh, how interesting! I saw something that sounds similar on a wartime documentary – essentially a manual washing machine! I wonder where all those socks do go? Wherever it is I hope they’re happy :D As for tissues, I have ruined clothes in the past when one got left in a pocket :/
March 4, 2016 @ 11:48 am
Love your social history stories – I’m so interested in this kind of thing. And I love your tips, especially about washing duvet covers/pillow cases inside out. We do have two laundry baskets!
March 4, 2016 @ 4:38 pm
Thank you :) I love talking to mum about this sort of thing, as it really gives an insight as to how things were. I must try and do more of them on my blog. It is a great tip for the duvet covers, she kept that one a bit of a secret though, as I didn’t even know about it until we chatted about this!