How To Prepare A Family Wash For Different Cloth Materials

Sort out the washing into piles according to use, colour, material. Dusters, blouses, and cotton sheets will all need different treatment. Look for and remove pins, ornaments like brooches, things left in pockets. Look for tears and stains; mend any large holes and treat the stains. Shake out any loose dirt. Soak white cotton articles in cold water overnight, the dirtiest at the bottom because dirt sinks. Clothing stained with blood should be soaked in cold water. Mucous- or excreta stained articles should be soaked separately. Soaking loosens dirt, needs less soap and hard rubbing (therefore things year longer), but this requires plenty of clean water. If only muddy water is to be had, then it must be collected some time before the washday and left to clear before being strained, or this will only discolour the washing.

On Washday Heat as much water as possible. Prepare some soapy water with this, either by using soap which has been flaked with a knife, soap flakes, or detergent. Wring out the soaked clothes well and throw the dirty water away. Now soak the clothes in the soapy water and leave for atleast half an hour. The water will have loosened the dirt and the soap will now clean the material. He there are any specially soiled parts, for instance, neckbands or cuffs on shirts, these can be rubbed with a little extra soap or detergent before soaking as this will help to loosen the extra dirt, prevents wear by too hard rubbing, and makes less work. Special matrieals like silk, nylon, or wool have to be sorted out separately. Very often when these garments are new they have a special label attached with washing instructions and these should be kept and followed.

Washing Silk or Nylon

Wash in warm soapy water avoiding heat from water, sunlight, or irons. Wash gently–hard rubbing breaks the fine threads. Avoid stain removers which may rot the threads because they are often strong chemicals. Do not soak too long in water–5 minutes is enough. Squeeze the garment gently; do not wring it out or put it through a wringer. Never starch these materials and never use a hot iron–always cool one.

Washing Wool

Collect all the hot and cold water to be used and mix to warm water, so that the temperatures are not changed for washing and rinsing. Avoid soaking; this makes wool harden. Squeeze the garment gently under the water only. Do not stretch or lift it up and down out of the water. Hard rubbing makes it lose its shape. Woollen garments should be dried flat, having been measured first and then spread out to the original measurements; they should be dried on a paper to protect them from the dirty ground. Woollen snakes should be pegged out on the line, feet up. Woollens should be nearly dried, and then pressed with a very slightly damp cloth on the right side.

Drying Clothes

Clothes line should be used because clothes on the ground can be eaten by ants, soiled by animals or excreta, infested with 'mango fly' (Cordylobia) larvae, which burrow into the skin causing skin sores like small boils. If clothes are dried on the trees or hedges they can be strained and torn.
Shake clothes well. This helps to remove creases and the sunlight will help to kill the germs and bleach material. Hang them lengthways and arrange them so that the wind blows inside the garment or sheet. Fix with pegs as this saves them from blowing onto the dirty ground. Dresses should be put on a hanger and pegged to the line to keep their shape. Woollen garments should be dried flat and stretched to their normal size on a clean mat, towel, or newspaper, or placed over a rack or drying table so that the air can reach the bottom. Coloured things should be hung inside out and never in very bright sunlight as they will fade very quickly.
If articles are to be ironed the same day, they should be taken half-dried, rolled up, and put into a clean place. If they are to be ironed another day then they should be dried thoroughly as prolonged damp will cause mildew and permanent stains on the materials.