With all the modern conveniences we have today, it may come as a shock to most people to hear about the work that was involved in doing the wash. We generally refer to this today as, “doing the laundry.” This usually entails throwing a few articles together in an automatic washer, and then drying them in an automatic dryer. We may even accomplish this while doing other things, or even while away from home. Later we simply take the clothes out of the dryer and either fold or hang them until needed.
My how times have changed. Let me tell you what it meant to a boy growing up in the 1950’s in Wallins Creek. At least for this boy, that is. “Wash day” was usually on Monday at our house. It was called “Wash Day” because it literally took all day. Washing was accomplished utilizing a Maytag wringer washer. It was my duty to set everything up on wash day. This process took place on a screened-in porch at the rear of our house. The set up required the following: filling the washing machine with hot soapy water and three washtubs with water for rinsing. We generally used some type of laundry detergent if we had it, supplemented by homemade lye soap, which we made for the hot soapy wash water. These cakes of lye soap were brown in color and were made using lye that was boiled on an outdoor open wood fire. We used a black cast iron pot that we hung over the open wood fire. The lye soap that was produced from the process was used to supplement any other detergent that we used on wash day. The lye soap cakes were shaved into the hot water and agitated to produce foam. Unfortunately lye soap is a little short on the foam production. It did, however help to produce soapy water for the first phase of the operation.
The hardest part for me was carrying water to use. We weren’t able to use our water because it was too yellow. Like a lot of other people in Wallins, our well water supply was sulfur water. It wasn’t much good for anything. You could drink it if you absolutely had to, but you would have to hold you nose while drinking it. It smelled like rotten eggs. We couldn’t use this water for washing clothes, as it would leave stains on the clothes. It also left the yellow sulfur deposits on our sinks and bathtub. No matter how hard you scrubbed, you could never completely remove the stains. So the only alternative that we had was to carry good water to wash in.
Fortunately, our next door neighbor, the Cornett’s let us use water from their well. This water was soft water. I would carry it bucket by bucket from their pump room. Do you have any idea how many trips that I made in order to fill the tubs? Neither do I, but it seemed like a hundred. I know what you are thinking. Why not use a hose? I can’t answer that question other than to say that either there wasn’t one available, or I was too stupid to think of it. Whatever the reason, it probably wasn’t a great concern, since, as slave labor, I worked very cheaply.
The washing process involved several steps. First, the clothes were separated just as we would do it today. Whites and colors were separated. The loads would go through the agitation process individually. They would then be put through the wringer and into the first rinse tub. The first tub would be warm water. It would also contain any bluing, starch or other special ingredient. Depending on the clothing and color it may skip this tub. The next two tubs contained cold rinse water. The clothes would be swirled around in the water before going through the wringer at each tub. Sometimes after several loads, I would have to change the rinse water if it became too soapy. Finally after the clothes had been through all the tubs and through the wringer, they were taken to the clothesline to be hung. I then had to empty all the tubs and washer. This required dipping the water out by bucketfuls and emptying them somewhere outside on the ground. More carrying. Just what I wanted. You would have thought that I might have developed superhuman strength doing this. Didn't work out that way. I must have done something wrong.
It wasn’t hard to relate to the saying, “been through a wringer.” Before hanging the clothes on the clothesline, you would have to pull them or shake them back to their original shape. One thing that I failed to mention was that wash day was dependent on the weather. If it was cloudy and or raining, wash day was delayed. As you might imagine, there was enough work to do without spoiling everything on the line, or at least having to take everything down and move it inside in the event of rain.
Well, if the weather cooperated, you took the clothes down from the line when they dried. You then folded them or hung them up until you wanted to wear something. Right? Hardly. Not so fast. There is another whole phase before the job is complete. The clothes were not wash and wear as we are used to now days. Almost everything needed to be ironed. This required that they first be sprinkled and rolled up until ironed. I am told that this made it easier to iron the wrinkles out. Ironing was usually another whole day’s work. As you can see, it was always only a short time before the process started all over again. Reminds me of the little guy on the television commercial who meets himself in the doorway saying, “It’s time to make the doughnuts.”
I don’t mean to give the reader the impression that I did all this work by myself. Fortunately, I was usually only tasked with the heavy lifting and unskilled labor. I could not be entrusted with valuable clothing. Well, it might not have been too valuable, but it was all we had. It would have been hard to replace something that I might have damaged or ruined by my laziness or inattention. These two traits are usually found in boys who would rather be doing something else. I also didn’t display an aptitude for this kind of work. I learned my lesson previously. I did such a good job washing the dishes when I was little that my mom tasked me with the chore frequently. “Old Lightning” may have been born stupid, but he wasn’t born yesterday. I will elaborate more about this in a future story.
There was always plenty of work to go around for a young boy growing up in Wallins. It always seemed to cut into time for the really important things a young boy would prefer doing. Little did I realize at the time, how valuable the experience would be later on in life. It also has provided me with such rich and full memories to write about and remember.
