thumb|350px|Laundry is hung to dry above an Italian street.Laundry is a noun that refers to the act of
washing clothing and
linens, the place where that washing is done, and/or that which needs to be, is being, or has been laundered.
Laundry
thumb|Laundry in the river in contemporary [[Abidjan,
Ivory Coast.]]
thumb|Irreler Bauerntradition shows the history of laundry in the Roscheider Hof, Open Air MuseumLaundry was first done in
watercourses , letting the water carry away the materials which could cause
stains and smells. Laundry is still done this way in some less industrialized areas and rural regions. Agitation helps remove the dirt, so the laundry is often rubbed, twisted, or slapped against flat rocks. Wooden bats or clubs could be used to help with beating the dirt out. These were often called washing beetles or bats and could be used by the waterside on a rock (a beetling-stone), on a block (battling-block), or on a board. They were once common across Europe and were also used by settlers in North America.
Various chemicals may be used to increase the solvent power of water, such as the compounds in
soaproot or yucca-root used by Native American tribes.
Soap, a compound made from
lye (from wood-ash) and
fat, is an ancient and very common laundry aid. However, modern
washing machines typically use powdered or liquid
laundry detergent in place of more traditional soap.
When no watercourses were available, laundry was done in water-tight vats or vessels. Sometimes large metal cauldrons were filled with fresh water and heated over a fire; boiling water was even more effective than cold in removing dirt. The
washboard, a corrugated slab of a hard material such as metal, replaced rocks as a surface for loosening soil.
Once clean, the clothes were wrung out — twisted to remove most of the water. Then they were hung up on poles or clotheslines to air dry, or sometimes just spread out on clean grass.
The Industrial Revolution
The
Industrial Revolution completely transformed laundry technology.
The
mangle (
wringer US) was developed in the 18th century — two long rollers in a frame and a crank to revolve them. A laundry-worker took sopping wet clothing and cranked it through the mangle, compressing the cloth and expelling the excess water. The mangle was much quicker than hand twisting. It was a variation on the
box mangle used primarily for pressing and smoothing cloth.
Meanwhile 18th century inventors further mechanized the laundry process with various hand-operated
washing machines. Most involved turning a handle to move paddles inside a tub. Then some early 20th century machines used an electrically powered
agitator to replace tedious hand rubbing against a washboard. Many of these were simply a tub on legs, with a hand-operated
mangle on top. Later the mangle too was electrically powered, then replaced by a perforated double tub, which spun out the excess water in a spin cycle.
Laundry drying was also mechanized, with
clothes dryers. Dryers were also spinning perforated tubs, but they blew heated air rather than water.
Chinese laundries in North America
In the
United States and
Canada in the late 19th and early 20th century, the occupation of laundry worker was heavily identified with
Chinese Americans. Discrimination, lack of English-language skills, and lack of
capital kept Chinese Americans out of most desirable careers. Around 1900, one in four ethnic Chinese men in the U.S. worked in a laundry, typically working 10 to 16 hours a day.
["]New York City had an estimated 3,550 Chinese laundries at the beginning of the
Great Depression of the 1930s. In 1933, with even this looking to many people like a relatively desirable business, the city's Board of Aldermen passed a law clearly intended to drive the Chinese out of the business. Among other things, it limited ownership of laundries to U.S. citizens. The
Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association tried fruitlessly to fend this off, resulting in the formation of the openly
leftist Chinese Hand Laundry Alliance (CHLA), which successfully challenged this provision of the law, allowing Chinese laundry workers to preserve their livelihoods.
The CHLA went on to function as a more general
civil rights group; its numbers declined strongly after it was targeted by the
FBI during the
Second Red Scare (1947–1957).
Modern laundry
Washing machines and dryers are now fixtures in homes around the world.
Apartments
In some parts of the world, including the USA, Canada, and Switzerland,
apartment buildings and
dormitories often have laundry rooms, where residents share washing machines and dryers. Usually the machines are set to run only when money is put in a
coin slot.
In other parts of the world, apartment buildings with laundry rooms are uncommon, and each apartment may have its own washing machine. Those without a machine at home or the use of a laundry room must either wash their clothes by hand or visit a commercial
laundromat.
Right to Dry Movement
thumb|right|250px|Directions for hand-washing New Britain Standard Hygienic Underwear, circa 1915Some organizations have been campaigning against legislation which has outlawed line-drying of clothing in public places.
Legislation making it possible for thousands of American families to start using a clothesline in communities where they were formerly banned was passed in Colorado in 2008. In 2009, clothesline legislation was debated in several states, including Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, Nebraska, Oregon, Virginia, and Vermont. Other states are considering similar bills. AOL listed the clothesline as one of the 20 things most likely to make a comeback in 2008 and again in 2009.
Although there may be communities in the United States that restrict or prohibit residents from using a clothesline , there are others that expressly prohibit passing legislation preventing the use of clotheslines. Florida is the only state to guarantee a right to dry, although Utah and Hawaii have passed solar rights legislation. In 1999, Vermont became the first state to introduce a right to dry bill, although it did not become law. As of January 15, 2008, Vermont and New Hampshire were the only states in New England considering a right to dry bill in their 2008 legislative sessions.
In Florida, a law states that "No deed restrictions, covenants, or similar binding agreements running with the land shall prohibit or have the effect of prohibiting solar collectors, clotheslines, or other energy devices based on renewable resources from being installed on buildings erected on the lots or parcels covered by the deed restrictions, covenants, or binding agreements".
No other state has such explicit legislation. Vermont considered a "Right to Dry" bill in 1999, but it was defeated in the Senate Natural Resources & Energy Committee. The language has been included in a 2007 voluntary energy conservation bill, introduced by Senator Dick McCormack. Similar measures are being introduced in some parts of Canada, including the province of Ontario, as well.
See also
