Laundry

For a long time, doing laundry was the most energy- and time-consuming task in a household. Until far into the 20th century there were no mechanical aids whatsoever. The most important utensil was the washboard.

The clothes were washed in a solution consisting of water and ashes. Ashes were suitable on the one hand because the substances that were not water-soluble helped mechanically when scrubbing. On the other hand, the combination of water and ashes produces an alkaline, i.e. corrosive solution which causes the fibres to swell and decompose grease. The whole laundry process would easily take several days due to the many steps involved. All available – mostly female – workers were called upon. During the laundry process, people liked to exchange news. This led to the swearword „Waschweib (washerwoman)” for a person who tends to gossip.

Here on the attic, the laundry was hung up to dry. Food was also dried here.