Vigo County Historical Society

Tub brings washday memories

Everyone knows that nowadays, people do their wash Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and any other day that’s convenient.

But when I was a little girl, my grandma did her wash on Monday and only Monday. I always wondered why she did not do her wash on other days.

After talking with a few of my friends, I realized why grandma only washed clothes once a week. My friends explained washday to me!

The big galvanized tub at the museum brought back memories of my childhood. The actual ritual of washday began on Sunday evening. The clothes were placed in the big galvanized tub where they were left to soak overnight.

Monday morning started before dawn, when my granddad carried the first of many loads of water and placed it on the gas burner in the washhouse.

Grandma fixed a large breakfast of pancakes or eggs and toast and then we all dressed and went into the washhouse. The water was already bubbling in the copper boiler and Granddad would pour it into one of the galvanized tubs which was sitting on a wooden stand. He then filled the other tub with cold water and he left the washhouse.

Grandma put the lye soap into a dish for the tub and began on the white sheets. I stood back and watched as she cut tiny pieces of soap and put them into the simmering water. She then took a long pole which looked to all the world like a broom handle and began poking the sheets, moving them up and down in the water.

After a while she put some bluing into the tub with the cold water, hooked a sheet with the pole and slowly forced it through the wringer that was located on the side of the tub. I got to stand back and catch the sheet. I guided the sheet into the rinse tub. I also was allowed to help take a pole and poke the sheets up and down in the cold water.

When Grandma thought the sheets were rinsed, she put them through the wringer and I again caught them and then placed them into a large basket. After the sheets were all washed, we took them outside and hung them on the clothesline.

One of my friends told me that her mother always hung the whitest clothes on the line closest to the street so others could admire her sparkling whites. People always made comments about their neighbors’ laundry.

Grandma would wash Granddad’s dirty white socks next and I would feel very sorry for her as she rubbed them on the bar of lye soap and then she would rub them over and over on the washboard. Sometimes her knuckles would be red, but Granddad’s socks were very white when she was finished.

Lye soap was homemade by each homemaker. The soap was made from ashes, which produced the pumice, lye and lard. Lye soap was very good for the clothes and very harsh on a homemaker’s hands.

Washing and drying took almost an entire day. The following day began much the same but the tools were different. Tuesday was the day homemakers ironed.

I urge readers to visit the museum and look for the large galvanized tub with the wringer on the side. "We’ve come a long way, baby," and for this we can all be thankful!