Laundry 147699 225206602 2008-07-12T13:31:20Z 151.203.108.8 /* History of laundry */ grammar [[Image:Italian laundry.jpg|thumb|375px|Italian street, with laundry hung to dry]]'''Laundry''' can be: * items of [[clothing]] and other [[textile]]s that require [[washing]] * the act of washing clothing and textiles * the [[Laundry room|room]] of a house in which this is done == History of laundry == [[Image:Laundry in the river.jpg|thumb|Laundry in the river in contemporary [[Abidjan]], [[Ivory Coast]].]] [[Image:Rhof-handwaschen.ogg|thumb|Irreler Bauerntradition shows the history of laundry in the [[Roscheider Hof, Open Air Museum]]]] Laundry was first done in streams {{Fact|date=June 2008}}, letting the stream carry away the materials which could cause stains and smells. Laundry may still be 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 on a rock by a stream (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 machine]]s typically use powdered or liquid [[laundry detergent]] in place of more traditional soap. When no streams 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 (machine)|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 machine]]s. Most involved turning a handle to move paddles inside a tub. Then some early 20th century machines used an electrically powered [[agitator (device)|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 dryer]]s. Dryers were also spinning perforated tubs, but they blew heated air rather than water. ===Chinese laundries in North America=== {{see also|Yick Wo v. Hopkins}} In the [[United States]] and [[Canada]] in the late 19th and early 20th century, the occupation of laundry worker was heavily identified with [[Chinese American]]s. Discrimination, lack of English-language skills, and lack of [[capital (economics)|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.<ref name=CHLA>"Declaration of the Chinese Hand Laundry Alliance", p.183–185 (including notes), Judy Yung, Gordon H. Chang, and Him Mark Lai (compilers and editors), ''Chinese American Voices'', University of California Press (2006). ISBN 0520243102.</ref><ref>This topic is also treated at length in Ban Seng Hoe, ''Enduring Hardship: The Chinese Laundry in Canada'', Canadian Museum of Civilization (2004). ISBN 0660190788.</ref> [[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 Six Companies#New York|Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association]] tried fruitlessly to fend this off, resulting in the formation of the openly [[left-wing politics|leftist]] [[Chinese Hand Laundry Alliance]] (CHLA), which successfully challenged this provision of the law, allowing Chinese laundry workers to preserve their livelihoods.<ref name=CHLA /> 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 [[Red Scare#'Second Red Scare' (1947–1957)|Second Red Scare]] (1947–1957).<ref name=CHLA /> == Modern laundry == Washing machines and dryers are now fixtures in homes around the world. In some parts of the world, including the USA, Canada, and Switzerland, [[apartment building]]s and [[dormitory|dormitories]] often have laundry rooms, where residents share washing machines and dryers. Usually the machines are set to run only when coins in appropriate amounts are inserted in a [[Coin acceptor|coin slot]]. Those without home machines or access to laundry rooms must either wash their clothes by hand or visit a commercial [[laundromat]]. In parts of Europe, such as the UK, apartment buildings with laundry rooms are uncommon, and each apartment has its own washing machine. == Right to Dry == [[Image:NewBritainUnderwearWashingDirections.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Directions for hand-washing New Britain Standard Hygienic Underwear, circa 1915]] Thousands of communities restrict or prohibit residents from using a clothesline. In Florida, "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 so strong a law. 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 Ontario as well. == See also == * [[Laundry symbols]] * [[Washing machine]] * [[Tunnel washer]] * [[Clothes dryer]] * [[Drying cabinet]] * [[Drying rack]] * [[Ironing]] * [[Household chore]] * [[Laundromat]] * [[Industrial laundry]] ==Notes== {{reflist}} == External links == {{commonscat|Laundry}} {{Wiktionary}} * [http://www.washing-machine-wizard.com/washing-machine-tips.html Laundry Tips] * [http://homeguide123.com/videos/Latest_Laundry_Technologies_Video.html Latest Laundry Technologies (video)] * [http://www.laundrylist.org/art/gallery/historicalart.htm Laundry Art (image gallery)] * [http://www.laundex.com Find and Schedule Appointments with your local Laundromats and Dry-cleaners] [[Category:Laundry|*]] [[Category:Home appliances]] <!-- attention, interwiki's are hard for an article matching the operation of washing, the clothes themselves, and the room; should be 3 differents articles.--> [[de:Wäsche (Textilien)]] [[el:Μπουγάδα]] [[fr:Linge de maison]] [[ko:빨래]] [[it:Lavanderia]] [[he:כביסה]] [[nl:Wasgoed]] [[ja:洗濯]] [[fi:Pyykki]] [[sv:Tvätt]] [[wa:Bouwêye]]