victorianlaundry

A three compartment stone washing sink.

Each compartment was filled with hot water, the dirty laundry was then washed in the first compartment - using the wash board and soap - then it was rinsed in the second compartment, before a final rinse in the third compartment.

Mangle

The mangle was used to 'squash' all the water out of the clean clothes. An item of clothing was fed into the rollers as the big handle was turned: the rollers would 'squash' out the water which was collected in the bowl below the mangle. And the item of clothing would fall into the wash basket

A Dolly Tub

The dolly tub was filled with hot water from the boiler, soap 'flakes' were added then the dirty washing was put in. The washing was twisted and turned using the pole.

Ironing Board.

Slightly damp or dry clothes were draped over the board, as you can see, and then ironed with one of the flat ironed

A wash board - used for scrubbing the washing against

A wooden washing tub.

This was used in a similar way to the dolly tub, except that the washing was rubbed against the wash board instead of being twisted and turned.

Orphan girls working in an orphanage laundry.

Notice, the girls are using flat irons that are heated on the fire range

A Victorian Laundry.

In this picture you can see an ironing board, washing basket, a wooded washing tub, wash-board, soap and a 'dolly tub'

Flat irons for pressing clothes.

The biggest iron was filled with embers from the fire to make it hot, it was used to press the heavy laundry: things like blankets or heavy working clothes. The small iron was heated on the top of a range and it was used to iron delicate clothes.

A very strong, harsh soap especially made for laundries.

This soap, as you can probable see from the picture, is very hard and rough. Before the laundry maids started to do the washing they would shave off flakes of soap into the hot water to make it soapy. Then they scrubbed the dirty washing against the wash-board.

Washing basket.

When the washing was finished, the wet laundry was taken out of the wash tub and put into the basket.

An early gas boiler used for heating water.

The boiler was filled with water, dirty laundry and small pieces of soap and then left to boil. When it was boiling a laundry maid would poke and stir it until the washing was clean. Before gas boilers were invented, and even for a long time afterwards, victorians used a Copper. This was similar in appearance to the gas boiler but was heated by coal, coke or wood,