Women at the wash house, laundresses

More about Women at the wash house, laundresses

Laundresses were women who worked mainly in past centuries and who were in charge of washing clothes and dirty linen. Usually, they were women from lower social backgrounds who worked for wealthier families or for public laundries.

Laundresses were often noted for their skill at washing fabrics by hand and used traditional techniques such as soaking, saponification, scrubbing and rinsing to clean the linen.

In many cultures, laundresses were a symbol of menial but necessary work, and were depicted in poems, songs, paintings, and other types of artwork. Even though today most people use automatic washing machines to wash their clothes, the traditions and techniques of laundresses have been preserved in some communities as part of cultural and historical heritage.