Laundress: Laundry Methods

A laundress washes clothes in a basin under the awning of the barracks at Fort Scott

NPS

Jump to Navigation

Soldiers at Fort Scott had their laundry done three times a week in the summer and two times a week in the winter. Laundry was an all-day affair, and each laundress was responsible for fifteen soldiers. This meant they spent six days each week working.

Soak, Scrub, Repeat

An involved process, doing laundry had several steps:

• Each soldier was assigned a number which was marked on clothing to identify its owner.
• Clothes were separated into delicates like handkerchiefs, whites and undergarments, and dyed fabrics which were further sorted by color.
• Next stains would be removed. Fabric could be spot treated with lye, and oily stains could be treated with powders like chalk or pipe clay which absorbed grease. Stains would be further hand scrubbed before soaking.
• Tubs were filled with warm soapy water and treated clothes would be soaked for one or two days.
• After a soak, items were dunked in a tub filled with warm water and soap shavings and scrubbed against a washboard before being rung out. This was repeated until the clothes were clean.
• Scrubbed clothes would be rinsed in a second tub, rung out again, and placed in a boiling pot of water which might contain soap and soda. Clothes were stirred in the boiling water with a washing stick called a dolly to sanitize them and kill lice.
• The laundry was given a final rinse and hung out to dry. Whites were hung in the sun to be bleached, and colored fabrics in the shade to keep them from fading.

 

Two laundresses mend fabric on a table inside a historic structure at Fort Scott

NPS

Tieing up Loose Ends

Mending was done either before or after washing depending on the condition of the item being mended.

• By mending before washing, tears could be prevented from becoming worse during washing.
• By mending after washing, laundresses could avoid struggling with stiff and smelly mud-stained dirty clothes.

 

A laundress uses a flat iron to straighten out a shirt inside the barracks at Fort Scott

NPS

Straightening it Out

Ironing was an unpleasant task that was done after the day's washing. Then, as now, ironing was done to remove the wrinkles from the fabric. Prior to ironing, the garment would be sprinkled with water to make the fibers softer.

An ironing cloth was laid atop the ironing board to make a smoother surface. A flat iron, the most commonly used type, was heated by placing it on a trivet (a type of three legged stand also used for elevating pots) over the coals of a fire. As the handle would be as hot as the rest of the iron a rag would be wrapped around it so it could be safely handled.

 

---

Information on this page from:

Virginia Mescher, Laundry and Cleaning Practices of the Mid-Nineteenth Century. Nature's Finest, 1994.

 

 

Experience more Life on the Frontier

Back to Virtual Resource Center Home

 

Overview | Program Outline | Tools of the Trade | Regulations | Historical Background | Doing Laundry | Making Soap | Washboards | Laundry Prices