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Laundry is the washing of
clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, garments, dress, apparel, or attire) is any item worn on a human human body, body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin s ...
and other
textile Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...
s, and, more broadly, their
drying Drying is a mass transfer process consisting of the removal of water or another solvent by evaporation from a solid, semi-solid or liquid. This process is often used as a final production step before selling or packaging products. To be consider ...
and
ironing Ironing is the use of an iron (appliance), iron, usually heated, to remove wrinkles and unwanted creases from fabric. The heating is commonly done to a temperature of , depending on the fabric. Ironing works by loosening the bonds between the lon ...
as well. Laundry has been part of history since
human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...
s began to wear clothes, so the methods by which different cultures have dealt with this universal human need are of interest to several branches of
scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...
. Laundry work has traditionally been highly gendered, with the responsibility in most cultures falling to women (formerly known as laundresses or
washerwomen A washerwoman or laundress is a woman who takes in laundry. Both terms are now old-fashioned; equivalent work nowadays is done by a laundry worker in large commercial premises, or a laundrette (laundromat) attendant, who helps with handling wa ...
). The Industrial Revolution gradually led to mechanized solutions to laundry work, notably the
washing machine A washing machine (laundry machine, clothes washer, washer, or simply wash) is a machine designed to laundry, launder clothing. The term is mostly applied to machines that use water. Other ways of doing laundry include dry cleaning (which uses ...
and later the
tumble dryer A clothes dryer (tumble dryer, drying machine, drying device, or simply dryer) is a powered household appliance that is used to remove moisture from a load of clothing, bedding and other textiles, usually after they are washed in the washing mach ...
. Laundry, like cooking and child care, is still done both at home and by commercial establishments outside the home. The word "laundry" may refer to the clothing itself, or to the place where the cleaning happens. An individual home may have a
laundry room A laundry room or utility room is a room (architecture), room where clothes are washed, and sometimes also drying room, dried. In a modern home, laundry rooms are often equipped with an automatic washing machine and clothes dryer, and often a l ...
; a
utility room A utility room is a room where equipment not used in day-to-day activities is kept. "Utility" refers to an item which is designed for usefulness or practical use, so in turn most of the items kept in this room have functional attributes. A utility ...
includes, but is not restricted to, the function of washing clothes. An apartment building or student
hall of residence A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm), also known as a hall of residence, a residence hall (often abbreviated to halls), or a hostel, is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential qu ...
may have a shared laundry facility such as a ''
tvättstuga A laundry room or utility room is a room where clothes are washed, and sometimes also dried. In a modern home, laundry rooms are often equipped with an automatic washing machine and clothes dryer, and often a large basin, called a ''laundry tu ...
''. A stand-alone business is referred to as a
self-service laundry A self-service laundry, coin laundry, or coin wash, is a facility where clothes and some household textiles are washed and dried without much personalized professional help. They are known in the United Kingdom as launderettes or laundrettes, ...
(launderette in
British English British English is the set of Variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United Kingdom, especially Great Britain. More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in England, or, more broadly, to ...
or laundromat in
North American English North American English (NAmE) encompasses the English language as spoken in both the United States and Canada. Because of their related histories and cultures, plus the similarities between the pronunciations (accents), vocabulary, and grammar ...
).


History


Watercourses

Laundry was first done in watercourses, letting the water carry away the materials which could cause stains and smells. Laundry is still done this way in the rural regions of poor countries. Agitation helps remove the dirt, so the laundry was rubbed, twisted, or slapped against flat rocks. One name for this surface is a beetling-stone, related to
beetling Beetling is a Finishing (textiles), textile finishing process, where linen or cotton fabric is pounded to produce a flat, lustrous effect. Process Beetling is a textile finishing method used to obtain an aesthetic finish (i.e. lustre) in cott ...
, a technique in the production of linen; one name for a wooden substitute is a battling-block. The dirt was beaten out with a wooden implement known as a
washing paddle The washing paddle (or washing beetle, battledore, laundry bat), known as ''thaapi'' in Haryanvi and Hindi languages, is a hand tool used to do laundry. It is made of wood, shaped like a baker's peel, but with a much shorter handle used as a gr ...
, battling stick, bat, beetle or club. Wooden or stone scrubbing surfaces set up near a water supply were gradually replaced by portable rub boards, eventually factory-made corrugated glass or metal washboards. Once clean, the clothes were wrung out — twisted to remove most of the water. Then they were hung up on poles or
clothes line A clothes line, also spelled clothesline, also known as a wash line, is a device for hanging clothes on for the purpose of drying or airing out the articles. It is made of any type of rope, cord, wire, or twine that has been stretched bet ...
s to air dry, or sometimes just spread out on clean grass, bushes, or trees.


Washhouses

Before the advent of the
washing machine A washing machine (laundry machine, clothes washer, washer, or simply wash) is a machine designed to laundry, launder clothing. The term is mostly applied to machines that use water. Other ways of doing laundry include dry cleaning (which uses ...
, laundry was often done in a communal setting. Villages across Europe that could afford it built a wash-house, sometimes known by the French name of ''
lavoir A lavoir (, wash-house) is a public place set aside for the washing of clothes. Communal washing places were common in Europe until industrial washing was introduced, and this process in turn was replaced by domestic washing machines and by s ...
''. Water was channelled from a stream or spring and fed into a building, possibly just a roof with no walls. This wash-house usually contained two basins – one for washing and the other for rinsing – through which the water was constantly flowing, as well as a stone lip inclined towards the water against which the wet laundry could be beaten. Such facilities were more comfortable and convenient than washing in a watercourse. Some lavoirs had the wash-basins at waist height, although others remained on the ground. The launderers were protected to some extent from rain, and their travel was reduced, as the facilities were usually at hand in the village or at the edge of a town. These facilities were public and available to all families, and usually used by the entire village. Many of these village wash-houses are still standing, historic structures with no obvious modern purpose. The job of doing the laundry was reserved for women, who washed all their family's laundry.
Washerwomen A washerwoman or laundress is a woman who takes in laundry. Both terms are now old-fashioned; equivalent work nowadays is done by a laundry worker in large commercial premises, or a laundrette (laundromat) attendant, who helps with handling wa ...
(laundresses) took in the laundry of others, charging by the piece. As such, wash-houses were an obligatory stop in many women's weekly lives and became a sort of institution or meeting place. It was a
women-only space A women-only space is an area where only women (and in some cases children) are allowed, thus providing a place where they do not have to interact with men. Historically and globally, many cultures had, and many still have, some form of female ...
where they could discuss issues or simply chat (cf the concept of the
village pump A well is an excavation or structure created on the earth by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...
). Indeed, this tradition is reflected in the Catalan idiom "''fer safareig''" (literally, "to do the laundry"), which means to gossip. European cities also had public wash-houses. The city authorities wanted to give the poorer population, who would otherwise not have access to laundry facilities, the opportunity to wash their clothes. Sometimes these facilities were combined with
public baths Public baths originated when most people in population centers did not have access to private bathing facilities. Though termed "public", they have often been restricted according to gender, religious affiliation, personal membership, and other cr ...
, see for example
Baths and wash houses in Britain Baths and wash houses available for public use in Britain were first established in Liverpool. St. George's Pier Head salt-water baths were opened in 1828 by the Corporation of Liverpool, with the first known warm fresh-water public wash house b ...
. The aim was to foster hygiene and thus reduce outbreaks of epidemics. Sometimes large metal cauldrons (a "
wash copper Wash or the Wash may refer to: Industry and sanitation * WASH or WaSH, "water, sanitation and hygiene", three related public health issues * Wash (distilling), the liquid produced by the fermentation step in the production of distilled beverages ...
", even when not made of that metal), were filled with fresh water and heated over a fire, as hot or boiling water is more effective than cold in removing dirt. A posser could be used to agitate clothes in a tub. A related implement called a washing dolly is "a wooden stick or mallet with an attached cluster of legs or pegs" that moves the cloth through the water.


Washing machines and other devices

The
Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...
completely transformed laundry technology.
Christina Hardyment Christina Hardyment (born 1946) is a British writer who has written on a wide range of subjects including parenting, food, gardens, children's books, domestic life, and British history. Personal life Hardyment has lived mainly in England, sav ...
, in her history from the
Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition that took ...
of 1851, argues that it was the development of domestic machinery that led to
women's liberation The women's liberation movement (WLM) was a political alignment of women and feminism, feminist intellectualism. It emerged in the late 1960s and continued till the 1980s, primarily in the industrialized nations of the Western world, which resu ...
. The mangle (or "wringer" in
American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lang ...
) was developed in the 19th 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 The box mangle is said to have been invented in the 17th century. It consisted of a heavy frame containing a large box filled with rocks, resting on a series of long wooden rollers. Damp laundry could be laid flat under rollers, or wound round th ...
used primarily for pressing and smoothing cloth. Meanwhile, 19th-century inventors further mechanized the laundry process with various hand-operated
washing machine A washing machine (laundry machine, clothes washer, washer, or simply wash) is a machine designed to laundry, launder clothing. The term is mostly applied to machines that use water. Other ways of doing laundry include dry cleaning (which uses ...
s to replace tedious hand rubbing against a washboard. Most involved turning a handle to move paddles inside a tub. Then some early-20th-century machines used an electrically powered agitator. Many of these washing machines 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 A clothes dryer (tumble dryer, drying machine, drying device, or simply dryer) is a powered Home appliance, household appliance that is used to remove moisture from a load of clothing, bedding and other textiles, usually after they are washed in ...
s. Dryers were also spinning perforated tubs, but they blew heated air rather than water.


Chinese laundries in North America

In the late 19th and early 20th century, Chinese immigrants to the United States and to Canada were well represented as laundry workers. Discrimination, lack of English-language skills, and lack of capital kept Chinese immigrants 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.
Chinese people in New York City The New York metropolitan area is home to the largest and most prominent ethnic Chinese population outside of Asia, hosting Chinese populations representing all 34 provincial-level administrative units of China. The Chinese American population ...
were running an estimated 3,550 laundries at the beginning of the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
. In 1933, the city's
Board of Aldermen An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands ( wethouder) and Belgium ( schepen). The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking mem ...
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 Consolidated Benevolent Association The Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (CCBA) is a historical Chinese association established in various parts of the United States and Canada with large Overseas Chinese communities. The association's clientele were Chinese immigrants ...
tried fruitlessly to fend this off, resulting in the formation of the openly
leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politi ...
Chinese Hand Laundry Alliance The Chinese Hand Laundry Alliance (CHLA) was a labor organization formed in 1933 to protect the civil rights of overseas Chinese living in North Americacivil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...
group; its numbers declined strongly after it was targeted by the
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
during the
Second Red Scare McCarthyism is a political practice defined by the political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals and a campaign spreading fear of communist and Soviet influence on American institutions and of Soviet espionage in the United S ...
(1947–1957).


South Africa

From 1850 to 1910, Zulu men took on the task of laundering the clothes of Europeans, both Boers and British. "Laundering recalled the specialist craft of hide-dressing in which Zulu males engaged as izinyanga, a prestige occupation that paid handsomely." They created a guild structure, similar to a union, to guard their conditions and wages, evolving into "one, if not indeed the most, powerful group of African work-men in nineteenth-century Natal".


India

In India, laundry was traditionally done by men. A washerman was called a ''dhobiwallah'', and ''
dhobi Dhobi known in some places as Dhoba, Rajaka, a Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, scheduled caste in India and the greater Indian subcontinent whose traditional occupations are Clothes washing, washing, ironing, and Farmworker, agricultur ...
'' became the name of their
caste A caste is a Essentialism, fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (en ...
group. A laundry-place is generally called a ''
dhobi ghat Dhobi Ghat is an open air laundry in Mumbai, India. It was constructed in 1890. The washers, known as ''dhobis'', work in the open to clean clothes and linens from Mumbai's hotels and hospitals. The phrase '' dhobi ghat'' is used all over ...
''; this has given rise to place names where they work or worked, including Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat in Mumbai,
Dhoby Ghaut Dhoby Ghaut ( ) is a place in Singapore that often refers to the MRT station of the same name, which is a major interchange station on Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit network connecting the North-South Line, North East Line, and the Circle Li ...
in Singapore and Dhobi Ghaut in Penang, Malaysia.


Philippines

Until the early 1980s, when washing machines became more affordable in the country, much of the laundry work in the Philippines was done manually, and this role was generally assigned to women. A professional laundrywoman was called a ''labandera.''


Ancient Rome

The workers in ancient
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
who cleaned the cloth were called ''fullones'', singular ''
fullo A ''fullo'' was a Roman fuller or laundry worker (plural: ''fullones''), known from many inscriptions from Italy and the western half of the Roman Empire and references in Latin literature, e.g. by Plautus, Martialis and Pliny the Elder. A ' ...
'' (cf
fulling Fulling, also known as tucking or walking ( Scots: ''waukin'', hence often spelt waulking in Scottish English), is a step in woollen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of woven cloth (particularly wool) to eliminate ( lanolin) oils, ...
, a process in wool-making, and
Fuller's earth Fuller's earth is a term for various clays used as an absorbent, filter, or bleaching agent. Products labeled fuller's earth typically consist of palygorskite (also known as attapulgite) or bentonite. Primary modern uses include as absorbents ...
, used to clean). Clothes were treated in small tubs standing in niches surrounded by low walls, known as treading or fulling stalls. The tub was filled with water and a mixture of alkaline chemicals (sometimes including urine). The fuller stood in the tub and trampled the cloth, a technique known elsewhere as
posting Post, POST, or posting may refer to: Postal services * Mail, the postal system, especially in Commonwealth of Nations countries **An Post, the Irish national postal service **Canada Post, Canadian postal service **Deutsche Post, German postal s ...
. The aim of this treatment was to apply the chemical agents to the cloth so that they could do their work, the resolving of greases and fats. These stalls are so typical of these workshops that they are used to identify ''fullonicae'' in the archaeological remains.


Laundry processes

Laundry processes include washing (usually with water containing detergents or other chemicals), agitation, rinsing, drying, pressing (ironing), and folding. The washing will sometimes be done at a temperature above room temperature to increase the activities of any chemicals used and the solubility of stains, and high temperatures kill micro-organisms that may be present on the fabric. However, it is advised that cotton be washed at a cooler temperature to prevent shrinking. Many professional laundry services are present in the market which offers at different price range. Agitation helps remove dirt which is usually mobilised by surfactants from between fibres, however, due to the small size of the pores in fibres, the 'stagnant core' of the fibres themselves see virtually no flow. The fibres are nevertheless rapidly cleaned by
diffusiophoresis Diffusiophoresis is the spontaneous motion of colloidal particles or molecules in a fluid, induced by a concentration gradient of a different substance. In other words, it is motion of one species, A, in response to a concentration gradient in a ...
carrying dirt out into the clean water during the rinsing process.


Chemicals

Various chemicals may be used to increase the solvent power of water, such as the compounds in
soaproot The common names soap plant, soaproot and amole refer to the genus ''Chlorogalum''. They are native to western North America, with some species in Oregon but they are mostly found in California. Common names of the genus and several species deri ...
or yucca-root used by Native American tribes, or the ash
lye Lye is the common name of various alkaline solutions, including soda lye (a solution of sodium hydroxide) and potash lye (a solution of potassium hydroxide). Lyes are used as cleaning products, as ingredients in soapmaking, and in various other c ...
(usually
sodium hydroxide Sodium hydroxide, also known as lye and caustic soda, is an inorganic compound with the formula . It is a white solid ionic compound consisting of sodium cations and hydroxide anions . Sodium hydroxide is a highly corrosive base (chemistry), ...
or
potassium hydroxide Potassium hydroxide is an inorganic compound with the formula K OH, and is commonly called caustic potash. Along with sodium hydroxide (NaOH), KOH is a prototypical strong base. It has many industrial and niche applications, most of which utili ...
) once widely used for soaking laundry in Europe.
Soap Soap is a salt (chemistry), salt of a fatty acid (sometimes other carboxylic acids) used for cleaning and lubricating products as well as other applications. In a domestic setting, soaps, specifically "toilet soaps", are surfactants usually u ...
, a compound made from lye and fat, is an ancient and common laundry aid. Modern
washing machine A washing machine (laundry machine, clothes washer, washer, or simply wash) is a machine designed to laundry, launder clothing. The term is mostly applied to machines that use water. Other ways of doing laundry include dry cleaning (which uses ...
s typically use synthetic powdered or liquid
laundry detergent Laundry detergent is a type of detergent (cleaning agent) used for cleaning dirty laundry (clothes). Laundry detergent is manufactured in powder (washing powder) and liquid form. While powdered and liquid detergents hold roughly equal share of ...
in place of more traditional soap.


Cleaning or dry cleaning

Dry cleaning refers to any process which uses a chemical
solvent A solvent (from the Latin language, Latin ''wikt:solvo#Latin, solvō'', "loosen, untie, solve") is a substance that dissolves a solute, resulting in a Solution (chemistry), solution. A solvent is usually a liquid but can also be a solid, a gas ...
other than water. The solvent used is typically
tetrachloroethylene Tetrachloroethylene, also known as perchloroethylene or under the systematic name tetrachloroethene, and abbreviations such as perc (or PERC), and PCE, is a chlorocarbon with the formula . It is a non-flammable, stable, colorless and heavy liqu ...
(perchloroethylene), which the industry calls "perc". It is used to clean delicate fabrics that cannot withstand the rough and tumble of a
washing machine A washing machine (laundry machine, clothes washer, washer, or simply wash) is a machine designed to laundry, launder clothing. The term is mostly applied to machines that use water. Other ways of doing laundry include dry cleaning (which uses ...
and
clothes dryer A clothes dryer (tumble dryer, drying machine, drying device, or simply dryer) is a powered Home appliance, household appliance that is used to remove moisture from a load of clothing, bedding and other textiles, usually after they are washed in ...
; it can also obviate labor-intensive hand washing.


Shared laundry rooms

In some parts of the world, including North America,
apartment building An apartment (American English, Canadian English), flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), tenement ( Scots English), or unit (Australian English) is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) ...
s and
dormitories A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm), also known as a hall of residence, a residence hall (often abbreviated to halls), or a hostel, is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential qu ...
often have laundry rooms, where residents share washing machines and dryers. Usually the machines are set to run only when money is put in a coin slot. In other parts of the world, including Europe, apartment buildings with laundry rooms are uncommon, and each apartment may have its own washing machine. Those without a machine at home or the use of a laundry room must either wash their clothes by hand or visit a commercial
self-service laundry A self-service laundry, coin laundry, or coin wash, is a facility where clothes and some household textiles are washed and dried without much personalized professional help. They are known in the United Kingdom as launderettes or laundrettes, ...
(laundromat, laundrette) or a laundry shop, such as 5àsec.


Laundry drying

A clothes dryer (tumble dryer, drying machine or simply dryer) is an electric household appliance used to remove moisture from loaded clothes, linens and other textiles, usually after washing them in a washing machine. In the United States and Canada, more than 80% of all homes have clothes dryers. The manual clothes dryer was created in 1800 by M. Pochon from France. Henry W. Altorfer invented and patented the electric clothes dryer in 1937. J. Ross Moore, a North Dakota inventor, designed automatic clothes dryers and published his electric dryer design in 1938. Industrial designer Brooks Stevens designed an electric dryer with a glass window in the early 1940s. Sometimes dryers are integrated with the washing machine in the form of washer-dryer combos, which are essentially a front-loading washing machine with a built-in dryer or (in the U.S.) a laundry center, which mounts a dryer on top of the washing machine and combines the controls for both machines into one control panel. Often the washer and dryer functions have different capacities, with the dryer usually having a lower capacity than the washer. Laundry dryers can also be top-loading, in which the drum is loaded from the top of the machine and the drum end supports are on the left and right sides, rather than the more traditional front and back sides of the machine. They can be up to 40 centimeters (16 inches) wide and can include removable stationary shelves for drying things like stuffed toys and shoes. Drying at a temperature of at least 60 °C (140 °F) for thirty minutes kills many parasites, including house dust mites, bed bugs, and scabies mites and their eggs; just over ten minutes kills mites. Simple washing kills dust mites, and exposure to direct sunlight for three hours kills their eggs.


Right to dry movement

Some American communities forbid their residents from drying clothes outside, and citizens protesting this have created a "right to dry" movement. Many homeowners' associations and other communities in the United States prohibit residents from using a clothesline outdoors, or limit such use to locations that are not visible from the street or to certain times of day. Other communities, however, expressly prohibit rules that prevent the use of clotheslines. Some organizations have been campaigning against legislation which has outlawed line-drying of clothing in public places, especially given the increased
greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities intensify the greenhouse effect. This contributes to climate change. Carbon dioxide (), from burning fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, oil, and natural gas, is the main cause of climate chan ...
produced by some types of electrical power generation needed to power electric clothes dryers, since driers can constitute a considerable fraction of a home's total energy usage. Florida ("the Sunshine State") is the only state to expressly guarantee a right to dry, although Utah and Hawaii have passed solar rights legislation. A Florida law explicitly states: "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 such clearcut legislation. 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 Energy conservation is the effort to reduce wasteful energy consumption by using fewer energy services. This can be done by using energy more effectively (using less and better sources of energy for continuous service) or changing one's behavi ...
bill, introduced by Senator
Dick McCormack Richard McCormack may refer to: * Richard T. McCormack, U.S. government official and diplomat * Richard McCormack (politician) (born 1947), political figure in the state of Vermont See also * Dick McCormick (born 1968), American soccer play ...
. Legislation making it possible for thousands of American families to start using clotheslines in communities where they were formerly banned was passed in Colorado in 2008. In 2009, clothesline legislation was debated in the states of Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, Nebraska, Oregon, Virginia, and Vermont. Similar measures have been introduced in Canada - in particular, the province of Ontario.


Common problems

Novice users of modern laundry machines sometimes experience accidental shrinkage of garments, especially when applying heat. For wool garments, this is due to scales on the fibers, which heat and agitation cause to stick together. Other fabrics (like cotton) have their fibers stretched by mechanical force during production, and can shrink slightly when heated (though to a lesser degree than wool). Some clothes are "pre-shrunk" to avoid this problem. Another common problem is color bleeding from dyed articles to white or pale-colored ones. Many laundry guides suggest washing whites separately from colored items. Sometimes only similar colors are washed together to avoid this problem, which is lessened by cold water and repeated washings. Sometimes this blending of colors is seen as a selling point, as with madras cloth.
Laundry symbol A laundry symbol, also called a care symbol, is a pictogram indicating the manufacturer's suggestions as to methods of washing, drying, dry-cleaning and ironing clothing. Such symbols are written on labels, known as care labels or care tags, ...
s are included on many clothes to help consumers avoid these problems. Synthetic fibers in laundry can also contribute to
microplastic Microplastics are "synthetic solid particles or polymeric matrices, with regular or irregular shape and with size ranging from 1 μm to 5 mm, of either primary or secondary manufacturing origin, which are insoluble in water." Microplastics ar ...
pollution.


Etymology

The word ''laundry'' comes from
Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman Conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English pe ...
lavendrye, laundry, from
Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th [2-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...
''lavanderie'', from lavandier.


In culture

In Homer's ''Odyssey'', Princess Nausicaa and her handmaidens are washing laundry by the shore when they see and rescue the ship-wrecked Odysseus, Ulysses.


See also

* List of laundry topics * Hygiene#Laundry hygiene, Laundry hygiene


References


External links

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