Why people used to wash clothes once a week and how daily life was organized without a washing machine

Thus, a whole set of household routines developed around laundry. Having enough laundry, changing bedsheets, taking baths, and even finding a place to dry clothes were all connected to each other much more tightly than they are now.

Before the invention of automatic machines, each step required human effort. White clothes could be soaked and boiled in advance, items were washed by hand or on a washing board, rinsed several times, and wrung out.

Later, automatic and semi-automatic machines appeared, which made the actual washing process easier, but they didn’t handle everything else: depending on the model, water had to be poured in and drained, the laundry had to be moved for wringing, and then hung up to dry. Therefore, washing just one shirt every night wasn’t very practical. People would accumulate laundry and do a larger wash when they could spare a few hours for it.

From this came the logic familiar to the older generation: Monday for one household task, Saturday for another. It wasn’t a love for strict schedules, but rather a way to fit heavy household chores into the week.

A small wardrobe was not only due to the difficulty of washing clothes. Clothing was more expensive relative to the family budget, the selection was limited, and items were often repaired, altered, or given to other family members. As a result, clothes had distinct roles: for home use, work, school, and outings.

A “good dress” or suit was preserved not because it couldn’t be washed, but because people intended to wear it for a long time and didn’t want to wear it out any faster. This habit has survived even beyond traditional living conditions. Many people still have clothes “for home” and “for going out,” even though modern washing machines have long eliminated most of the practical difference between them.

When laundry was done in large batches, it was also easier to schedule bedding changes on specific days.

Sets were not usually kept in quantities of dozens: the used bedding was sent to the nearest large wash, and clean bedding took its place.

White was practical here. Cotton and linen white bedding could be boiled and bleached without worrying that the pattern or color would be damaged. Therefore, not only sheets but also towels, napkins, and other household textiles were often white.

Today, boiling most items is no longer necessary. It is better to choose the washing temperature according to the label, especially if the set is colored or made of modern blended fabric.

It was not common in every household or during every period for the whole family to bathe together on the same evening. But in places without bathrooms, central hot water supply, or reliable hot water delivery, bathing really had to be planned carefully.

In cities, people went to public baths. In private homes, they used their own baths. If water was heated at home, it was easier to prepare a large amount at once and wash several family members sequentially.

Therefore, bathing, changing clothes, and doing heavy laundry naturally fell together in the weekly schedule.

Over time, the practical necessity diminished, but the tradition persisted. For some, “going to the bath on Saturday” now means relaxation, even though it used to be a regular part of household chores.

A curious household conflict arises with the bathroom in modern apartments: the space remains small while there are far more items in it.

Laundry machine, laundry basket, dryer, household chemicals, hair dryer, towels — all of these need to be placed somewhere.

In old standard apartments, space for an automatic laundry machine was not always provided as we expect today. Therefore, during subsequent renovations, it was installed wherever there was free space: under the sink, next to the bathtub, and sometimes moved to the kitchen.

Previously, other items fulfilled some of these functions: basins, bathtubs, washing boards, and ropes for hanging laundry.

From this arises the familiar problem with old apartments: plumbing can fit in, but modern household needs struggle to fit as well.

Today, a folding dryer in the middle of a room seems like a natural extension of doing laundry. In the past, common areas were more often used for drying clothes.

Ropes were strung in courtyards, and some houses had attics and other places for drying. In winter, clothes could be hung out in the cold before being brought inside to finish drying. This was especially important when there was a large load of laundry: several sheets and blankets simply took up too much space in the room.

Now, if laundry is constantly dried at home, another issue needs to be considered — excess moisture. After a heavy load, it’s beneficial to ensure proper air circulation and not place the dryer too close to a cold exterior wall, where moisture is more likely to turn into condensation.

He simply had less freedom.

One couldn’t just start a wash for a T-shirt at any time, take a hot shower, and dry the laundry in the machine an hour later. So several time-consuming tasks were combined into one cycle: showering, changing the bed, doing laundry, and hanging it up.

The automatic washing machine and constant hot water have transformed this routine—in a positive way. Household chores can be scheduled as convenient as possible, rather than having to fit everything around a laundry bucket on Saturdays. Yet some habits have outlived the reasons they originated: the separate “big wash,” a set of clothes “for going out,” changing the bed on a specific day, and the Saturday bath.

That’s why the history of household appliances is interesting not just because of the appliances themselves. When one device changes, the routine of the entire household gradually changes as well.