Is Monday still washing day?
This is one of the pages in my scrapbook--------------
I came across some old sayings about wash day
They that wash on a Monday
Have all the week to dry;
They that wash on a Tuesday
Are not so much awry;
They that wash on a Wednesday
Are not so much to blame;
They that wash on a Thursday
Wash for shame;
They that wash on a Friday
Wash for need;
And they that wash on Saturday
Oh, slovens are indeed.
Wash your clothes on New Years Day and you'll be 'Washing for the dead' or washing a loved one away, meaning someone in your household will die in the coming year!
Why is wash day on a Monday? One story says "the Pilgrims disembarked from the Mayflower on a Sunday and the first priority of the women after the voyage was to wash all the clothes, thereby setting a schedule from that day forth that continued for centuries".
I was reminded of this old song that used to be on children's radio 'Listen with Mother' in the late 1950s
Back Tomorrow
I never knew that Monday was washday because of the Pilgrim Fathers!
ReplyDeleteI think these days when we all just wash as per need, the old routines have been lost. We had good friends from Yorkshire, transplanted to Dorset, and poor Mary was not allowed to leave the washing line up after she had taken her washing in. No, it had to come down. Not sure why, but I think her husband might have been from strict Chapel lines . . .
My grandmother would not do laundry or peg it out on a Sunday, because she 'honoured the Sabbath Day'. I think most of her generation did washing on a Monday. That ensured you had enough time wash, dry and iron your best clothes for church the following Sunday. Not sure I believe the Pilgrim Mothers Story - that doesn't explain behaviour patterns in the uk.
DeleteColin's Mum and Dad would do no housework on a Sunday and certainly no washing! Sunday main meal was prepared on Saturday. Mum-in-law didn't do knitting on a Sunday either only reading was 'allowed'
DeleteI'm just about to switch my washing machine on. Although, I usually end up with washing most days :) Can't wait until I can peg out again. Xx
ReplyDeleteJust about to peg out washing this morning - looks like a fine day here in Suffolk
DeleteListening to that song I can understand why the tale says that they need all the week to dry - washing Monday, starching Tuesday, hanging out Wednesday, ironing Thursday, folding Friday (I didn't listen to see if there was any more).
ReplyDeleteThank goodness for clothes that don't need starching or ironing. Working in the office 5 days a week, my washing gets done on Saturday/Sunday and is folded as it comes off the line (or out of the dryer). At most an extra step is dividing into piles to go to the correct person. Very little gets ironed now, and that usually hangs in a wardrobe until required and then is ironed as needed.
Airing on a Saturday and Wearing on a Sunday!
DeleteWhat a palaver washing clothes was.
My Mum always did the family washing on a Monday. We had two wooden airers, the kind you open up at a 90 degree angle. When not in use, my sister and I would often use them to make tents. I remember the washing song well, imagine washing hanging around all those days before being worn on Sunday!
ReplyDeleteI've always assumed it was about spreading the load. In the days when meat was cheaper, a joint cooked on Sunday would leave plenty for cold on Monday, possibly with fried-up leftover veg and pickles, therefore very little cooking needed doing at the same time as the washing.
ReplyDeleteAt certain times of the year my wash days are chosen according to the weather forecast, much prefer hanging laundry outside.
ReplyDeletePenny
Monday was always wash day in my childhood home, come rain or shine, mum did laundry.
ReplyDeleteWashing was always done on a Monday when I was growing up. I do washing on a Sunday because we get cheap electricity from our provider on that day. I think my Gran would faint with shock washing on a Sunday! Regards Sue H
ReplyDeleteMy mother would never wash on either New Year's Eve or New Year's Day because she said it would wash someone in or wash someone out. The only time she broke with the superstition was when I was a toddler, she was expecting her second child and had washing that really needed to be done. That year my Dad's Mum died, my baby sister died shortly after birth (and Mum almost died giving birth) and we had a housefire in which my Mum's Mum was badly injured. She used to remind me not to do any washing towards the end of every year and I still don't now, even though she died several years ago.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, what an terrible year that was for your family
DeleteMy washday has turned into Sunday because it's the day when electricity is half price from 11am to 4pm. Too good to miss.
ReplyDeleteAnd, yes, I've hung soft toys up by the ears in the past!!
Washing dolls clothes was sure to keep a child occupied for ages!
DeleteMy friends had a covenant of their house, along with the other houses in the close, prohibiting hanging out washing on Sundays. In Hertfordshire, not anywhere like the Hebrides!
ReplyDeleteI've heard that many cities/towns in the States have laws that say they can't hang out washing at all!
DeleteWhen the sun is shining and I am available to put it going…in past times the woman of the house was more likely to be at home, though granted the task was more arduous. I also I’m afraid split loads as I don’t like washing my clinic whites with anything else. Don’t like washing on New Years Day. Though I’m sure in past times this would be if you needed to do it then you were too poor to have enough spare or someone was very ill to necessitate doing washing. Now our machines are not in the main living areas of the cottage it doesn’t impact us the way my mother pulling out the twin tub or having the boiler on the draining board did! X
ReplyDeleteAnd who remembers holding on for dear life when the spinner was going, pouring water into a strategically placed bowl!
Deleteand forgetting the tap was running filling the washing part of the twin tub!
DeleteI tend to do the washing now whenever the washing basket is full, as it holds about a full machine load. I will wait an extra day in Summer if the forecast is for a sunnier day then.
ReplyDeleteYears ago when my boys were small I used to wash every day as I did it all by hand in the kitchen sink (or the bath for larger items). I needed to make sure there was just enough to fill the airer that was over the bath while it dripped for the first few hours in Winter, but it could go on the line in good weather.
Oh, and I meant to add that I was always told that washday was traditionally on a Monday as there would be cold cuts of meat available for the evening meal, saved from the Sunday roast. I don't remember ever having this a child, but I do remember sitting at the table with the washing draped on washing lines above us while we ate our tea.
DeleteI remember that song…….
ReplyDeleteThese days I put the wash on when there’s enough for a full load but when mum had a twin tub and was ‘ laid up with her back’ I would happily tackle the weeks wash for her, I would have been about 11/12
Alison in Devon x
My grandmother never washed a blanket in May
ReplyDelete"wash a blanket in May, wash one of your family away!
She saw a friend hanging out blankets washed the first week in May and sure enough, before the end of the month the woman had lost a relative!
Two cousins of mine had twin tubs than went on for over 30 years each, and only ended up as scrap when parts could no longer be obtained.
A variation of the New Years Day saying
DeleteYes don’t wash a blanket in May…high incidence of sudden thundery downpours…don’t buy a new brush in May too…no idea why though.
DeleteWash day is usually when I notice I'm almost out of underwear! I don't hang clothes out anymore at all.
ReplyDeleteI had an Aunt that had her housework tasks assigned to each day of the week. Sunday was attending church and no housework was done. I remember one day being assigned for ironing because she taught me how to iron a dress white shirt. She ironed everything.
ReplyDeleteToday I iron nothing.
It is here though sometimes I have to move it because of other plans.
ReplyDeleteMy father would never allow clothes washing or knitting on a Sunday. Nowadays, I wash when the basket is full and am still having to use the dryer as it’s wet yet again today. Catriona
ReplyDeleteTuesdays and Thursdays - and that was coz they were the days I worked from home, it seems to have stuck and they are still my wash days (unless an emergency wash is required) funny how a routine becomes 'sacrosanct' 😁
ReplyDelete