You will not, I assure you, be able to identify this. You have my hope that I’m mistaken.
Washing dirty clothes by hand requires soaking, pounding, scrubbing, and finally rinsing. A pump, well, or spring provided all the water required for washing, boiling, and rinsing clothes before indoor plumbing.
The water for washing clothes would be brought in by hand, heated over an open fire so it could be more easily lain in, and then poured into a tub.
Because of this, the least unclean items would be washed first, and then the dirtiest ones, using a limited amount of warm, soapy water.
Washing dirty clothes by hand requires soaking, pressing, cleaning, and rinsing.
Before indoor plumbing, people had to haul water from a well, pump, or spring to wash clothes, boil water, and rinse them. The traditional method of washing clothes involved carrying water to a basin, heating it over an open fire, and then pouring the hot water into the tub.
Because of this, the least unclean items would be washed first, and then the dirtiest ones, using a limited amount of warm, soapy water.
Removing the excess water and soap from the garments required an additional step following the washing process. The first step is to rinse the soap with clear water. To extract the excess water after washing, the garments would be rolled up and twisted by hand. Adding drying and ironing to the mix made the process take over an entire workday.