Underwear and nightwear - keeping it clean!

Petticoats and camisoles have become fashion items in their own right.Trimmed with handmade lace, broiderie anglaise and ribbon, they once formed part of a girl's 'bottom drawer', or trousseau if you were from high society. The ladies maid in the display at the Old House Museum would have been responsible for making sure the laundry maids did a good job. Do any of you remember sending washing to the laundry? Each customer had a laundry mark to identify their items for washing. The Bakewell launderette has long gone, but there is now a commercial laundry in Bakewell. When I was at university I lived in West Yorkshire. Monday was still washing day on our street and woe betide you if you tried to drive a car through the lines full of sheets and towels. The Old House Museum has a laundry activity for children, with possers and dolly tubs, maiden and mangle. Dolly blue added to the rinse helped keep whites whiter and starch created a crisp ironed finish. Think about it next time you get your clothes out of the dryer. Who would have thought that there'd be a market for fabric conditioners that make clothes smell like line dried laundry!