Air, snow and a carpet beater.
Since my mother didn't have a washing machine or a vacuum cleaner when I was a very active and curious toddler, she had to think before throwing clothes to wash.
She had different ways of stain removing based upon the origin of the stain. Her thumb-finger rule was, always be quick to remove a stain. Don't let it fasten. Try cold water, no soap, first, except from fat, which can only be removed by hot water. Be sure to check out what the fabric can take from soap, heat e.t.c. If you don't know, make a try on a place where it can not be seen, if you should fail. A newspaper or even better a blotting-paper and a hot iron will suck up stains from candlelights. If you let the stain soak for awhile (over night) it will be easier to remove. Never, ever soak wool, it will shrink.(Thanks Mrs. Mac.)
My mother would always hang a used garment out for venting, even if it wasn't stained. Clothes and bed linens were "blowing in the wind" every day, summer and winter.
Heavier items, like carpets and cushions were thrown into snow and beaten with a carpet beater, while they were dragged around in the white, snowy garden. They were turned and tossed and I remember my Dad had to carry them into the house, when he came home from the office. The arm chairs got a similar treatment on the veranda outside our living-room. No vacuumer could replace the snow and the beater. The chairs were eventually moved into my brother's room. We got to keep our rooms long after we left home. My parents would insure us, we were always welcome home, often bringing guests as well. The arm chairs were upholstered at least four times. Here sort of in between redressing.
Serina and I are busy wrapping Christmas gifts while bro Kel is in his favourite position, reading.
Gunnar and I have help washing our home due to disabilities. They do not do carpet or cushion beating though. We still have to manage that piece on our own. It's actually frightening to see how much dust is left even after vacuuming.
Not much snow, but it does the job for the plaid and cushions.
Here we go around a juniper bush is a Christmas feast song where the children are singing about laundry. So do we do when we wash our cloths, rinse our cloths, hand up our cloths, roll our cloth, iron our cloth, wash our floor and go to church and home again.
Laundry was supposed to be done Monday morning, or late Sunday evening really. My mother was constant about keeping the Sunday holy, but before bedtime Sunday night she would put very dirty clothes to soaking the night over, likewise the whitewash to cook the night over. Next day she would scrub by hand every single item and put them over in rinse tanks, 3 at least, before hanging it out to dry in open air.
My mother had two children in 15 months and an endless row of diapers.
There was no folding, there were stretching, rolling and ironing.
Except for wool of course.
My mother taught me how to handle wool. Later on when we too had washing machine and dry tumbler, she would never, ever put wool in a machine. Even the bought wool under wear was washed by hand. Why??
Till her last year at home my mother preferred drying under open air to tumbler. She fell, of course, but that did not stop her.
Wool is both strong and delicate at the same time. If you wash it in say, warm water and rinse it in cold water, which will happen in a machine, it will inevitably shrink. Wool must be washed and rinsed in the same lukewarm temperature.
If you shrub, rub or centrifugate a wool jumper it will shrink, get knotty and out of shape.
Outside the home where I grew up in my red sweater.
After you have gently crushed and squeezed the wool garment, clean in mild, liquid soap or shampoo,rinse it at least three times in water of the same temperature. Never use fabric softener, but you may need a teaspoon of 7% vinegar if you are afraid the colors will bleed.
Then find a bath towel, lay e,t,c, the pullover on the towel, fold and roll it hard till its about dry. Especially jumpers should be dried lying. If you hang them, they tend to go out of shape. When dry, you may steam iron gently with a cloth between the iron and the jumper.
Some yearn says the are mashinewashable, believe me, they are not. Some machines claim to have a wool program. Believe me, it doesn't work.
How can I be so persistent? Because I didn't listen to my mother and ruined beautiful, home knitted garments.
Even at the home where my mother spent her last months they managed to ruin a beautiful, bought 500 dollars jacket of wool and silk. In a machine.
I've chosen to illustrate my point by showing a red jumper my mother knitted to me when I was two years old.
Mr. Nisse likes reading. Like me he's fond of John Cowart's books. And the sweater is still red.
I used it till I grew out of it, then I passed it to toddler Serina and some years thereafter the youlenisse (Santa Claus Norwegian style) was dressed up in the same sweater.
He's still going strong. the jumper had 60 years jubilee this winter.
Since the jumper is red I also sign this up for Ruby Tuesday 2.
Photo and poem © 2012 by Magical Mystical Teacher
