Guardian - It is only relatively recently, says Rosie Cox, a professor of geography at Birkbeck, University of London and a co-author of Dirt: the Filthy Reality of Everyday Life, that we have taken domestic laundry for granted. “It’s actually really complicated, technically. What happens inside your house is only because of big transformations: having running water, the invention of washing machines that fit in people’s houses, being affordable.” Only since the 1960s, she says, have a majority of households had a washing machine; now, it is close to 100%.
The other element is how our clothes have changed. Essentially, they have become more washable. Before the second half of the 20th century, many garments were made from wool fabric. “You clean those by dry-cleaning them occasionally, but often you brush them, dab them, that kind of thing,” says Cox. “People would have owned fewer things and they would have been more durable.”
June 20, 2023
The no-wash movement: would you wear underpants for a week without cleaning them?
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Ha! I haven't worn underpanz for at least thirty years. (I'm 86) Underpants are for people who don't clean perianally, and (men obviously) milk their penis. For years (since about 1975) I've squeezed out the urine from the base to the tip collecting the urine with TP. Both procedures leave under unnecessary. When a student at ranch school, the school nurse taught us to not use soap when bathing, instead rub well with a wash cloth. so I've continued that. Finally, I've had to battle itchy scalp and dandruff. learning that this is due to fungus (I used fungicidal shampoo.)., I gave up and now allow an overgrowth of Staphylococcus aureus / epidemidus, which attacks the fungus. Wow it works! So I use a surgeon's scrub brush on my scalp and monthly shampoo to rid the excess oil. AND my friends assure me I don't emit ingratis odoris.
This is news manufactures of "beauty products" don't want to hear.
bc
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