Dashing away with the Smoothing-Iron...

Today I am laundry-maid.

I am not stupid, so I'm currently whizzing my bed-linen through a 60-degree cold-intake machine-wash. The alternative would have been to soak it all overnight in a bath filled with water and washing-soda; then to take it out and rinse it a bit; then to soap it and agitate it A LOT; then to rinse it well; then to put it in a huge cauldron of cold water and bring it up to the boil and boil for a while actively; then to take it out and drain it; then I'll be at the stage I'll be at when the machine stops shortly.

What about bleaching? I don't, if I can help it. Soaking in washing-soda or in borax usually works; or leaving out on the line for sunlight and moonlight to fade a stain. I wish I could bleach my undersheet because it is poor-quality polycotton and looks 'orrible.

What's washing? My fitted polycotton underneath sheet (I don't like this as it is the 'wrong white', can't be bleached despite claiming to be 100% cotton which it clearly can't be, and persists in greying steadily; must replace it soon with a proper sheet!); my beautifully white heavy cotton top sheet (my late Grandmother's, pre-war, barely used); my homemade bolster-cover in 100% cotton twill, a good white; two plain cotton pillowcases, good whites; two lace-edged cotton pillowcases (the cases themselves are falling apart and have visible holes in but once starched they seem robust enough to keep using; the lace is crochet but looks lovely); two heavy-twill pillowslips; several handkerchiefs; a couple of little mats for standing vases, mugs, etc., on.

What happens when they have finished washing in the machine?

I mix a big enamel basin full of starch, made with powder starch (from Feathergills Emporium in Hebden Bridge, online shopping available) and a bit of borax. Then I add some Reckitt's Blue to this starch-water, combining the blueing and starching in one go.



Once dipped, I don't even try to wring them - and have no mangle - so I lug them dripping to the washing-machine and do a 'fast spin' cycle to drain them.
Then I usually put the lighter things, like pillowcases, on the line or clothes-horse so they can dry a little more; the rest goes in the tumble-dryer.
I don't starch the twill pillowslips as these just go straight onto the older two feather pillows to contain leaking feathers, and are then sewn closed with a line of red thread oversewing.

Ironing starched items requires an iron that is HOT and that is CLEAN. Don't even think about ironing properly-starched items with a low-temperature iron as the starch needs to 'cook'.

Once ironed, everything hangs over the clothes-horse or over chair-backs to air - this is important as otherwise they can end up clammy and chill, if folded straight after ironing.


Finally it is all carried upstairs and the bed is made, cases pulled onto a feather bolster and four feather pillows (a nightmare to allergy sufferers!) ending with two feather duvets and a vintage French quilt, and two of my late Grandmother's pre-war lambswool blankets folded over the bed-end for extra warmth for feet on winter nights.
Heavy lined velvet hangings, weighted at the hem for opulent swaying movement, are pulled round the high Edwardian bed-head as it stands in an otherwise draughty dormer window.