Monday is Wash Day in Amish Country



Notice the deer hiding behind the bush ;)

It wasn’t long ago that every woman knew the saying:

Monday: Wash Day

Tuesday: Ironing Day

Wednesday: Sewing Day

Thursday: Market Day

Friday: Cleaning Day

Saturday: Baking Day

Sunday: Day of Rest

I’m not saying Laura Ingalls Wilder knew this; my mother and other ladies said it when I was a kid running around the neighborhood in the 1960’s. But when I go to Amish country, I do see more laundry hung on Mondays.

I asked my friend, Barb, mother of nine, how she washes her clothes. She said they use boiling water in a large pot and “swoosh” the clothes around. I immediately thought of my grandma who came from rural Italy. She washed clothes the same way, and when she got a ringer washer, it was her emancipation day.

Most Amish use ringer washer, powered by a generator. But as I sat in Barb’s house asking her about laundry day, she was very relaxed. Her teenage daughters were boiling water to wash dishes. They added to the conversation, since they did a lot of the washing. Once again, I’m taken back. They have such willingness and cheerfulness about work. I know women who are still washing their college age “kids” clothes.

So, when you go into Amish country and see the lines of laundry, don’t think there’s one tired Amish mom in there doing it all. It’s a group activity and by the responses of other Amish women, something they enjoy. They do admit they don’t like hanging clothes in the winter. Yes, they hang them year round. The clothes are literally ‘freeze-dried”.

Another thing that amazes me is how clean they keep their clothes. When Amish men worked on our house, I have to admit, I didn’t drive them home unless all the windows were down. The odor of “hard work” was upon them, and I couldn’t breathe. But these same clothes were worn again and they smelled zestfully clean. I give Amish women of all ages a lot of credit for taking care of the men’s work clothes.

Many Amish use their front porches to hang laundry.

 

Pulleys are attached to trees.

 

My friend's house has more than one pulley. Click picture for better view.