Washing Clothes

Joan Jalland interviewed by Romano Cavaroli

You say that this is stressful, but don't you just switch the iron on, and that's it?

You see you had to get the washing at the right - if it was too dry it wasn't effective - and you had to dampen everything down - so if you miss the point - everything had to be dampened down and rolled up - which made a lot more work. So it was very important that, if you could possibly - have the washing right and the iron ready - and it was very easy then. But all that washing - when the weather was fine and all that washing had to be brought down stairs and put out on the balcony on the lines - now then of course it was ready for ironing and that part of it was over. But if the weather was bad the washing was hung in lines near the open attic door - upstairs. These lines were always there - always ready to be used.

The more delicate articles were laundered every week, in a special product but I can't remember what that product was called - and that again, you had a special day when you did that - that didn't involve very much - it was more or less like an ordinary washday. It was done weekly, as we do now.

How long did the washday take? Was it a whole day operation?

Because the wash lady - Frau Frei used to come and have a midday meal with us - so by the time she had, had her - afternoon, say half an hour or three quarters of an hour - and then she would go, about three o'clock or between three and four she would go home. That was the big event.

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