Monday's was always washing day with the large copper boiler, situated in the toilet come bathroom that was situated just inside the back door, being used to boil up all the whites prior to them having to be dunked in a solution of 'blue bag' which was a form of bleach that enhanced the whiteness.
During school time it was my father's job when he came home from work at lunch time, to help my mother by putting the washing through the mangle. This was set up just outside our front door, but during school holiday times it was my job to help my mother with the washing and see to the mangle.
Washing at that time was a lot harder than it is today because you didn't have washing machines to make it easier or the range of washing powders, tablets and clothes softeners that you have today.
I remember my mother used a very large block of green Fairy soap for washing the clothes with, but the woollens were always washed in Lux Flakes, as this was a softer form of soap. As I said the large white items such as sheets, pillowcase and tablecloths were washed and boiled in the copper boiler prior to being dunked with the 'blue bag'.
Also any clothes and tablecloths that required it, would after being washed and rinsed, be dunked into a bowl of starch to make them nice and crisp.
After all this washing and rinsing etc. it all had to go through the mangle to get the excess water out, that is apart from the woollens and these were rung out by hand.
When we had finished all the washing, dunking, starching and rinsing it was time to put the washing on the lines to dry. As everybody did their washing on a Monday all along the terrace you would see lines and lines of washing blowing in the fresh air outside the front and back of all the houses.
Of course if it was a wet day this made no difference to getting the washing done, the only difference being that the wet washing was hung up over a long large hanging dryer that was hung from the ceiling in the kitchen, or the smaller items were put on a cloths horse around the fire. The house on these days always used to smell of dampness but a lovely cleanliness as well all at the same time.
