Washing tub

“ The tub should be again filled with lukewarm water, about 80°, in which the articles should again be plunged, and each gone over carefully with soap, and rubbed. Experienced washerwomen rub one linen surface against the other, two parts being thus cleaned at once. After the first washing, the linen should be put into a second water, as hot as the hand can bear it, and again rubbed over in every part, examining every part for spots not yet removed, which require to be again soaped over and rubbed till thoroughly clean: then rinsed and wrung, the larger and stronger articles by two of the women ”

“ Believing that "indoor washing is most pernicious, and a fruitful source of disease, especially to the young," he built twenty-four baths, at a cost of $35,000, and public wash-houses. These are supplied with three steam engines and six washing machines. Each person bringing clothes is provided with a rubbing and boiling tub, into which steam and hot and cold water are conveyed by pipes. ”

“ A tall, large tub with a pounder or dasher on springs, fastened across the tub, like the old-fashioned pounding-barrel, or the tub and dasher of the Metropolitan Washing-Machine, is one of the most convenient and desirable tubs to wash blankets in, as the washing can be done at once without waiting for the water to cool. The pounder should be used gently, as harsh rubbing or pounding knots the fibers of woolens, but the spring dasher keeps the water filtering through every part without any hard usage. ”

“ Add cold water to the kettle, and put in more clothes. Continue washing until all the white clothes are rubbed, remembering to dip out part of the dirty water from the tub now and then, and add some of the boiling suds which you have kept covered. When the clothes in the basket are well drained, put them into a tub of clean cold water, and take more clothes from the boiler into the draining basket. When all the white clothes are rubbed, and while the last of them are still boiling, get the second rinsing water ready in the largest tub. ”

“ In its place, we have at one side of the kitchen, a sink, with cocks for hot and cold water immediately over it. The tables and drain-board are arranged to simplify the operations of dish-washing. The water, instead of being carried to the yard or alley, finds its way naturally into the drain through the sink. Modern laundry arrangements make it unnecessary to carry great tubs of water outside, or to delay wash-day on account of the weather, or to bring in the frozen clothes during the cold winter days. The bath-room, with the tub, the water-closet, and the wash-stand, is on the second floor. ”

“ After looking at these things, we proceeded to view one of the model washing houses, which had been erected for the convenience of poor women. We entered a large hall, which was divided by low wood partitions into small apartments, in each of which a woman was washing. The whole process of washing clothes in two or three waters, and boiling them, can be effected without moving from the spot, or changing the tub. Each successive water is let out at the bottom, while fresh is let on from the top. ”

“ Tubs, pails, and all hooped wooden ware, should be kept out of the sun, and in a cool place, or they will fall to pieces.
Common Mode of Washing.
Assort the clothes, and put them in soak, the night before. Never pour hot water on them, as it sets the dirt. In assorting clothes, put the flannels in one lot, [Pg 286] the colored clothes in another, the coarse white ones in a third, and the fine clothes in a fourth lot. Wash the fine clothes in one tub of suds; and throw them, when wrung, into another. Then wash them, in the second suds, turning them wrong side out. ”

“ Queen of my tub, I merrily sing,
While the white foam rises high,
And sturdily wash and rinse and wring,
And fasten the clothes to dry.
Then out in the free fresh air they swing,
Under the sunny sky.
I wish we could wash from our hearts and souls
The stains of the week away,
And let water and air by their magic make
Ourselves as pure as they.
Then on the earth there would be indeed,
A glorious washing day!
Along the path of a useful life,
Will heart's-ease ever bloom.
The busy mind has no time to think
Of sorrow or care or gloom.
And anxious thoughts may be swept away,
As we bravely wield a broom. ”

“ To be consistent in our thought of keeping the floor clear, we should have a bathtub that rests upon legs. It should not, if avoidable, be placed under the window, and if it can be several inches from the wall, it is more easily cleaned on the outside, and the space next to the wall need not accumulate—or at least retain—soap, towels, and sponges that elude the grasp of the bather. Tubs come in lengths from four to six feet, and cost accordingly. The comfort of a six-foot bath to persons of any considerable elongation is always manifest, while a four-foot tub is merely better than a footbath. ”

“ As soon as running water is established in a house, the kitchen sink fails conspicuously to fulfill all requirements, and a wash-tub seems a sorry substitute for a modern bath-room. A single pipe supplying cold water only, no matter how pure the water or how satisfactory in the summer, does not afford the constant convenience which an unlimited supply of both cold and hot water offers, and the introduction of running water is usually followed by an addition to the kitchen stove whereby running hot water may be obtained as well as running cold water. ”

“ Sometimes, perhaps twice a week, put a little ammonia in the first water so that the tub will have an extra cleaning. If ever you have a really dirty tub to scrub, take gasoline on a flannel cloth and wash with that, and it will be like new; but tubs which are washed out every day never need gasoline.
"If you have a tub lined with zinc remember that needs even more care than a white one, if it is to be kept shining bright. You can scrub it out with gasoline if it seems greasy, then with vinegar, if it is dark, then with metal polish, and so on; zinc tubs are really difficult to care for. ”

“ When the feet are warm the circulation is more easily maintained. Following a hot bath, the hand spray can be used for the shower, applying the water quickly to all parts of the body before getting out of the tub. One should always use a cold sponge, spray, or shower, after a hot bath to close the pores. Then rub dry quickly and vigorously with a Turkish towel.
A sitz bath is recommended instead of a full tub bath, as it is a tonic of great value through its effect upon certain sympathetic nerve centers. ”

“ When it freezes, it is all the same, for you must wash; there are persons who have not much linen, and expect it home; if a woman did not wash, she would lose her customers. The planks are badly joined, and drops of water fall on you everywhere. Her petticoats were wet through, over and under. That penetrates. She also worked at the wash-house of the Enfants Rouges, where the water is got from taps. You are no longer in the tub; you wash at the tap before you, and rinse in the basin behind you. As it is shut up, you don't feel so cold. ”

“ Waste and overflow arrangements for the tub must be well looked after. When the master of the household is likely at any time to turn on the water for a dip and then become absorbed in studying the latest automobile catalogue, one feels safer to know that the superfluous water will find a ready outlet through the pipes, rather than the floors and halls. The same precautions are to be observed with the lavatory, where young America may choose to devote himself to original experiments in hydrostatics instead of performing the simple process of expeditiously removing the grime from his digits. ”

“ But I found the tub all right. I turned the faucets, and was pleased to have both run cold water, for I burned as with a fever. But, when I started to climb into the tub, I found I had either grown shorter in stature, or the tub had been raised. Perhaps it was managed by automatic machinery. I knew nothing about machinery; so with great effort I climbed up and into the tub, but found greater difficulty to get all of me in it. I reasoned that the dimensions of the contracted bath-tub must be all right, but the expansions of my head were wrong ”

“ At the end of a few hours there was only a swimming mass in the tub. When the man looked at four o'clock, it was all a thick murky liquid. He turned off the gas quickly and stepped back out of the room. For perhaps half an hour he waited in the hall; finally, when the acids had cooled so that they no longer gave off fumes, he opened the door and went in, took hold of the platinum wire and, pulling the porcelain disk from the stop-cock, allowed the awful contents of the tub to run out. Then he turned on the hot water, rinsed the tub clean, and replaced the metal outlet. ”

“ For cleansing, the warm bath is needed two or three times a week in winter, and every day in hot weather. The body surface is relatively [Pg 133] greater in children than in adults, and because of their greater activity and more rapid circulation, a relatively greater quantity of perspiration and waste material is constantly being poured out upon the skin. If this is not removed, it clogs the pores and thus keeps poisons within the body and prevents the normal absorption of oxygen through the skin.
The warm bath is best given at night, as a tub bath, before the supper, or an hour afterwards. ”

“ Have two tubs of the hot water ready, into which pour some of the melted soap, and whisk it with the hand to make a thoroughly good lather. The first tub must be more than double the strength of the second, which latter should have plenty of blue in. In the first tub wash the white flannels, without rubbing any soap on, excepting on stains of perspiration, &c. Directly after they have been done through the first tub, do them in the same way through the second, shake well, and hang out immediately. Coloured flannels can follow in the same way. Stockings should always have a third wash. ”

“ And now, with the bath at 100 F., with a folded towel on the bottom of the small tub, the soapy child is placed into the water and after a thorough rinsing is lifted out again to a warm fresh towel on the table and the careful drying is quickly begun. After the bath all the folds and creases are given a light dusting with a good talcum. ”

“ Just as we directed the nurse or caretaker to stand while the oil rub or sponge bath was given, so we admonish the mother to stand while the tub bath is given. First, get everything in readiness for the bath as directed for the oil bath, and then the baby's tub setting on the securely cleated slats placed across the top of the family tub may be filled with water by means of a hose attached to the faucet. The temperature should be 100 F. when baby is dipped in to be rinsed. ”

“ It is well to rinse a basin, sink or tub after it is used, and one must be particular that the closet flushes generously, for the water left in the loop should be clean water. If one merely allows the water from tub or basin to sink through the outlet some of that water remains in the loop, and it is water which contains impurities washed from clothes or bodies. You see the practice of rinsing bathtubs and basins has more in it even than courtesy. ”

“ When the heat of the system is adequate, the bather may stand or sit in a shallow tub, while he receives the water from a sponge squeezed over the shoulders or against the body. In this form of bathing, the person is more exposed to the cold air, and on this account it is less suitable for very feeble individuals than the first-mentioned method. In the early use of this form of the sponge-bath, the bather should content himself with a single affusion from the sponge; the body should be quickly wiped with a soft towel, and friction applied with a crash towel or a brush. ”

“ When no tank supply is available, and all water must be carried from a cistern or from the well in the yard, the cost of plumbing is very small and the discomfort very great. Warm water must be supplied chiefly from a reservoir at the back of the range, thus making frequent bathing very inconvenient, even if a regular bath-tub be provided. If, however, a cesspool be built in the yard, the kitchen sink, the slop-hopper, the bath-tub, and the laundry tub may have waste pipes to it. ”

“ Have the bathtub carefully scoured each day, as the oils and dust washed from the body invariably collect on the sides just where the water reached. For the thorough cleansing have the tub half filled with warm water. Use a coarse rag, a bath brush and large, coarse towels. Before stepping into the water wash the face and neck well with castile soap and a camel's-hair brush, this being particularly necessary when the pores are clogged and acne has formed. ”

“ Now, of course, every single person who uses a bathtub ought to wipe it out afterward; but men don't take the trouble, and women sometimes forget; little girls never do, of course! So the tub has to be washed and wiped out every morning."
"Every single morning?" Margaret asked, grumblingly. "It seems as if that would be too often; it must wear the nice enamel off to wash it so much."
"Not at all," said her aunt; "it is good for it! Get the nice white cloth and a cake of soap,—not the sapolio, because that would scratch it,—and roll up your sleeves. ”