The DISGUSTING truth about Laundry

Modern laundry is gross. Historic laundry is less gross.

00:00 - 03:46 - Introduction
03:47 - 12:55 - Part 1: Clothing Integrity & Laundry
12:56 - 18:47 - Part 2: Effectiveness (or lack there of)
18:48 - 29:45 - Part 3: Environmental Impact of Laundry

Biblio:

Secondarily published in: Meditsinskaya Gazeta(Medical Gazette)
Translated into English and published in: Report Studies in Space Flight and Physiology (JPRS-28183) Date 07 January 1965, Page 5

The complete servant maid: or young woman's best companion. Author: Anne Barker
Date: [1770?] Publisher: printed for J. Cooke, No. 17, Pater-Noster Row (London)

Appendix H: Fiber Reactions to Various Agents and Conditions," in Army Fixed Drycleaning Plant (Washington DC: HQ, Dept of the Army, November 1972), 77

"Textiles and Clothing," Experiment Station Record vol 55 (Washington, DC: US Department of Agriculture, July-Dec 1926), 493.

Jane Fales, Dressmaking: A Manual for Schools and Colleges (NY: Scribner, 1917), 153

Albert Matlack, "Materials for a Sustainable Economy" in Introduction to Green Chemistry (Boca Raton, FL: Taylor and Francis, 2010), 399

CAI Yongdong and MA Shunbin, "Progress in the Study of Antibacterial Fibers," Advanced Materials Research, Vols. 821-822 (2013), p 104

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[MichaelaBennison]

As a Brit, the banning of line drying clothes in the US is freaking insane.

[leah]

My grandmother grew up in the Netherlands, and she said everyone dried their clothes on a line. We asked her if they were ever embarrassed if the neighbors ever saw their underwear. She said "of course not, everyone has underwear. But if you didn't hang your clothes properly (meaning, straight, evenly spaced, etc) THAT was when you should be embarrassed."

[mrsmarlasinger]

A German here. Coming from generations of seamstresses and growing up in a rural area, most of our houses we have dedicated, well-aired rooms for doing laundry and hanging up our clothes when the weather is bad, called „Waschküche“. When it’s nice outside, hanging out our clothes on the line is pretty much the norm. I was also taught to wear an undershirt, and we air our outer layers outside when they are worn, but not stained, so they don’t need to get washed after every single wear. This really helps to maximize their life span. Hearing that some states actually banned people from hanging out their laundry is quite shocking.

[lenasbraindump]

Really interesting video, but there is one thing that I have to disagree upon and that is the sanitation part. While there might not be an explicit sanitizing step in our modern laundry routine, surfactants definitely are effective against bacteria etc. The whole point of a detergent is for part of it to be hydrophilic (easily soluble in water) and part of it hydrophobic (easily soluble in oils + fats) so that the hydrophobic part of it binds with non-water-soluble dirt and actually makes the compound of both water soluble after all, so that the dirt can be washed away. Cell membranes (of bacteria and viruses as well as your own cells) are made of lipids (fat), so they do get broken down by detergent. Heat and other chemicals are still helpful of course, but it is simply not true that your normal washing is not effective.
Yes, some bacteria could survive, but mostly, you're fine, don't panic. Also note that the information posted on screen comes from a source that directly profits from you believing that normal detergent doesn't sufficiently clean your laundry by selling you a solution to the claimed problem.

[bcase]

I fully agree that those regulations barring cloths lines should be elliminated. If a person has a backyard which is fenced and someone is offended by seeing the clothes on the line, then the offended person should be told not to look over the fence.

[krisl]

Thank you! Finally a Youtuber from the US, who actually states in the video, that the experience she talks about is a North American experience.
I get so disturbed by all the "we, modern people, do stuff like this" videos, because they are almost always US point of views and completely missing a disclaimer.
I am from Eastern Europe, and there is so many historical costumer videos on Youtube, where they talk about "this is how people did this a long time ago and we will never know how accurate the descriptions are" - and I am sitting here and thinking that "this is how we STILL do things where I am from.

[cherylrosbak]

Unless you have existing health conditions you've been warned about you don't need to sanitize your clothes. Yes it sounds icky, but it has zero impact on your health. In the same way that you don't need antibacterial hand wash, the soap + water + movement does the job well enough.

[TallTeenTurtle]

Just a tip for anyone alarmed by this video, the solution IS NOT to start adding more detergent to your clothes! Most people already use too much and thats part of the problem. A high efficiency washer using high efficiency detergent only needs a couple tablespoons of detergent to clean your clothes, more is gonna cause buildup and soap scum and clog up the washer. Use minimal detergent, add white vinegar to to combat hard water and soften clothes without buildup, and use dryer balls instead of dryer sheets. Dryer sheets can actually cause the problem Abby talks about where the dryer thinks clothes are dry when they arent; dryer sheet gunk is messing up the sensor.

[SuicuneCutie]

It's super interesting seeing this as someone from the Caribbean where our higene practices and clothing practices are totally different. I hand wash delicate thin things. Most Caribbean homes have clothes lines. Some folks will take care to hang bright fabrics in the shade. But most of all we have what we call house or inside clothes and outside clothes. Clothes you wear to work or to go out will never be worn at home. Home clothes are accumulated with lots of odds and ends of outside clothes that got stained or slightly damaged. And most Caribbean ppl shower twice a day, given the climate. It astounds me that Americans just wear jeans and nicer shirts at home. I've got old pj and stained shirts for home. Also beds? Never go on those with outside clothes on. These are deff practices our grand parents and their grandparents passed off to us.

[courtneywalsh]

I would be so down for a video on making “Modern Linen Undergarments”!! From simple undies to slips and shifts and camisoles!

[mrotteau]

People who live in apartments and have shared laundry facilities often have all those problems in addition to having to use dirty machines that will contain remnants of other people's laundry (never mind pet hair), so even if you attempt to use better products, your clothes will be exposed to other people's products. I have had a couple show downs with the management about my collapsible drying rack that I use on my balcony. Permanent drying lines are illegal (or were the last time I checked the legislation). The marketing of how to clean (and dry) our clothes is part of our pending ecological disaster.

[littlecritter]

Hey Abby I think a video on making linen/cotton under gardens for our modern wardrobes would be amazing!

[chizukekihime]

I'm a lolita fashion enthusiast, I've been wearing these garments for 11 years now. This fashion really opened my eyes to modern laundry practices, because it's very common for members of this J-fashion community to be TERRIFIED of washing these dresses. They fully know and understand how hard machines can be on regular clothes, so naturally when it comes to $350-500 dresses they are so scared of cleaning them. Even as brands switched to better dyes that don't bleed and different materials, to this day people are still scared of washing their lolita. It's to a point where I have bought dresses secondhand and received them, knowing the garment was supposed to be white but it's all-over stained yellow, I wash it, and the water comes out opaque brown. And this happens all the time.

I started getting into historical fashion in 2020 through channels like yours and Bernadette Banner, Karolina Zebrowska, etc. etc., and it has inspired me SO much to change how I wear my fashion. I was already taking extra steps to wash my lolita, finding ways to wash it that didn't damage it, and now I've started taking further steps to protect the clothes that I love and care for so much by wearing things like underdresses/chemises beneath them to protect them (and the blouses that I wear with them) from my skin. I've also started paying more attention to what materials the new clothes I buy are made of, including shoes and handbags. If it has fake leather (made from plastic) I refuse to buy it. So thank you so much for making this video, a lot of it was super validating and 100% yes people are afraid of line drying clothes in North America because it looks poor, and it's infuriating.

So for any other lolitas maybe reading this, here's what I've figured out:
-Get cotton nightgowns to wear under your dresses, or linen like Abby mentions but those might be harder to find. I've found ALL of mine in thrift stores, made sure they were labeled 100% cotton so they're comfortable against my skin, etc. You might have to hem it but hemming is the easiest thing in the world to do, and a great way to get into sewing, just look up videos on youtube for it.
-If you're living in an apartment (which many of us are) stop washing your clothes in shared laundry facilities. Get a mini or portable washing machine, mine is a little top loader from Black & Decker. First: with Afterpay/Shop Pay/PayPal Pay in 4/etc you can get most of them for a payment plan of $20-40 a month. Second: It's WAY gentler on your clothes than a regular washing machine because they ONLY use cold water, just turn it inside out and remove anything with pins. Third: Hang your clothes to dry. You can get drying racks for like $20 at Walmart or hang them on the rods for your shower curtains, I do both. Make sure all the lace/ruffles/pintucks/etc are lying flat when it's wet and it'll dry nice, you might just need to steam it real quick afterwards.
-You don't need to use fancy detergents, literally any basic detergent works fine. If you have some food/drink stains, throw a little bit of Oxiclean into the water with the wash and that'll help infinitely.
-Mix vodka with lavender essential oil and white vinegar as a disinfectant spray, you can use this to spray the armpits of a dress if you got really sweaty while wearing it, inside your shoes, etc.
-Stop dry cleaning your dresses I promise you I have yet to come across a single one I can't wash or handwash and it turns out just fine. And I have a LOT of dresses, including velveteen, corduroy, flocked, brocades, jacquard, etc.

Some thoughts:
-I've heard some people say that isopropyl alcohol is BETTER than vodka to use to spray your clothes with? It has a higher alcohol concentration, kills more bacteria, and isn't watered down like vodka is. I haven't tested this yet though and I don't know how dye-safe it is?
-Should we add a dash of white vinegar to our laundry loads in addition to an eco-friendly/homemade detergent? I've seen vinegar mentioned in some historical laundering techniques and it is anti-bacterial, so could this be beneficial? EDIT: Apparently vinegar is also a great method for softening the water you use to clean with, but you'll need to do research to figure out how much to add to turn your hard water to soft water. DEFINITELY DOING THIS IN MY LAUNDRY FROM NOW ON!
-What are some of the best/most eco-friendly methods for making detergent that are ALSO affordable and would be more effective than traditional "DIY detergent" recipes out there, has anyone found one they like or come up with something that seems effective? Really tired of the sham of most store-bought detergents and would like to get into making my own for cheaper instead!

Thanks again for the great video Abby, modern laundry is AWFUL lol!

[NemuiDoraneko]

Growing up in Russia, we always had what we called "home clothes" and "outside clothes". Home clothes were usually older comfy, misshapen, patched or stained clothes that are wearable, but that you wouldn't mind getting a beet stain on that you couldn't remove. Outside clothes were things you'd wear to school/work etc.
You'd change as soon as you get home and usually wear the same home clothes the whole week until the next laundry.
You'd also have summer house/playing on the street/gardening clothes, that were basically your old "outside clothes" that did not fit for home or school/work.


In Sweden on the other hand - there is no such thing. Sure, most people usually use their older jeans for gardening or wear sweatpants at home, but the last one is more out of comfort (and bought especially for that) rather than preserving ones clothes.

It really does make a big difference in how long ones clothes last

[moonbasket]

We use distilled white vinegar in the "fabric softener" portion of the washing machine to soften the rinse water and help sanitize things. It's also good for keeping colors and whites bright and it's much cheaper than actual fabric softener. It also won't clog up your washing machine.

[MissCarreautee]

Another tip is to not automatically put your clothes in the laundry bin after every single wear. Exercise some judgment considering what the garment is, what you did that day, how much you sweat, does it smell/look dirty. Not saying to keep wearing it until it smells but a lot of clothes can be worn 2-3 times (or even sometimes more depending) before washing and it's going to make a big difference on their durability and how many loads of laundry you do already.

Like I rarely ever wash skirts since I wear shorts underneath them, until they get dirt or stains on them.

[willbesprog]

Not me (a European living in an area of Florida that has banned line drying clothes) hanging my family’s wet laundry in our guest room as I watch this video 😂
I will say, with attempting proper care of clothing and mending when broken instead of replacing, I still own and wear a dress from 15 years ago from a H&M sale. Cheap clothing doesn’t have to be treated like it’s cheap especially when that’s all someone can afford to buy at the time!

[bansho]

16:47 Her source for detergents not sanitizing clothes is literally an ad for laundry soap.

Surfactants already kill bacteria by destroying their outer lipid bilayer (because it's made of the stuff soap removes) spilling out their insides.

[kaytiej]

I'm 60, Australian, and was taught by my Mum to do laundry carefully and respectfully. I still hand wash precious garments, have washed wedding dresses, silk shirts...etc with no ill affects. I love my modern washing machine but feel that an understanding of clothing laundering has been lost. Longevity, effectiveness and environmental factors definitely underpin my practices and its a shame many seem to have no idea of how much they could save by some time spent not only washing garments correctly, but also hanging correctly and ironing correctly.
A really good challenge Abby!

[rowenazuercher]

In college, my roommate and I installed a retractable laundry line between our lofted beds in front of our window. It was incredible! We line dried most of our laundry and our room always smelled so clean and fresh because of it. Our friends laughed at us for it, but it's one of the best decisions we made. And our jeans outlasted everyone else's because we weren't frying them in the dryer ;)