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We hope to see you soon at Openluchtmuseum.nl!
Come and help in the laundry/bleachery
In this building you can see how the washing was done in around 1900.
Wealthy town dwellers had their laundry collected by laundries located outside the town once every three or six months. Depending on the customer’s preference, the laundry would return the washing dry, wet or ready to put away.
Washing was done in pounding vats, which were operated by a horse-driven mill. Dirty stains were treated separately on washboards.
Bleaching
Linen was laid on the grass of bleaching fields to bleach. Bleaching was the result of the linen being exposed to a combination of air, oxygen and sunlight, and constantly being wetted down. The water was taken from watercourses using scoops.