8. Slaves provided the laundering for the main house and its free occupants
The laundries on the Virginia plantations were usually located in one of the outbuildings near the main house. There, enslaved workers, usually women, washed the clothes of their owners’ families, as well as the table linens and other items. Laundering was considerably more labor-intensive than today. Linens and other heavier items were treated for stains by scraping or scrubbing with powder, and then boiled, usually in cauldrons outdoors of the laundry. Finer items, such as neckcloths, were washed inside the laundry by hand. The boiled items were then rinsed, wrung by hand, blued to enhance whiteness, re-rinsed, wrung by hand, starched, re-rinsed, wrung by hand, and hung to dry. The soaps used were harsh, the heat from the steam and the fire beneath the cauldron intense, and the linen tablecloths heavy with water. Doing the laundry was not for the meek.
Once dry, everything, needed to be ironed. Different sized irons were required, depending on the item being pressed. They were then folded and stored away, an activity which usually fell to one of the house maids. In the case of the master’s shirts and neckcloths, his personal servant or valet, also enslaved, would return the item to its proper place. The Virginians on the large plantations were known for their entertaining and hospitality, and dinners usually featured liberal amounts of wine, ale, and other spirits, which left their inevitable evidence on the tablecloths and napkins. So did the rich sauces which were a feature of the cooking of the day. Yet all evidence of stains from meals of the past had to be removed before the cloths could be redeployed, lest the host’s table betray a less than meticulous housekeeping.