How often did people change their clothes in the 1920.'s, 1930's, 1940's, 1950's and 1960's?

Question

How often did people wash their clothes?

How often did people iron their clothes?

How often did people change underwear and socks?

How often did people polish their shoes?

How often were new clothes and shoes purchased?

Were clothes and shoes of better quality in those days or are clothes better nowadays?

Answer 1

I can only answer for the 50's and 60's. As I was not born until 1948



Often there was only two wash days a week. One for bedding and towels, and one for clothes. Except of course when there was a baby in the house. Then their stuff was washed daily.



Everything in our house was ironed immediately it was dry. Nothing was put away unironed. When I sat everything I mean everything. My mother even insisted in ironing underwear, sock and dusters.



Underwear and socks were changed daily.



Shoes were polished daily



For children new shoes and clothes were purchased for the start of the school year (August) and in the Spring. But as well as buying clothes, most people back then had the skills to be able to make clothes and knit sweaters etc for themselves and kids. So folk tended to get new clothes throughout the year.



Clothes and shoes were of FAR superior quality to what we can buy now. The dusters we used for cleaning back then were better quality that clothes you can buy now form a lot of places these days.



My mother got her 1st washing machine in 1959. It was a twin tub (one tub used for washing the clothes, the other tub was a spin drier. We got our first automatic machine (A Bendix) in 1963.



Before there were washing machines people had big deep twin sinks in the kitchen. Clothes would be washed by hand in one, then rinsed in the other. There was usually a wringer mounted between the sinks that removed nearly all the excess water and got clothes as dry as they now are when they come out of machine.



Many people also had a wash house with a stone built boiler which was heated by a fre which was built underneath. Real dirty clothes would be scrubbed on a washboard. Delicate clothes would be washed with special soap flakes and warm water.



Dryers did not come into common use until into the 60s - 70s so clotheslines were used. Clotheslines are still used today. I still prefer to dry stuff, especially towels and sheets out on the line when weather permits.



Beulah

Answer 2

I can only remember back to the 50's.



1) Women did the family wash once a week , usually on Mondays. It was a big job, as there was no washing machine. My mother used a big copper full of boiling water, and moved the clothes around with a long wooden sick.



2) Ironing was done the day after the washing for obvious reasons. My mother had a dry iron, she would use a damp cloth and put that over the garment, then iron over it to produce steam. She also used starch in a little spray bottle, which she used like the spray starches today. The clothes always looked immaculate when she'd finished - this job took hours to complete.



3) People wore their underwear and socks once, just like today.



4) Shoes were polished once a week at may place - and each day they were wiped to ensure that they looked good. People took a lot of pride in having shiny clean shoes.



5) My mother made all of our clothing. She made everything from school uniforms to evening dresses, woolen coats and night clothing. She knitted all our winter garments and Dad's socks. Shoes were bought as they were needed.



6) Yes , they definitely lasted longer.



7) My mother got a washing machine in about the early 60's.



8) A big copper was filled with water and it was boiled. The copper was about as big as a 44 gallon drum. It had a gas jet underneath which you lit and allowed the water to boil. Then some soap powder was put in. You put the white clothes in first - shirts, towels, sheets. These things were boiled ( you treated any stains before putting the clothes into the copper so the stains would not set). After boiling for about 15 minutes, you lifted the clothes out with a long stick and dropped them into a sink full of cold water and pushed them around for a few minutes. Then you picked them up and squeezed the water out of them. Then you put more water into the sink and repeated the process until there was no further soapy water coming out of the clothes. You wrung them out,then put them on the line. This was all done in the early morning so the things had all day to dry. Coloured clothing was washed last, to ensure no leaking of the colour into other clothes. The whole process took my mother about half a day to do.



9) I first saw a dryer in the 70's.



10) Clothes lines were used until dryers came into use.

Answer 3

Clothes From 1930

Answer 4

I was told by my grandmother thatmy mom was constantly changing me as I loved getting dirty remember eating dirt and making mud pies. My mom washed with an old style wringer washer or hand washed delicates.She ironed alot and hung clothes out to dry,or down the basement if weather was bad.She would mend clothes hem and sew alot of my clothes also.We dressed up very nicely to go anywhere.We changed underware and socks every day.We got new clothes at a new school year and special times such as Easter and Christmas or if we out grew them.Some kids wore hand me downs.They put taps on shoes to make them last longer too.Ithink clothes were better quality then.Newer fabricks now save time ,but it is some of the craftmanship that is shoddy.

Answer 5

Dear God you seem so ignorant.



And just for making a point, I've always had a dryer, but really prefer to hang out when I can, Not often, but when I lived in the country, more often. I loved the fresh smell!

Answer 6

To answer all of your questions about how often these things were done, every day, with the exception of new clothes and shoes. Things were taken better care of back then and were generally not made to be thrown away.

Answer 7

1.Everyday

2.2-3 times a week

3.Every week. the ironing gets done in one day or else you don't have anything to wear

4.Everyday I hope!5.

5.Whenever they got dirty

6.When their clothes got holes in them

7.YES they were!!!!!

Answer 8

most people had three of everything,one worn,one clean and one in the wash.lots of kids,and I was one,had to wear hand me downs, as did thousands of others.

Answer 9

Please write a 37,000 word essay describing why you want to know each of the things you've asked about and give details about how you're learning these things will benefit society.

Answer 10

We started wearing them when they were new. We quit wearing them when they wore out.