I have no doubt that you won’t be able to identify this. However, I’m hoping you can disprove me.

Soaking, pounding, scrubbing, and rinsing filthy materials are all part of hand laundry. Before indoor plumbing, all the water required for boiling, rinsing, and washing laundry had to be hauled from a pump, well, or spring.

To make washing easier, the laundry water would be brought by hand, warmed over a fire, and then poured into a tub.

This meant that after the least unclean items were cleansed, only a limited amount of warm, soapy water could be used to wash increasingly dirtier laundry.

Soaking, pounding, scrubbing, and rinsing filthy materials are all part of hand laundry.

Before indoor plumbing, all the water required for boiling, rinsing, and washing laundry had to be hauled from a pump, well, or spring. Laundry would include carrying water by hand, boiling it over a fire to wash, and then putting it into a tub.

This meant that after the least unclean items were cleansed, only a limited amount of warm, soapy water could be used to wash increasingly dirtier laundry.

Removing the soap and water from the garments required a second procedure after washing. The soap would first be rinsed with clear water. After washing, the sodden clothing would be rolled up and manually twisted to extract the water. It often took a whole workday to complete the process when drying and ironing were included.