History Of Laundry

​When you’re in need of San Francisco, Marin, Ross, or San Rafael dry cleaning, we at A Touch of Class are proud to go above and beyond to meet all your desires. Not only do we provide a high-quality professional cleaning, but we’re also glad to be your valet and bring your newly-cleaned clothes directly to you. While we’re proud of our modern washing and dry cleaning process, we’d like to provide a little perspective by sharing with you a few facts on how washing and drying laundry used to be done in the not-so-modern times.

​How Laundry Was Originally Washed

​Originally, laundry was done through riverside washing. The clothes would be taken to the riverside where they would they would be soaked in. After the clothes were soaked, they were typically brought over to a washing board that was brought to the river. This washing board could be just a simple wooden board or also something more sophisticated. These boards would be used as scrubbing surfaces to help get dirt and other gunk out of the clothes. Sticks and washing bats were also helpful for beating the dirt out of them. This was a process that even the most advanced parts of the world would do until well into the 19th century. In fact, this is still the most common way to do laundry in some of the less-developed countries.

​Drying & Bleaching

​Just like with washing, drying your clothes was often a public and group activity. Many towns had a communal area of mown grass set aside that was used as a bleaching ground. Clothes were spread out on the grass and the sun would help bleach off-white clothing and dry it as well. In addition to drying your clothes on the grass, drying could also be done by spreading the clothes on bushes. Clotheslines started to be used from about the 16th century, but they didn’t acquire much popularity until at least the 18th century.

​Contact Your Ross & San Rafael Dry Cleaning Valet Today!

​If you’re in search of San Francisco, Marin, Ross, or San Rafael dry cleaning and you’re interested in the convenience of having it delivered to your door, we encourage you to try us out! You can start service through our website or by giving us a call at one of our two convenient locations. Our San Rafael phone number is (415) 453-8620 and our Ross phone number is (415) 461-3743. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions. We can’t wait to hear from you!