The big wash : The “Buée”

The big washes of yesteryear were generally done when there was less work in the fields, in spring and autumn. Sheets, shirts, tea towels, handkerchiefs… that had accumulated over the months were treated together. These big white washes lasted several days and were an opportunity for neighbours to help each other.

Smaller washes were done once a week for the rest of the laundry and the more fragile clothes and woollens.

The professional washerwomen, on the other hand, went to the laundrette every day to wash the clothes of private homes, hotels and boarding houses.

A “white” washing consisted of several stages:

Sheets, towels and shirts were soaked in cold water to make them easier to wash, then soaped, brushed and beaten to remove the dirt.
The wet linen was then taken home with the wheelbarrow to be boiled, in the old days in large vats into which boiling water was poured, and then in washing pans prepared on a stove usually set up in the courtyard of the house. Soap shavings and wood ash were added (mixed with water and filtered, wood ash contains potash, making it an effective natural detergent).
After a few hours of washing, the boiled linen was taken out with a stick to avoid burning. It was then put directly into the wheelbarrow and sent back to the washhouse, where it was rinsed and dried.

Clotheslines were often set up near the washhouse to allow the washing to drain.
Finally, the washing was taken home to finish drying in the open air.
The washerwomen had to make four trips to the washhouse, pushing their heavily laden wheelbarrows…