Washing Quilts 1991

As I put a quilt in the washing machine I couldn’t help but remember when we used to wash quilts (and such) at the Windy Knoll.  Back then Daddy would build a fire around the wash pot filled with water that had been drawn from the well by hand.  Soaked pieces seemed to come clean easier — or so it was believed — and many times the wash would be put in cold water to soak the afternoon before.

Quilts back then were filled with cotton batt that had been carded by hand and then quilted with ball thread.  When one of them was full of water, it was some more job to handle. Mother tried to schedule the quilt-washing job on a day when Daddy or my brother would be around.

The quilt was taken from the soaking tub and put in the pot to boil.  It had to be stirred often using the battling stick.  The fire had to be “chunked” up (wood pushed up close to the pot) to keep the water boiling and then more wood had to be fetched.  Wash day was a busy time.

After the quilt had been in the pot for some time, it was removed to the rinse water.  At our house there were always two tubs for rinsing, but it was pronounced “wrench” water.  John still wrenches off his hands!! (I say to him, “Looks like that would hurt”.)  Bucket after bucket of water had to be hand drawn for these big jobs.  The quilt was finally readied for the clothesline and we would wring what water we could from the quilt.  Everything we hear today about the washing of quilts says not to wring — wonder how quilts managed to stay together during the washings of old.

If possible, the quilt was draped over two clotheslines.  This would keep it from being stretched by the weight, but it also kept the line from sagging so that the wet quilt didn’t touch the ground.  We had a propping stick handy to “prop up”: the line when the sagging occurred.

I enjoyed seeing the quilts hanging on the line.  I would stand, study the pattern and pick out scraps of my dresses.  About mid-day, the quilt was turned over to help it dry faster and also to protect that side from the sun.  When the wash was taken in at the end of the day it had that sweet, fresh smell.  There’s nothing better than sleeping between sheets dried on a line.  It’s a smell like no other.  My girls do not have that “luxury” today.  They have to dry theirs in the dryer and hurry on to the next job.  I guess their memories will be of how the lint smelled when removed from the dryer.  How times change the way we do things.

The quilt in the picture is called Brick Work.  Some lady saved her husband’s tobacco sacks, ripped them open, dyed them and then pieced and quilted a quilt. It’s an example of using whatever was available to make a quilt.  I paid $15 for the quilt a few years ago.  The wash pot was my mother’s and the battlin’ stick came from John’s family.

Airing quilts was another matter and another heavy job.  It’s also another column for the writer.  The washing of winter bedding is just another happening of country living.