Laundry stick
Maker & role
Unknown, Maker
Production date
Early 20th Century
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Object detail
Collection
Measurements
0 - Whole, L: 44 x Diam: 2.5cm (L: 440 x Diam: 25mm)
Credit line
Gift, 1997
Susannah Place Collection, Museums of History New South Wales
Susannah Place Collection, Museums of History New South Wales
Description
A laundry or copper stick was a necessary aid for moving laundry items around in a copper or trough of boiling water to facilitate the washing process, and for retrieving them from the copper once ready. Chemicals such as ammonia, oxalic acid and soda ash were sometimes added to the washing water for heavily soiled articles, so the stick helped minimise skin contact with potential irritants.
This copper stick is 44cm long and 2.5cm in diameter. The blue staining comes from ferric ferrocyanide, commonly known as ‘Prussian blue’ that was added to the washing water to remove the yellow tinge that soap compounds could produce. When used sparingly, ‘blueing’ whitens whites, and in greater concentration improved the colour of darker fabrics. The bluing agent needed to be well distributed, and the water and laundry items within it kept moving to prevent the blue settling on the bottom or sides of the copper and staining the clothes.
The stick is one of many practical household items that belonged to Margaret and Tom Shaw of Longueville, NSW, and donated to the Museums of History NSW Susannah Place Museum collection by their daughter Penny Pike.
This copper stick is 44cm long and 2.5cm in diameter. The blue staining comes from ferric ferrocyanide, commonly known as ‘Prussian blue’ that was added to the washing water to remove the yellow tinge that soap compounds could produce. When used sparingly, ‘blueing’ whitens whites, and in greater concentration improved the colour of darker fabrics. The bluing agent needed to be well distributed, and the water and laundry items within it kept moving to prevent the blue settling on the bottom or sides of the copper and staining the clothes.
The stick is one of many practical household items that belonged to Margaret and Tom Shaw of Longueville, NSW, and donated to the Museums of History NSW Susannah Place Museum collection by their daughter Penny Pike.
Accession number
SP97/23
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