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How did people wash up before washing up liquid?

66 replies

MoiraRosesBaybay · 08/09/2023 18:35

It just occurred to me that I have no idea.
What did people use in say the 1920s or the 1820s even?

OP posts:
bellac11 · 08/09/2023 19:18

KirstenBlest · 08/09/2023 18:50

@AromanticSpices , so is fairy blood green?

Yes of course, they are other wordly but evergreen creatures. So they have green blood

bellac11 · 08/09/2023 19:19

HappiDaze · 08/09/2023 19:05

Soap and or rubbing vigorously against a ribbed wooden board dunked in water or a river

This is not advisable with your best porcelain.

HappiDaze · 08/09/2023 19:20

RaininSummer · 08/09/2023 19:12

Happidsaze ...would it really take that much longer to use soap rather than liquid?

As washing up liquid ie for dishes etc

Mmm let me think

Yes and what a complete annoying pfaff

I however have a dishwasher and use Lidl soap tabs that come in a cardboard box and my machine uses a fraction of the water used in a sink

So I'm good but I wouldn't wish using soap on anyone

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 08/09/2023 19:32

They used a clettering stick. Took ages to get it all done and the bits off.

eddiemairswife · 08/09/2023 19:32

I remember washing soda being used fpr washing up. I also remember a ribbed glass washing board being used; these disappeared once Lonnie Donnegan and skiffle became popular.

JaneJeffer · 08/09/2023 19:33

This is not advisable with your best porcelain.
Grin

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 08/09/2023 19:34

sarsaparillatree · 08/09/2023 19:11

My mother used to use a greyish creamy stuff called Gumption for burnt on dirt, and to clean sinks. I think it might have been made from powdered pumice mixed with something...

Edited

Isn't that what Cif used to be called?

Whataretheodds · 08/09/2023 19:34

KirstenBlest · 08/09/2023 18:50

@AromanticSpices , so is fairy blood green?

Walt Disney Spinning GIF

Couldn't possibly disclose that..

ThelmaBorden · 08/09/2023 19:37

Sunlight soap, smelt terrible, shallow washing up bowl, a brush, brillo, dishcloth, enamel pans, string bound handle, often left to soak overnight with Ajax or Vim, strict order of washing, glasses first, wooden ridged draining board, enormous Irish linen teatowels, wooden roller thing on back door with multicoloured circular towel hanging, no rubber gloves, Glymiel hand cream.
This is how my Gran managed, as did many others, gone fifty years, never saw a dishwasher.

KirstenBlest · 08/09/2023 19:37

@MrsDanversGlidesAgain , Cif used to be called Jif

ThelmaBorden · 08/09/2023 19:41

HappiDaze, are Lidl tabs any good?
I have discovered dw gel, from Sainsbury, we use it for glasses wash
or anything more delicate, £4
Waitrose have a similar product, same price.

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 08/09/2023 19:42

KirstenBlest · 08/09/2023 19:37

@MrsDanversGlidesAgain , Cif used to be called Jif

I know, but Cif is basically the same formulation as Gumption as far as I can see, i.e a slightly abrasive cream cleaner.

bellac11 · 08/09/2023 19:43

KirstenBlest · 08/09/2023 19:37

@MrsDanversGlidesAgain , Cif used to be called Jif

I still live in the world of Jif, Marathons and Opal Fruits

Stroopwaffels · 08/09/2023 19:47

You can get refillable plastic bottles for washing up liquid, companies like Miniml and Splosh. We have a Splosh bottle which is currently being filled with a large pouch of washing up liquid from Lidl, lots less plastic waste.

NaturalBlondeYeahRight · 08/09/2023 20:00

Watching those 'life in the olden days' type programmes have looked at this before, it wasn't the soap that was tricky so much as washing up in cold water. Fat didn't seem to break down much at all.

BIossomtoes · 08/09/2023 20:02

Washing up wasn’t done in cold water. Running hot water has been around for a long time and before that the kettle was always on.

bellac11 · 08/09/2023 20:17

BIossomtoes · 08/09/2023 20:02

Washing up wasn’t done in cold water. Running hot water has been around for a long time and before that the kettle was always on.

True but the water cant have been that hot before the use of rubber gloves?

TeaAndStrumpets · 08/09/2023 20:24

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 08/09/2023 19:32

They used a clettering stick. Took ages to get it all done and the bits off.

Liddle mop needed!

Hedjwitch · 08/09/2023 20:35

Cant bear rubber gloves so water isnt that hot. Sometimes I use a brush and block of Marseille soap. Doesnt take any longer tbh. Still scrub just the same

MoiraRosesBaybay · 08/09/2023 20:40

Of course soap, I don’t know why I didn’t think of that.

OP posts:
AnIndianWoman · 08/09/2023 20:41

Bar soap. People in India wash the same way.

AromanticSpices · 08/09/2023 20:50

It's not so much the plastic but the "Harmful to aquatic life with long lasting effects" we need to stop. It's on Fairy and most branded WU Liquids. I use eco refillable ones, not because I wuv the widdle fishes but because fecking up the food chain is a stupid idea and we really don't need to do it.

KirstenBlest · 08/09/2023 20:54

Shampoo was invented in 1914 according to my search engine.

greenspaces4peace · 08/09/2023 21:07

my grandmother born in 1898 had a soap saver
in which the old bits and ends of soap would be placed.

when you ran your water and when the basin full you swished it around and made bubbly soapy water.
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Nat6999 · 08/09/2023 21:11

Washing soda for washing dishes

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