launderess
Well-known member
If And Or When You Ever Have Babies And Decide
To cloth diaper you'll understand the beauty of a diaper service.
Nothing generates laundry like babies, now adding to that anywhere from 10, 15, or more diapers *Per Day* and *Per Child* (many mothers often had more than one child at home still in diapers), that have to be laundered, dried and folded. Shan't bore you with the details but childbirth isn't a walk in the park and adding to the exhaustion is the housework which must be done including that generated by a baby/children.
Diaper services were big in urban and metropolitan areas where housewives either didn't always have a washing machine (much less dryer), or were well off enough to afford a service to take the whole smelly job out of the house.
Cloth diapering starts with "flushing" any solids and urine out of the diaper after changing. Most did this by dunking the thing in the toilet. Diaper was then placed into a "diaper pail" (a hamper for soiled diapers) until it was time for washing. As you can imagine used diapers sitting in a closed container can and often did start to give off a whiff. Unless one was really caught up on housekeeping and diaper laundry the whole place could take on that scent.
Once enough diapers were ready for washing they had to first soak to avoid setting any stains by placing them at once in hot water. Some mothers would fill their diaper pails with water and perhaps a bit of Borax so diapers could soak while waiting to fill up the pail. Then came washing.
Until the advent of modern detergents all mother's had was what they did for normal family laundry; soap. Even after detergents came out they were often harsh and left diapers scratchy and rough (hence all those Ivory Snow adverts).
Diapers would have to be washed once or twice in hot water, rinsed, then boiled, and rinsed again. If a home had a fully automatic washing machine many baby nurses and others advised mothers that boiling diapers was no longer required. But that didn't stop some old school moms or more likely grandmamma or other older (and wiser it is assumed) from giving their advice.
After the orgy of laundry was done came drying time. Again if the household was lucky enough to have an automatic dryer then that was that. Diapers came out of the tumble dryer soft and ready for folding. If not then as any housewife without a dryer did, the mom had to hang the diapers up to dry. If the day was nice things could go outside (if there was a clothesline). Otherwise lines were strung up indoors and you hoped for the best. Unlike family laundry baby's things cannot wait and that included especially diapers. As with linens the more one had of diapers the longer wash days could be put off. But unlike linens as one stated previously soiled diapers give off a whiff if they are allowed to sit too long.
When dry the final step began, folding. Given the amounts of diapers required mothers (and often fathers) or anyone else able to help could be stuck folding the things for some time. I remember when hospitals still used cloth diapers. When they came back up from the laundry in many places they were unfolded. So every available nurse or nursing assistant pitched in to get the job done.
After all this was done there was the certainty that one had to do it again the next day.
Commercial diaper services had access to hotter water, better detergents and so forth to produce a result most home laundries simply couldn't match. Better still this was done without the effort of being stuck in the house washing. There is also an art to getting diapers not only clean but removing all traces of urine, it's by products and chemical residue. Any mother who cloth diapers can tell if the things are *right* by how they smell when wet. If the things give off an ammonia whiff, something is wrong. If baby gets diaper rash, again the usual culprit is the diaper.
Some mothers then and today only use diaper services for the first few weeks after birth. This allows them to get some rest before taking over themselves. If there was an illness in the house again the diaper service took some of the work load off.
As for using diapers that have been used by *thousands* of other babies, well yes you could look at things that way. But when you are in hospital the linens and towels you use and or used upon you have also been used on "thousands" of other patients. Again a good diaper service like any other commercial laundry had equipment that was streets ahead of domestic appliances. Things like steam heated washing machines that could reach and hold water temperatures at >160F.
The other great thing about diaper services is that the household did not have to make the investment by buying cloth diapers.
In my day as it was for decades before a common shower gift for a mother to be would be cloth diapers. These could be purchased anywhere in those days, or run up from a bolt of "diaper cloth" sold by the yard. However most mothers quickly found out they never had enough diapers. Due to the harsh and frequent laundering the things often didn't last very long. Also in the days before modern enzyme detergents certain stains never shifted. For those and other reasons no small number of cloth diapers ended up being used as rags. With a diaper service you get an allotment of diapers as ordered. If those in current circulation aren't fit to be sent out, you'll get new ones.
Finally a word about the "help". Not every domestic was thrilled about having a baby in the house. Being women and likely with children of their own they knew the work involved. This is why in many *better* homes a nurse would be engaged to take care of baby which may or may not include dealing with laundry.
http://books.google.com/books?id=8N...HaqYD4Cg&ved=0CGwQ6AEwCTgK#v=onepage&q&f=true
To cloth diaper you'll understand the beauty of a diaper service.
Nothing generates laundry like babies, now adding to that anywhere from 10, 15, or more diapers *Per Day* and *Per Child* (many mothers often had more than one child at home still in diapers), that have to be laundered, dried and folded. Shan't bore you with the details but childbirth isn't a walk in the park and adding to the exhaustion is the housework which must be done including that generated by a baby/children.
Diaper services were big in urban and metropolitan areas where housewives either didn't always have a washing machine (much less dryer), or were well off enough to afford a service to take the whole smelly job out of the house.
Cloth diapering starts with "flushing" any solids and urine out of the diaper after changing. Most did this by dunking the thing in the toilet. Diaper was then placed into a "diaper pail" (a hamper for soiled diapers) until it was time for washing. As you can imagine used diapers sitting in a closed container can and often did start to give off a whiff. Unless one was really caught up on housekeeping and diaper laundry the whole place could take on that scent.
Once enough diapers were ready for washing they had to first soak to avoid setting any stains by placing them at once in hot water. Some mothers would fill their diaper pails with water and perhaps a bit of Borax so diapers could soak while waiting to fill up the pail. Then came washing.
Until the advent of modern detergents all mother's had was what they did for normal family laundry; soap. Even after detergents came out they were often harsh and left diapers scratchy and rough (hence all those Ivory Snow adverts).
Diapers would have to be washed once or twice in hot water, rinsed, then boiled, and rinsed again. If a home had a fully automatic washing machine many baby nurses and others advised mothers that boiling diapers was no longer required. But that didn't stop some old school moms or more likely grandmamma or other older (and wiser it is assumed) from giving their advice.
After the orgy of laundry was done came drying time. Again if the household was lucky enough to have an automatic dryer then that was that. Diapers came out of the tumble dryer soft and ready for folding. If not then as any housewife without a dryer did, the mom had to hang the diapers up to dry. If the day was nice things could go outside (if there was a clothesline). Otherwise lines were strung up indoors and you hoped for the best. Unlike family laundry baby's things cannot wait and that included especially diapers. As with linens the more one had of diapers the longer wash days could be put off. But unlike linens as one stated previously soiled diapers give off a whiff if they are allowed to sit too long.
When dry the final step began, folding. Given the amounts of diapers required mothers (and often fathers) or anyone else able to help could be stuck folding the things for some time. I remember when hospitals still used cloth diapers. When they came back up from the laundry in many places they were unfolded. So every available nurse or nursing assistant pitched in to get the job done.
After all this was done there was the certainty that one had to do it again the next day.
Commercial diaper services had access to hotter water, better detergents and so forth to produce a result most home laundries simply couldn't match. Better still this was done without the effort of being stuck in the house washing. There is also an art to getting diapers not only clean but removing all traces of urine, it's by products and chemical residue. Any mother who cloth diapers can tell if the things are *right* by how they smell when wet. If the things give off an ammonia whiff, something is wrong. If baby gets diaper rash, again the usual culprit is the diaper.
Some mothers then and today only use diaper services for the first few weeks after birth. This allows them to get some rest before taking over themselves. If there was an illness in the house again the diaper service took some of the work load off.
As for using diapers that have been used by *thousands* of other babies, well yes you could look at things that way. But when you are in hospital the linens and towels you use and or used upon you have also been used on "thousands" of other patients. Again a good diaper service like any other commercial laundry had equipment that was streets ahead of domestic appliances. Things like steam heated washing machines that could reach and hold water temperatures at >160F.
The other great thing about diaper services is that the household did not have to make the investment by buying cloth diapers.
In my day as it was for decades before a common shower gift for a mother to be would be cloth diapers. These could be purchased anywhere in those days, or run up from a bolt of "diaper cloth" sold by the yard. However most mothers quickly found out they never had enough diapers. Due to the harsh and frequent laundering the things often didn't last very long. Also in the days before modern enzyme detergents certain stains never shifted. For those and other reasons no small number of cloth diapers ended up being used as rags. With a diaper service you get an allotment of diapers as ordered. If those in current circulation aren't fit to be sent out, you'll get new ones.
Finally a word about the "help". Not every domestic was thrilled about having a baby in the house. Being women and likely with children of their own they knew the work involved. This is why in many *better* homes a nurse would be engaged to take care of baby which may or may not include dealing with laundry.
http://books.google.com/books?id=8N...HaqYD4Cg&ved=0CGwQ6AEwCTgK#v=onepage&q&f=true
