Washerwoman

A washerwoman is a person, typically a woman, who performs the cleaning of clothing and household textiles as a paid job or as part of domestic service. The work usually includes sorting garments by color and fabric, washing by hand in tubs or wash basins, scrubbing with a washboard, rinsing, wringing, drying, and sometimes ironing or mending. In some contexts, washerwomen operate public laundries or mobile washing services for households, hotels, or institutions.

Historically, washing clothes by hand was a common domestic chore and, in urban and rural economies, professional washerwomen provided a critical service. In Europe, public washhouses called lavoirs offered communal space for washing clothes. In industrializing cities, many washerwomen toiled long hours in backyards, basements, or street-side stands, facing hard water, cold or boiling water, and repetitive labor; wages were typically low and jobs were precarious, with little formal protection.

With the advent of mechanical washing machines and modern laundries, the demand for traditional hand-washing declined from the 20th century onward. Some washerwomen still work in residential cleaning or in commercial laundries, often focusing on delicate fabrics, large items, or specialty cleaning. In some regions the term remains a historical descriptor or appears in literature and folklore.

Cultural depictions of washerwomen appear in art, folklore, and regional histories, reflecting themes of domestic labor, gender, and social status. The term is also used as a generic occupational label in historical records and census data.