Way back in time I wrote a column about wash day in my family when I was a young boy. I recalled the log cabin that my father built back in the mid 20s and the fast moving spring running beside it ...

“A few words about washing,” the Lewes newspaper, Breakwater Light, commented in 1873, “Put your clothes in a good suds the day before washing, in the morning wash out of the water, warming it by the ...

If you enjoyed this article, I’d like to ask for your support. Scientific American has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in ...