Huan Xi yarn, what a nice word, comes from the mood of a woman washing clothes by the stream. The stream flowing water, the light veil flowing, the young woman singing and rubbing the clothes, in the eyes of the literati, it is poetic, for the people who wash clothes, how hard it is.
In ancient times, there was no washing machine, washing powder, ordinary people had to work every day, dirty clothes are inevitable, it is not easy to wash a piece of clothing, as for washing clothes, it is also difficult to imagine now.
One is the ash of grass and trees, that is, the ashes after the firewood is burned, and where it is stained, it is black and dirty, but the poor people want to wash their clothes. Put the grass and wood ash in a cloth bag, filter out the water, and the black water can wash off many stains on the clothes.
The clothes washed in this way will also turn black, and there will be some of them, but most of the poor people wear coarse clothes and linen, the color is monotonous, and the black is not very obvious at all.
Grass and wood ash mixed with shell ash, the effect will be better, you can wash silk fabrics, remove the oil on the top, but shells are not so easy to obtain, unless it is living by the river, the sea, or the rich can buy.
There is also tao rice water, which can now be used to water flowers, and former thrifty people also use it to wash dishes and wash clothes, and the defiling power is not as strong as grass and wood ash, but it feels easier to accept than grass and trees.
Another more well-known is the soap horn, which is the fruit that grows on the soap horn tree. After the soap horn matures and turns black, it is plucked and cut into segments, the seeds inside are removed, and the foam is boiled in water to make a foam, and the foam can be used to wash clothes.
Earlier, people also used soap horn water to wash their hair, which can be described as pure natural and pollution-free. It's just that soap horns don't have all four seasons, and they can be used for two or three months a year.
Ancient aristocrats can be exquisite, there is a kind of thing called algae beans, the material is made of pig pancreas mixed with bean flour, spices, some high-end also add a variety of skin-nourishing herbs. This kind of thing was naturally only affordable by a few nobles, mainly for bathing, but also for washing clothes.
Usually washing clothes, rubbing with your hands is enough, but in winter, thick clothes and quilt covers, it is difficult to rub with your hands, you have to beat with a mallet.
At the edge of the stream, the woman put her clothes on the smooth stone, picked up a mallet and knocked it repeatedly, and when the poet saw it, she recited a romantic poem, but she did not know the hard work of washing clothes.