In Reply to: Wow! I got through my first child w/o a washer at all. When I was pg with my second, (sm) posted by Granny on April 14, 2011 at 08:46:06:
when she was pregnant with my second brother. It was in the basement in the second house we lived in (moved to it them I was about 5, just before she got pregnant with that brother). In the winter, she hung the clothes in the basement. She got a dryer with that first "real" washer, about 1950 or so. (In Pennsylvania.) Even with it, she hung clothes outside, only using the dryer when it rained or she was in a hurry for something. 20 or so years later, that dryer was still working, and she gave it to me. There was no place in my apartment for a washer, so it was on the covered porch. This was in So. Cal. so most of the clothes were hung outside unless it rained. It was handy with a baby, but I didn't wash diapers for the first few months. I had a diaper service, which was wonderful! Later, I did wash diapers, even when I had the last child in 1984. Some disposables were available when I had the first one in 1969, but they weren't as convenient as now.
I hung my clothes out most of my life until well after I developed the asthma. THen, it was not a good thing because they picked up pollen.
One thing I did to avoid using fabric softener in the towels was to start them in the dryer, about 10 minutes, then hang them out. That really fluffed them up.