Written in January 2023.
Laundry is one of those non-negotiable parts of life. It keeps us clean and helps keep us from getting sick.
And for most of human history, this very important chore ate a huge amount of time. Laundry day was basically the whole day.
Laundry, the old way
Let me roughly guess how long it took:
| Step | Time |
|---|---|
| Carry the laundry to the stream | 20 min |
| Soak everything, beat it with a wooden paddle, rinse | 2 hours |
| Wring everything out | 20 min |
| Carry it all home and hang it up | 40 min |
Add that up, and laundry easily ran past three hours. That’s longer than a Costco run, parking included.
Then, the washing machine
All that labor, all that time, and then the washing machine came along and started a revolution in a single household chore. Now the hardest part of laundry is remembering to move it to the dryer.
That’s how we got surplus time. And I think the world will keep handing us more and more of it.
So, a question for you, and for me. That extra time keeps growing. What are we going to fill it with?