Before tumble driers...

Pencil skirts were worn with sweaters or even back to front cardigans that had been pressed super flat. Before the days of tumble driers, many women would lay their washed, rung out knitwear in paper tissue and then wrap it with brown paper. They put it to dry under a carpet for two days. When it was removed from the tissue, the footsteps that had pounded over the knit, gave it a flat dry cleaned look with a new appearance. Laundering of delicates could still be a problem, but everything changed when the mass produced synthetic garmets arrived...

Website Links:

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http://www.experiencefestival.com/laundry_-_history_of_laundry