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[babyjane]

This morning I used a new bathroom cleaner that I have not used before.  The instructions told me to just spray it on, leave it for a minute then rinse off, no rubbing required.

I could not help casting my mind back to my mother's bathroom cleaning day, I think it was Tuesdays, which would start with her liberally sprinkling the bath with a pink powder called Ajax after which she would scrub and scrub and scrub and rinse and rinse and rinse.  Even so there would often still be a gritty bit in the bottom when I was given my weekly bath.

Times have certainly changed.  What do you remember from your childhood that has changed a lot?

[walking the dog]

I remember Ajax babyjane and vim and good old brilo pads still available today ! Blanco for white school plimsoles for pe ! Dr whites sanitary towels with loops and sanitary belts! Vosene shampoo still available. Mondays were wash day with the twin tub ! Clothes were passed amongst brothers sisters and our cousins , in fact its a,family joke how we never caught anything from the pass me down wellys !

[CLKD]

Oh good thread!  Toys were passed down.  I still have a teddy and a panda from my elder cousin.

Vim, Ajax, Omo ……….

If the bath was metal rather than plastic, it would over the years get 'ruts' in the bottom so any cleaning powder would remain embedded.

Oh - what about those plastic halo-things over the head to stop water running into the eyes on hair-washing nights?

[walking the dog]

Gosh clkd you were lucky my dad used fill a bucket with water and pour it over my head to wash my hair , I still have a fear of my head in water,
Did anyone share a bath with siblings my brothers,and I used to when little and as got older one after other in same bath water ! Cant imagine that happening today bath water share !

[CLKD]

Shared with my Mum until my sister arrived when I had to share with her 

[walking the dog]

Siblings! 

[CLKD]

1 will do 

[Ju Ju]

Yep, shared baths with both my sister and mum. And I remember eyeing up my sisters homemade dresses every season, hoping she had grown. Mum had a top loading washing machine with a mangle. Later on graduated to a spin drier.

[CLKD]

Oh the times Mum would say 'mind your fingers' when I was pulling sheets through the mangle.

[babyjane]

I used to do my Nan's mangle when we stayed with her.  Mum hand washed until she got a Bendix. When our boys were tiny we had a spin dryer, then a second hand twin tub before an automatic when they went to school. I used to wash towelling nappies by hand or soak them and pile them one end of the pram and the baby the other and push to the launderette.  thought nothing of it, nowadays I get a meltdown if my auto washer as much as hiccups 

What's a sibling?  seriously I was a lonely only child.  I would have loved to share a bath or a bed or a bedroom.

Mum had a Bissell carpet sweeper.  She yearned for a Hoover but my father would not buy her one   

[CLKD]

Mum still uses her Bissell! but she parted with her very old, very much repaired hoover-thingy a few weeks after Dad died  .  I loved my twin-tub because I would spin into a bucket for the garden. 

[Ju Ju]

When I lived in a bedsit years back, I washed by hand, but had a spin dryer, which I kept as my washing machines seemed to break down when a child was sick, usually all over their bedding.  I love my sons top loading washing machine in the USA. Takes a huge load and very quick. Not like over here. Programmes take ages and smaller loads. Yes, I know it's supposed to be economical, but soooooo time consuming. 21/2 hours for a full towel wash. Still better than hand washing.

[Joyce]

Daughter asked her husband to clean bathroom for her at weekend as she was working. This is something he has done about twice since they've been together. 3 year old GD was in bathroom with him at the time & said "I'm so proud of you daddy!"

As for old cleaning methods well where do I start? Washed clothes by hand, no spin dryer, so had to drip on a clothes horse in bath until dry, which took about a week, then whole process started again. Thank goodness I eventually got a twin tub!  Remember my mum using a washboard & a wringer.

[Dyan]

Tin bath
Outside loo- wooden bench with a hole in and a bucket underneath, that use to be emptied once a week by the "Toilet Man"
Omo
Tide
Ajax
Vim
Mangle
Brick copper in the wash house that you put a fire underneath to heat the water for washing.
My Grandmothers well.

[Ju Ju]

Oh yes, outdoor loo at my grandparents! I had to use a China potty in the night when I stayed. Grandma had a commode. And no bathroom, just a tin bath though I never used that. When I was small enough I was bathed in the large kitchen sink. And I remember sainsburys with a counter round the shop, sawdust on the floor and a wooden cash desk at the back. Oh dear, that dates me!