# List of laundry topics

This is a list of laundry topics. Laundry is the washing of clothing and linens (e.g. sheets and towels). Laundry processes are often done in a business, room or area in a home or apartment building, reserved for that purpose; this is referred to as a laundry room. The material that is being washed, or has been laundered, is also generally referred to as laundry.

## Laundry topics
### Chemicals

* Biological detergent – laundry detergent that contains enzymes harvested from micro-organisms such as bacteria adapted to live in hot springs. The description is commonly used in the United Kingdom.
* Bleach
* Fabric softener
* Laundry detergent

### Washing

* Combo washer dryer
* Dry cleaning
* Posser or washing dolly, a tool for agitating the wet fabric
* Washboard and washing paddle, also known under many other names
* Wash copper, a portable or built-in boiler
* Washing machine
* Wet cleaning, a retronym meaning "not dry cleaning"

### Drying

* Airing cupboard
* Clothes dryer
* Clothes horse or drying rack or many other names
* Clothes line
* Drying cabinet
* Hills Hoist
* Kitchen maid (pulley airer)
* Mangle (machine)
* Sheila Maid
* Winter Dyke

### Finishing

* Box mangle
* Fluff and Fold, a service provided by commercial laundrettes
* Ironing
* Tunnel finisher

### Industrial

* Industrial laundry
** Tunnel washer
* Industrial laundry sorting
* The unloading side of a dryer in an industrial laundry which dries the linen
* A feeder where linen is placed and which takes the linen to the ironer and folder

### Concepts

Some of these relate more to textile manufacturing than laundry, but there is overlap in how wet cloth is processed.
* Color fastness, the degree to which a textile retains its color without fading or bleeding
* Fulling – a step in making woollen cloth - cleaning the fleece to eliminate oils, dirt, and other impurities, and making it thicker.
* Posting, trampling or treading wet clothing
* Shrinkage
* Stain

### Organizations

* Dry Cleaning and Laundry International
* Dry Cleaning Institute of Australia
* Chinese Hand Laundry Alliance
* Laundry and Dry Cleaning International Union
* Laundry Workers Industrial Union
* Magdalene asylum
* Project Laundry List – a New Hampshire group that encourages the outdoor drying of clothes
* Worshipful Company of Launderers – a livery company in the City of London that promotes the profession of the launderers by awarding scholarships to laundry students.

### Companies

* 5àsec - a French franchise network
* Washio (company) - defunct laundry delivery service
* SudShare - an American app-based laundry cleaning and delivery company

### Culture

* Dadeumi, the traditional Korean practice of rhythmically beating cloth, associated with the hardships of a woman's life
* Dhobiwallah, or dhobi, the washermen in South Central Asia (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, etc.), and their caste group, historically associated with washing clothes
* Fullo, the Latin word for a person washing laundry
* Washerwoman or laundress
* Housekeeping
* Laundry symbols

### Accessories

* Clothes hanger
* Clothes iron
* Clothespin
* Dispensing ball
* Dryer ball
* Hamper
* Laundry ball
* Laundry basket

### Law

* Barbier v. Connolly
* Kimball Laundry Co. v. United States
* Muller v. Oregon
* Pearson v. Chung
* Yick Wo v. Hopkins

### Places

* Baths and wash houses in Britain, public places that included facilities for washing the body as well as clothes
* Dhobi ghat, any open-air washing-place in southern central Asia
* Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat, a well-known open air laundry in Mumbai, India.
* Laundry room, in a private dwelling
* Lavoir, a public open-air wash-house in a village
* Self-service laundry, also known as a coin wash, laundromat, washeteria, laundrette
* Tvättstuga, a shared laundry room in a hall of residence or block of flats
* Utility room, in a private dwelling that includes laundry functions
* The Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat open air laundry in Mumbai
* A self-service laundry in Paris