Remembering Rags

“Ragtime” by Florence Oliver in The Precious Past: Reminiscences of the Way Life Used to Be, recollections by Home Demonstration Club members of Washington County, published in November 1992

The present generation is used to the convenience of something ready made available for every phase of housekeeping and cleaning, especially the many products of paper and plastic. Maybe they wonder how we managed before these products were available.

I was born in 1913, so I came through ragtime. Rags increased steadily: underwear, nightgowns, pajamas, shirts, sheets, dish towels, bath towels and wash cloths wore out. When fabric had holes or became thin, faded or frayed, we ripped it into rags. This is our oldest form of recycling.

Sometimes we erred and made instant rags. A repairman grabbed whatever was at hand to dab at a mess. He would snatch a terry cloth towel in the latest color or the dazzling new white dish cloth to catch dribbles of grease or dirty water. A prudent housekeeper would anticipate this need and offer a supply of rags at the outset making sure to remove the good towels. A prudent repairman might arrive equipped with rags of his own. But many of us did not plan ahead, and the new towels became the rags that we forgot to use for the next repairs.

Another batch of instant rags was generated by people who were going to do “just a little painting.” They planned to be neat, but errant drops of green, white, or brown paint inevitably spoiled their jeans, sweatshirts, or socks. These garments were then relegated to a pile of paint clothes that would be worn for major paint jobs if they could be found when needed or if they still fit.

Rags came and went, but there is one kind that I miss—diapers reincarnated as premium quality multi-use rags, which disappeared when the last of the diaper wearers graduated to underwear. Users of the disposable diapers do not know what wonders these soft old cloths were for polishing silver and waxing furniture. By the time our former diaper wearers entered high school, their diapers had become mere threads—two wispy and thin for any more work. Their passing left a void in the rag supply.

Fifty years ago, used cloth was not so quickly relegated to the ragbin. Table napkins were made from the best parts of table cloths. Everyday handkerchiefs were made from the sides of sheets. As fabrics aged, they were often promoted to new and grander purposes. Strong hands snipped old suits, coats, ties, and stockings into strips that were then braided into handsome rugs. Deft needle workers sewed patchwork quilts from the salvageable sections of old dresses. These beautiful, durable products often lived a second useful life, much longer than the first. Some old quilts still eluded the ragbag, for as valued antiques they are used as wall hangings.

Cotton feedbags, both white and printed, were used for making aprons, smocks, kitchen curtains, pillow cases, and even our everyday dresses, if there were two or more of the same design. They wore well. Cotton flour bags, finely woven and soft, made the best dish towels. I still have a bridge table cloth and four napkins made from white feed bags. The hems and a corner design were hand hemstitched. This set won a blue ribbon at the State Fair.

Burlap bags, just folded, were used for foot mats. We were taught to cut strips and gather them into a double ruffle. The ruffle was sewn by hand with a peanut needle and twine string to a flat burlap bag. This made a nice fluffy door mat.

Especially during the depression years, anything was used. For years the boll weevil, a small grayish beetle whose larvae do damage to cotton bolls, made cotton no longer profitable to plant.

Rayons, nylons, polyester, and cotton blends gradually replaced cotton. These new fabrics changed the clothes we wore and the way they were washed. We could no longer boil clothes with homemadelye soap in an iron washpot.

Home Demonstration Agents taught us how to care for these new materials and suggested detergents to use. Needless to say, cotton rags were no longer plentiful. Lots of mending has been done; both patching and darning, to preserve the rags.

Certain common rags should be reserved for the tasks for which they are best suited. Old sheets, pillow cases, and dish towels are unsurpassed for cleaning windows, the older and softer the better. The most excellent dust rags are from underwear and flannel clothing. Frayed bath towels are prized for laying sweaters out to dry, mopping large water spills, blotting wet spots on carpets, and especially useful for washing and drying cars.

A rainy day is a good time for sorting rags and labeling boxes and the shelves where they are stored. This activity should not be scorned as a waste of time. It should be noted that there are triple benefits from a task that allows one to reorganize, ruminate, and reminisce all at the same time. Now everyone in the family can find the right rag for every job and no question need be asked. Launder, dry, fold, and reshelve the rags until they are no longer useable.

We had Ragtime music, too—a type of American music, an early form of jazz first popular, according to Webster, from about 1890 to 1915, characterized by strong syncopation in fast even time and rhythm. To sing or hum along, tunes added amusement to a task.

I am a dedicated recycler of cloth.

   --Florence Oliver