Towards Modern Laundry Practice in Urban Socialist Poland

Abstract

Drawing on ethnographic data and applying practice theory, this article discusses the emergence of modern laundry practice in urban socialist Poland. We follow an “elemental” approach to social practices: practice consists of meanings, materials, and competences. We analyze the transition of laundering from modern meanings (high standards of cleanliness), through modern materials (running water, washing machine) towards modern competences (individual improvisations, finally adjusted to an effortless laundry procedure corresponding to the capabilities of automatic washing machines). We argue that relations between elements of social practice such as tension and adjustment affect the transitions of the social practice. The transitional cleanliness practices involved men, due to the physical strength necessary to balance the tension between high standards of cleanliness and the lack of domestic material infrastructure.