Editing Laundry (section)

===Ancient Rome===
The workers in ancient [[Rome]] who cleaned the cloth were called ''fullones'', singular ''[[fullo]]'' (cf [[fulling]], a process in wool-making, and [[Fuller's earth]], used to clean). Clothes were treated in small tubs standing in niches surrounded by low walls, known as treading or fulling stalls. The tub was filled with water and a mixture of alkaline chemicals (sometimes including urine). The fuller stood in the tub and trampled the cloth, a technique known elsewhere as [[Posting (laundering process)|posting]]. The aim of this treatment was to apply the chemical agents to the cloth so that they could do their work, the resolving of greases and fats. These stalls are so typical of these workshops that they are used to identify ''fullonicae'' in the archaeological remains.