Posting (laundering process)

Posting or postadh (Scottish Gaelic) was a process in washing clothes formerly used in Scotland. It means to trample with the feet, or the act of trampling or treading. In scouring woollen clothing, blankets or coarse linen, when the strength of the arms and manual friction are found insufficient, Highland women put them in a tub with a prop – or quantity of water, then, with petticoats tucked up, they commence the operation of posting, which they continue until every part of the clothes receives an effectual cleansing. When three women are employed, one commonly tramps in the middle, and the other two tramp around her.