Clean/bright clothing in third world countries
On many travel shows such as No Reservations I've noticed the people in remote villages in third world countries (most frequently in parts of Africa) who come to greet the host are almost always dressed in clothing (whether traditional or manufactured) so bright and clean that it quite frankly puts mine to shame. Living in a place with no running/purified water or detergent, and no ability to simply walk to the store to buy a fresh set of clothes for a special occasion, how are these people able to keep their garments so fantastically spotless and bright? Is this a trick of television editing, makeup/costume designer intervention, or some other reality-obscuring action? Has Tide been lying to me my whole life about needing their products to keep my colors fresh? Or am I simply completely ignorant of how these people actually live? (For the record I'm guessing the last of those options is the correct one.) I could imagine that perhaps they take huge pride in themselves and always keep a practically-new outfit tucked away for the inevitable high-status visit, but to be honest, I'm guessing.
Edit: To put it more succinctly and on-topic... If one were to travel to these types of locations, would one see a similar scene to what is on the aforementioned shows? If not, why? For the record I have no idea what tags would apply to this, so please feel free to help me out in that department.
Best Answer
In many parts of the world, including remote villages of 3rd world nations, people have a special set of clothes, their "Sunday go to meeting" outfit. Clothes that they wear only on special occasions, a village ceremony, going to the temple, the marriage of their children or the death of their parents. Sometimes these outfits are simply a nice sarong or a colorful shirt, sometimes they are full ensembles. They usually get hand-washed after being worn, neatly folded and stored away until their next use. And the arrival of a TV crew from another country would be grounds for the villagers to break out their Sunday go to meeting outfits.
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How did people clean clothes in the past?
Before the invention of modern detergent, civilizations of the past used animal fat or lye to wash clothes. Other times, they used chamber lye \u2013 a conspicuous nickname for urine (collected from the chamber pots of the citizenry \u2013 hence, 'chamber' lye) for washing clothing.How were clothes cleaned in the 18th century?
Washing clothes in the late 1800s was a laborious process. Most household manuals recommended soaking the clothes overnight first. The next day, clothes would be soaped, boiled or scalded, rinsed, wrung out, mangled, dried, starched, and ironed, often with steps repeating throughout.How do I make my clothes cleanest?
Simple Home SolutionsHow many people in the world wash their clothes by hand?
It's true. In fact, according to global health expert Hans Rosling, nearly 5 billion of the world's population of 7 billion (as of about 10 years ago) still hand-wash their clothes.The Environmental Disaster that is Fuelled by Used Clothes and Fast Fashion | Foreign Correspondent
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Answer 2
This is really late, but no the clothes are so bright because they hands ash with handmade soap. I recently returned from Haiti and yes their whites were somehow whiter than my clothes with bleach. Their soap is homemade and lacks all the chemicals of ours. Plus the hand washing means you can focus on stains better unlike a washing machine.
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