Public laundry's last cycle

T’S now been 30 years since a popular Liverpool laundry and baths that once served thousands of homes in the city closed its doors for good.

- By JESS MOLYNEUX

Located on St Domingo Road in Everton, the Fred Robinson Laundry and Baths was a vital part of the community for decades.

Officially opened by the Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Alderman D.J. Lewis, in 1962, at the time it was the first laundry wash to be built in Liverpool for 26 years. Decades ago, Liverpool was home to many washhouses and public baths, which opened following the famous work of Kitty Wilkinson.

As a laundress, Kitty Wilkinson took the initiative to offer the use of her boiler, house and yard to neighbours to wash their clothes, and showed them how to use a chloride of lime to get them clean. Dubbed 'saint of the slums,' Kitty's initial work took place during a cholera epidemic in the 1830s.

Through doing this, Kitty's generosity saved many lives and made her a pioneer of the washhouse and public baths. Convinced of the importance of cleanliness in combating disease, Kitty pushed for the establishment of public baths where the poor could bathe, and opened the first public wash house in the country on Upper Frederick Street in 1842.