• HOME
• THE LANGUAGE OF MADNESS
• THE ASYLUM
• • Asylum Design
  • Patient Buildings
• SOCIETY
• • Urban & Rural Life
  • Class & Gender
  • The Hysterical Female
  • The Evils of "Self-Abuse"
  • Family
  • Visitors
• LEGISLATION
• • Legislative Influence
  • Origins of Legislation and the Criminality of Insanity
  • Teenaged Years: Marked Custody Transition
  • Turn of the Century: Voluntary Admissions
  • Updated Act: The Mental Hospital Act
• SUPERINTENDANTS
• STAFF
• • Working at the LAI
  • Hiring Practices
  • Rules for Employees
  • Employee Roles in Moral Therapy
  • Doctors at LAI
  • Doctor Connections to UWO
  • Training School for Nurses
  • Attendants
  • General Staff
• PATIENT PERSPECTIVES
• • Introduction
  • Patient Art
  • Patient Letters
  • Their Voice
• MEDICAL TREATMENTS
• • Medical Treatment Introduction
  • Use of Restraints
  • Drug and Alcohol
  • Hydrotherapy
  • Female Surgeries
  • Neurosyphilis
  • Shock Therapy
  • Lobotomies
• MORAL THERAPY
• • Moral Therapy Introduction
  • Labour
  • Amusements
  • Diet
  • Religion
• THE WORLD WARS
• • Before the First World War
  • During the First World War
  • After the First World War
  • The First World War and the LAI
  • First World War Veterans at the LAI
  • The Second World War
• MEMORIES OF RMHCL
• • Introduction
  • Their Memories

Recreated single patient room as it appeared in the geriatric ward of the Asylum, 1900-1950. In many cases, this bedroom would have been cleaned and the bed sheets laundered by the patients. RMHCL

Sewing, Laundry, and General Cleaning

As part of moral therapy, women often worked in the sewing and laundry rooms. With the help of a few hired employees, patients repaired and made clothing for both men and women at the Asylum. The LAI Annual Report of 1874 states that patients "have made 5,906 articles, including men's clothing; have been repaired in the sewing room 22,840 articles; and in the wards have repaired 24,872 articles, making a total of 53,618." In the laundry room, patients were responsible for washing the communal sheets and clothing for residents in the institution. The LAI Annual Report of 1876 emphasized that 246,385 articles were washed in that year. Many patients also assisted in maintaining a clean and tidy environment within the institution, which included cleaning patient rooms.