Three Reckitt’s Bag Blue laundry blue bags, made in Australia by Reckitt and Colman (Australia) Pty Ltd in about the 1930s and 1940s.

 

Used to whiten and brighten household linens and whites, blue colourings have been added to laundry rinse water for centuries, first in the form of powder blue or lumps of indigo and starch called stone blue. Then, after the invention of synthetic ultramarine and Prussian blue, many companies including Reckitt and Colman began manufacturing laundry blue. Known by an assortment of names including bluing, Reckitt’s Bag Blue, Paris Blue, Crown Blue & Dolly Blue, the main ingredients was synthetic ultramarine and baking soda.

 

Reckitt’s blue bags were an essential part of washday for Australian settlers and continued to be used throughout the 20th century. These mysterious little blue bags would be stirred into the final rinse water on wash day, disguising any hint of yellowing & helping linens look whiter & brighter. In many countries, they have been replaced by bleach to whiten and brighten fabrics.

 

Laundry blue also had other household uses including the relief of itchy insect bites.

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These laundry blue bags are in a private collection.

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