] The phrasing led the men to ask slyly about "poor Possible" and didn't it get a wash?

LOL!

] IIRC, it also describes a "Saturday bath" procedure in the boiler house with a copper washtub. Families sometimes reused the bath water, with the girls getting the first bath (quite hot, but clean water) and the dirtier boys using the same water (tepid and soapy). Another method was for the women to wash in the morning and the men to wash in the afternoon. So the boilerhouse was in use all day. I suppose the boiler was used for laundry the rest of the week.

Yes, and for providing hot water for cooking I believe, or so my granny said.

] Which reminds me to ask about the Great Wash in JA's letters. Is this the right point in the MT to inquire how it was managed?

It had to be a dry day for hanging out the clothes. And I believe that washer women came in for the purpose and worked from dawn till dusk. Poorer women also 'took in' washing from richer women.

My mum was saying today that her grandmother's contemporaries (she was born c 1873) used washing soda for just about everything, including washing hair and face. Clearly you wouldn't use a strong solution, or you'd burn yourself badly. But great granny had wonderful hair and a fabulous complexion by all accounts, despite terrible poverty. I don't know if washing soda was available in JA's day, but I suspect something similar would have been.