Microplastics and nylons and rayons never crossed our minds unless it was nylon stockings with a seam down the back. For a night on the town, maybe?
But before that, we made our own cotton or wool garments and linens by hand. Some wove, knitted, crocheted, embellished, etc. our own linens & garments. We washed by hand in a bucket or barrel using a wash board
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or later got a wringer washer.
(My mom had one of these when I was little.)
Or like my mother's mother who did not have indoor plumbing except a pump from the well to bring water to the kitchen (and no indoor toilet - only an outhouse), the waste water from washing was tossed out onto the ground outdoors, or often a well-placed disposal area planned specifically to utilize the spent water if the area tended to be arid.
Yes, I remember the water pump in the kitchen and the outhouse. Every time we visited up until grandfather's second wife insisted on installation of indoor plumbing. I think that was around the late 1950's to early 1960's when they finally installed a WC. It was such a pain in the patootie to wander out in the dark carrying a torch down a dry rocky path with cactus and rattlesnakes about to use the privy in the middle of the night! Visiting my mom's dad was a real adventure! He was a crusty old guy, I can tell you that.
And yes, even I used a bucket, a big stick, & rung the clothes out by hand when we went camping when my kids were little, at least until I found a nearby town with a laundromat. But until then, it was the old-fashioned way of washing laundry and hanging them to dry on a line (at least when we were camping.) Thankfully I have enjoyed the luxury of indoor plumbing everywhere I have lived from my birth forward.