Oh, my Gosh! Well, I've never had to wash clothes by beating them against the rocks in a stream, but when I was a kid, it wasn't so easy. I had to help my Mom, because she was ill, and we had a big, old, round washer that you filled with hot water and soap. Then you started, as you say, with the white clothes, then the colored, then the towels, and lastly the work clothes and rags. Every bit of clothing, etc., had to be pulled out of the washer with a wooden rod, and put through the wringer to get the soap and water out, and then into the first rinse tub. I then manually agitated the clothing, then put them through the next wringer into the second rinse tub, and manually agitated them again. The rinse wringer swung around and you wrung them out for a third time, and into the laundry basket. If it was a nice day, I'd hang them on the clothes line outside. If it wasn't so nice, I'd hang them all over the clothes lines in the basement. We didn't have a dryer. OH, and of course, all the clothes had to be ironed. . .
I just love permanent press, don't you?