From hand wash to machine reliance: tracing the ‘unfolding effect’ in migrants’ laundry adaptation stories

This article interrogates the socio-material dynamics of domestic laundry through a comparative analysis of practices in Brazil and England. Drawing upon Schatzki’s ‘site ontology’, the research examines how macro-economic conditions – specifically the historical purchasing power relative to appliance costs – are instantiated within domestic material arrangements, which subsequently ‘prefigure’ routinised behaviours. We term this causal trajectory the ‘unfolding effect’. Utilising multi-session oral history interviews with 12 participants, comprising locals and migrants in both countries, the study traces the material flow of clothing to illuminate the friction generated when embodied dispositions collide with unfamiliar infrastructural legacies. The findings reveal a stark divergence: the persistence of the manual washboard sink ( tanque ) in Brazil sustains labour-intensive hybrid practices, whereas the British context is characterised by the spatial constraints of kitchen-integrated automation. Migrant narratives expose the fragility of these routines, articulating the aesthetic and moral dissonance experienced when adapting to the visibility of drying laundry in British living spaces. By situating these findings within the Global North–South dialogue, this article challenges linear narratives of modernisation and demonstrates that sustainable consumption policies must attend to the specific material-cultural ecosystems in which practices are sedimented.