Cleansing and purification
Hoodoo floor washing
The Southern custom of washing floors and doorsteps with prepared water, said to clear a home of bad influence.
Presented by ClearTrust Customs described as customs, free to read.
In hoodoo and other Southern folk traditions the floor wash is a mix of water with ingredients such as salt, vinegar, lemon, herbs or a purchased product like Florida Water, and is used to scrub the floor, steps and thresholds. Believers hold that this clears the trouble that a visitor, a quarrel or a rival has left in the house.
This is an outline of a custom, said as belief and practice. It is not instruction, it does not say that the rite works, and it is not medical advice.
What goes into it
- Bucket of waterObjectThe base of the wash.
- Salt, lemon or vinegarSubstanceAdded for cleansing.
- HerbsPlantAdded by choice.
- Mop or broomToolUsed to scrub.
- Doorway and stepsSpaceWhere the wash ends.
- Object
- Substance
- Plant
- Tool
- Space
Each part has an equal wedge. The ring shows what goes into the rite, not how much. Colour is the part's role.
The steps, drawn
Each drawing shows the kind of act in that step. Details differ from place to place, family to family and practitioner to practitioner.
Step 1: Gather The household prepares the water and ingredients. Step 2: Speak A psalm or prayer is said over the bucket. Step 3: Cleanse The floor is washed from the back of the house to the front. Step 4: Cleanse The steps and threshold are washed last. Step 5: Close The water is thrown away from the house.
Direction and doors
Custom says to wash from the back of the house to the front door and out, to drive trouble outside. Water may then be thrown across the road or away from the house.
Beliefs about trouble
Hoodoo has a belief in foot track magic, that harm can be worked through a person's footprints or dust from their path. Households use floor washes and sweeping as the answer. This is described as belief and not as a method of harm.
Everyday and magical
Scrubbing a doorstep is a normal chore in the South, and the line between housekeeping and magic is thin. Practitioners often say the work is both.
What it is for
- Clearing bad influence
- Protection of the home
- New start in a house
Who does it
Related entries
Also part of it, and being written: Florida water (A common ingredient.), Folk magic (The wider field.).
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Sources and further reading
Original text and drawings by the EveryJaadu desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Closed or sacred detail is left out. If we have something wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Hoodoo: Hoodoowoman, CC BY-SA 4.0, source