Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
The touch, the feel, of cotton!
So [Delia] collected the soiled clothes on Saturday when she returned the clean things. (1)
Our protagonist is a hardworking washwoman, a profession that was a whole lot more work back in the day when there were no washers (gah!) or dryers. She takes pride in her work and the clean clothes can be seen as a symbol of her purity as a person and her noble work habits.
Unfortunately, Sykes makes more work for her by kicking the clothes around:
Sykes, you quit grindin' dirt into these clothes! How can Ah git through by Sat'day if Ah don't start on Sunday? (15)
The mess Sykes makes with Delia's clothes is symbolic of the mess he makes in their marriage. Where she tries to keep things neat and put together, he dirties, sullies and destroys.