What is "Bluo“？
I am reading a novel. This chapter is set in Australia, 1946. Here's the quotation:
"She took in the faded paintwork, the calendar that marked only this or that agricultural show, the arrival of vets, buyers or grain salesmen, the dogs’ baskets with their filthy old blankets lined up round the range, and the packet of Bluo for the men’s shirts, spilling its grains on to the bleached work surface."

I can't understand the latter part of the sentence. I guess the capitalized B indicates it is a brand or something? But by google, I didn't find anything related to the context.
Hope someone could help me with it. Thanks a lot!

Question

What is "Bluo“？
I am reading a novel. This chapter is set in Australia, 1946. Here's the quotation:
"She took in the faded paintwork, the calendar that marked only this or that agricultural show, the arrival of vets, buyers or grain salesmen, the dogs’ baskets with their filthy old blankets lined up round the range, and the packet of Bluo for the men’s shirts, spilling its grains on to the bleached work surface."

I can't understand the latter part of the sentence. I guess the capitalized B indicates it is a brand or something? But by google, I didn't find anything related to the context.
Hope someone could help me with it. Thanks a lot!

Answer

This is a trade name for 'indigo blue,' a dye commonly used to make shirts look really white; in Britain we had 'Reckits Blue.' When cotton shirts get old, they becomes yellow with age; the blue counteracts that.

Answer

Peachey and Brett are  right. Bluo was the Australian brand name for indigo blue and was  sold as  a  small block tied in a piece of fabric and  women in those times swirled it in the last rinse for clothes and sheets to make them whiter along with starch. Later Bluo came out in a liquid and a few drops were added to the last rinse.

Answer

Although I'm Australian, this harks back to a postwar time, long before I turned up.

I agree its a brand name of something (this is the kind of guessing you need - good work!). Because it's for shirts and it has grains, I guess it's a brand of washing powder.  Maybe it was actually called "Bluo", or even "Blue ____". It's a fairly typical habit to shorten words this way in Australia: afternoon --> arvo/arvie, milkman --> milko, tradesman -->tradie, etc.

Answer

Thank you all!!:) As to the name, it's The Ship of Brides.

Answer

It was a word for a certain shade of blue.  Probably a word no one ever uses anymore, haha.

What book are you reading? it sounds pretty interesting.

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