The History of Washing Machines and Dryers
During the middle of the 1800s, steam-powered machinery emerged for use in commercial laundries.
While doing laundry may be a dreaded chore in many households, today’s society has it easier than ever. Long ago, washing textiles was a process that took at least a day, possibly more and involved lots of physical labor. Delve into the history of washing textiles to better appreciate the ease and comfort of modern washing and drying machines.
Humans have been washing textiles for centuries, such as clothing, bedding, blankets, and towels. Long ago, this process consisted of collecting water from streams, rivers, cisterns, springs, or wells, transporting the water by hand in buckets, and heating the water on stoves or over fires. Fabrics were soaked, hand scrubbed, carefully rinsed, wrung out to dry, and hung up to dry. This was difficult and time-consuming work.
In the late 1700s, the first washing aid was invented—the washboard. Constructed with a rectangular frame, its wooden ridges significantly improved hand-washing. Washboards are still used in many parts of the world, and their wooden ridges have since been replaced by corrugated metal and sometimes by glass. Though washboards ensure that more dirt is removed from the textiles, they still require arduous labor and a lengthy drying process afterward.
During the middle of the 1800s, steam-powered machinery emerged for use in commercial laundries. Smaller machines for home use followed. Many of these were hand-powered; later, some used small gasoline engines. Hand-cranked rollers for wringing out the water were another famous invention, and these were soon incorporated into early washing machines. Some machines began to use powered rollers. However, these caused severe hand injuries and were eventually outlawed.
Electric washing machines became popular as electricity became more common in homes during the late 1920’s and early thirties. Electric machines introduced the spin dry cycle, which replaced rollers for water removal, and the spinning drum suggested another companion machine, the clothes dryer. In some cases, both washing and drying were combined in one machine. This concept is still used for small washer and dryer combination machines, which are popular where space is limited.
Most people today can’t imagine life without washing machines and clothes dryers. However, considering all the hours of work saved by running water, washing machines, and clothes dryers, the cost of these modern conveniences represents one of the best values in modern society.
Freedom Appliance of Tampa Bay has 13 years experience in professional repair and installation of all laundry and kitchen appliances and dryer duct cleaning. Call 813-302-7672 today!