IN THE DAYS BEFORE WASHING MACHINES, laundry was done by hand— washed in a barrel, squeezed in a roller-mangle, hung on a line, and smoothed with an iron heated on the stove. In the 1880s, electrically heated irons were one of the first home electrical appliances. Today’s iron still applies heat, sometimes moistened with steam, to dampen and flatten garment fibers. Machines with electric heaters and motors took the strain out of washing from the 1910s. Up to the 1960s, three machines were needed to wash, spin, and dry. Now clothes are swirled in a rotating ribbed tub of hot water, then spun fast to throw off most of the water, before slowly tumbling in electrically heated air to dry—all in one appliance.
Iron and washer-dryer
in
THE MODERN WORLD
published on 8:50 AM
IN THE DAYS BEFORE WASHING MACHINES, laundry was done by hand— washed in a barrel, squeezed in a roller-mangle, hung on a line, and smoothed with an iron heated on the stove. In the 1880s, electrically heated irons were one of the first home electrical appliances. Today’s iron still applies heat, sometimes moistened with steam, to dampen and flatten garment fibers. Machines with electric heaters and motors took the strain out of washing from the 1910s. Up to the 1960s, three machines were needed to wash, spin, and dry. Now clothes are swirled in a rotating ribbed tub of hot water, then spun fast to throw off most of the water, before slowly tumbling in electrically heated air to dry—all in one appliance.
