Laundry

Laundry can be:

History of laundry

Laundry was probably first done by immersing cloth in streams and letting the stream carry away the materials causing stains and smells. In many Third-World countries and rural regions, laundry may still be done this way. Agitation helps remove the dirt, so the laundry is often rubbed, twisted, or slapped against flat rocks.

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Various chemicals may be used increase the solvent power of water, such as the compounds in soaproot or yucca-root used by Native American tribes. Soap, a compound made from lye (from wood-ash) and fat, is an ancient and very common laundry aid. However, modern washing machines typically use powdered or liquid laundry detergent in place of soap.

Related Topics:
Soaproot - Yucca-root - Soap - Lye - Fat - Washing machine - Laundry detergent

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When there were no streams to use for laundry, laundry was done in water-tight vats or vessels. Sometimes large metal cauldrons were filled with fresh water and heated over a fire; boiling water was even more effective than cold in removing dirt. The washboard, a corrugated slab of a hard material such as metal, replaced rocks as a surface for loosening soil.

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Once clean, the clothes were wrung out -- twisted to remove most of the water. Then they were hung up on poles or clotheslines to dry, or sometimes just spread out on clean grass.

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The Industrial Revolution completely transformed laundry technology.

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First came the mangle (wringer US), in the 18th century -- two long rollers in a frame and a crank to revolve them. A laundry-worker took sopping wet clothing and cranked it through the mangle, compressing the cloth and expelling the excess water. The mangle was much quicker than hand twisting.

Related Topics:
Mangle - Wringer

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In the early 20th century inventors further mechanized the laundry process with various washing machines. Typically, these machines used an electrically-powered agitator to replace tedious hand rubbing against a washboard. The earliest machines were simply a tub on legs, with a hand-operated mangle on top. Later the mangle too was electrically powered, then replaced by a perforated double tub, which spun out the excess water in a spin cycle.

Related Topics:
Washing machine - Agitator - Spin cycle

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Laundry drying was also mechanized, with dryers. Dryers were also spinning perforated tubs, but they blew heated air rather than water.

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