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The History Of Washing Machine.

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The History Of Washing Machine.

The history of the washing machine goes back to the earliest civilizations, as people tried to find the best ways to wash their clothes, first in streams of running water and then in ever more sophisticated wash-houses and tanks.

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Over the years, washerwomen improved their techniques by using a variety of natural detergents. The Gauls used birch cinders (березовая зола) for better cleaning of material, a process which dates back to 2800 years B.C. The cinders (зола) used in the earliest washing powders were replaced much later on by soda crystals.

The emperor Vespasian is still famous today for having imposed a tax on urine collection. The urine collected from public urinals was sold as an ingredient to clean and whiten woollen togas. The proverb: “money has no smell” was born.

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Before the arrival of wash-houses and other areas set aside for washing, villagers had to draw dirty water which was a source of infection. The proliferation of wash-houses played a major role in terms of public health and hygiene, at a time when cholera, smallpox and typhoid fever used to ravage populations.

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State subsidies partly financed the construction of public wash-houses and governments pronouncements were made, even then, regarding the basic principles of hygiene.

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Medieval wash-house.

Wash-houses were covered areas laid out to facilitate the work of laundrywomen. Such establishments were even a sign of wealth and it was possible to judge the level of prosperity of a village by the number of public wash-houses.

Wash-houses also played an important social role: women from all over the village met there at least once a week (except for very senior ones) and would exchange local news. The wash-house became a “talking house” and it was not unusual to hear the women singing, as a means of lightening their daily chores and passing the time. Wash-houses gradually disappeared as running water was introduced into homes.

The people in 17 and 18 century didn't do laundry every week. Possibly every month or so. There was a very lengthly perpetration to the process of laundry day. They need wood, large tube, water and the 6 or 7+ laundress in dealing with clean cloths.

We owe the invention of the washing machine to Jacob Christian Schäffer (1767).

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Jacob Schäffer's washing machine, 1767.

30 years later, an American, Nathaniel Briggs, obtained the first patent for a washing machine. It involved pouring hot water into a tank, turning a lever to wash the clothes and then wringing them between two rollers. The tank was then drained using a tap.

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In 1905, the first drum washing machines appeared. They were still hand-operated but the steel tank allowed for a coal burner to be included.

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Towards 1920, the first electric machines were born: only the turning mechanism was electric. The remaining controls were still manual.

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1929 Thor is the first electric washing mashine.

It was only in 1930 that the machines became automatic. Pressure switches, thermostats and timers were included in the new models. From the 1980s onwards, advances in the field of electronics meant washing machines became reactive and ecological.

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1960 Hotpoint washing machine.

In 1990, a British inventor, James Dyson, produced a washing machine with two cylinders which turned in opposite directions, thus reducing washing times and giving better results.

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