Ever Wondered How Those Wonderful Appliances The Washing Machine And Dryer Came About?

Welcome my fellow learners, especially the ladies. Today we are going to learn about the history of the beloved washer and dryer.

In today’s age, most people take it for granted that they will have clean and dry clothes at the touch of a button. But did any of you stop and think how clothes used to be washed? And usually done by us poor suffering under appreciated women.

Before the birth or even thought of electricity people cleaned their clothes by slapping them on rocks or using harsh sands, before rinsing them off in nearby streams. Then of course all the water was pure and unpolluted, and washing powder or softener was never heard of.

However the earliest washing machine was called a scrub board and was invented in 1797, this was just an oblong piece of wood with a beveled surface, this was used to rub the clothes up and down it, and is also where the phrase came from scrubber woman. However, a little known American call James King, first invented a hand operated washing machine with a drum to put the clothes inside in 1851

But it was a man named Hamilton Smith that patented the first rotary washing machine in 1858, this was improved upon by William Blackstone who loved his wife so much, that he built her for her birthday the first machine to use inside the house. And those where the days when a woman appreciated a household appliance when given one.

However, the first ever electric powered machine was invented by Alva J Fisher around 1907 and was thus manufactured by the Hurley Machine Company from Illinois, this monster was aptly named THOR. This machine came with a galvanized tub, and was powered by an electric motor.

Dryers were first invented in the 1800s in England and France, the earliest known machine was known as the ventilator and was thought of by a Frenchman called Pochon.

So there you have it, a quick summary of how our can’t live without machines first came into being. However, ladies, before you start nagging the husband about how much laundry you have to do, spare a thought about those poor scrubber women who only had the use of a piece of wood to clean clothes.