 As far back as people began to use clothes and linen, they also needed to keep their textile things clean.
For millennia, people used to do it manually, even in ancient Babylon, they tried to mechanise this time-consuming procedure so difficult for the women’s hands. There remained the images of large wooden wheels with blades to rotate wet clothes in large tubs.
Many centuries ago, sailors began to use their ships for washing clothes through the water; the clothes was tied to a rope and thrown overboard. In doing so, dirt could be quickly washed away from the fabric. At the same time, the sailors’ girl-friends on shore used to rubber clothes against the rocks using sand as an abrasive for greater efficiency. Thus the mechanical effect on the fabric was discovered as an element of laundry.
Another chemical component was discovered a long time ago. During the archaeological excavations at the Sapo Hill in Rome there were found the remnants of an ancient soap in the preparation of which ash and fat of the animals sacrificed to the gods were used.
It was a technological breakthrough when they started to use a motor. At first it could be a petrol-fuelled combustion engine or an electric motor could be used for that purpose.
Thor was one of the first washing machines with an electric drive introduced by the Hurley Machine Company, Chicago sometime in 1908. Its inventor Alva Fisher is remembered as the creator of a new class of home appliances. The machine had a wooden drum which committed eight spins interchangeably changing direction. In order to bring the drum rotation mechanism in the clutch with the shaft of the motor there was a lever at the bottom of the machine. All the machine’s gears are open, the consumer safety was not given a priority in those days.
Perhaps there might be even earlier attempts to machine laundry. It is believed that Italy is the birthplace of modern electric washing machines. They were launched into serial production in the 1940’s. First there were the non-automated activator-type machines. Then the housewives of all countries grew fond of drum machines front-loaded or overload with and without the washed clothes drying option. As soon as automatic washing machines came around, the demand for repair and maintenance started to grow.
Some washing machines have features the consumer is not aware of. You cannot even guess that your machine provides for contingencies prevention. For example, all the Electrolux washing machines provide automatic cooling before water is discharged into drains or the bath. This avoids cracking of the bathtub enamel and reduces wear of the sewer pipes which naturally improves the reliability and safety of washing.
The Bosch-Siemens washing machines have the Aqua-Stop system as a safeguard against leakages this life-time warranty being provided by the manufacturer.
The latest washing machines provide drying clothes in the same drum or in a separate drying chamber.
The Fuzzy Logic control system which allows for using thousands of options of the washing programmes can be considered one of the greatest achievements in improving the washing machine. Water hardness and temperature, the concentration of detergent per gallon of water as well as the volume of the loaded laundry can be controlled. The microprocessors of washing machines can identify its master’s most typical laundry style and choose it by default.
Among most recent advances there are two interesting projects. Connection of a washing machine to the Internet with the ability to self-determine the type of laundry. The project would allow washing machines themselves to communicate with the service centre and report faulty operation. That provides an opportunity for your machine to make the exact ‘diagnosis’ even prior to the mechanic’s coming. Such a connection would enable appliances to fully control the amount of power consumed.
As to the other project, a lot of today’s machines have appropriate programmes for washing linen fabrics, cotton, silk etc. But you have to manually indicate the desired type of laundry. Adding a special bar code would allow the machine to self-read information on the clothes such as the texture and apply the appropriate wash cycle.
An interesting solution of a washing machine and a sofa together was designed by the young Delhi student Harsha Vardhan. The owner of such a ‘sofa’ can comfortably sit on his/her new washing machine even when it is running. There will be a high-tech process instead of normal washing. The future washing machine will not use water or cleansing agents. To clean the fabrics the machine will ‘press’ clothes with ionised air. It is not quite clear yet how this is going to be done in practice.
Like any technological advances in other sectors, the washing machine innovations will be introduced rapidly and continue to impress consumers by unimaginable features in the foreseeable future.
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