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Article: Washing Machine
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- How Products Are Made
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CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 Gale Research Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Washing Machine
Background
Mechanical washing machines appeared in the early 1800s, although they were all hand-powered. Early models cleaned clothes by rubbing them, while later models cleaned clothes by moving them through water. Steam-powered commercial washers appeared in the 1850s, but home washing machines remained entirely hand-powered until the early 1900s, when several companies started making electric machines. The Automatic Electric Washer Company and Hurley Machine Corporation both began selling electric washers in 1907, while Maytag offered an electric wringer washer in 1911. In 1947, Bendix offered the first fully automatic washing machine, and by 1953 spin-dry machines ...