Who invented the washing machine?
An automatic washing machine is a great invention that can be put on a par with the wheel, bicycle, car, etc. Thanks to the automatic washing machine, millions of modern housewives have additional hours of free time that can be spent productively without doing hand washing. 82% of women in the world use washing machines, but only a few know who to thank for this. Let's try to correct this injustice by telling in the article about who invented the first washing machine.
The appearance of the first washing machine
Who actually invented the first washing machine and when, we are unlikely to know, since we can judge the past only by those crumbs that have miraculously survived to this day. Ancient powerful civilizations have sunk into oblivion, and we are unlikely to be able to find out what their life was like in detail. We know for certain only facts from the modern history of washing machines.
In 1851, the American King invented the first washing machine with a handle that the owner had to rotate. He also patented this machine as a washing machine, although “hand on heart”, King simply slightly modified the homemade butter churn into a device for washing clothes, but this was already a breakthrough. Further, the history of washing machines unfolded more rapidly. Already in 1874, manual washing machines were put into production, again by the American Blackstone.
Blackstone washing machines had not only a washing tank that rotated manually, but also a very simple device for spinning clothes - two rollers with a handle. Wet laundry was passed through the rollers, while the handle was rotated and thus wrung out. The spinning device was invented a little earlier in 1861. Then, until 1875, more than 1,900 models of various washing mechanisms and devices were patented in the United States. But most of them were either ineffective or too ineffective and unreliable.
In the old world, the washing machine appeared almost 50 years later, but it was much more efficient and efficient than the inventions of Blackstone and King. We are talking about the invention of the German K. Miele, who in 1900 made the first European manual washing machine.
For your information! The first Miele washing machine also looked like a butter churn and was not widely used.
The first semi-automatic devices
The era of semi-automatic washing machines began with the invention of Fischer, who built an electric washing machine in 1908. The washing machine was intended to be a home car, but it was too dangerous, since all its moving parts protruded outward. However, what Fischer came up with was a breakthrough, now the washing machine could wash without the use of heavy manual labor.
The first half of the 20th century can be considered the era of the development of semi-automatic washing machines. At this time, many industrial enterprises specializing in the production of washing machines appeared. A prominent representative was the Miele company, which to this day is a leader in the production of washing machines, only now automatic.
- In 1911, Upton built a small factory to produce semi-automatic washing machines, which later became the Whirlpool Corporation, which continues to thrive today.
- In 1916, in Italy, Antonio Zanussi opened a small workshop for the production of electric washing machines. A little later, the production turned into the largest company in Italy, and after some time this company became transnational.
- In 1930, Lee Byung-chul built a mill in Korea where he began producing rice flour. From this moment began the history of the Samsung company, which produces, among other things, washing machines. This is the largest technology manufacturing company in South Korea.
The list can be continued for a very long time, because at that time there were about 2,000 enterprises in the world that specialized in the production of home appliances, including washing machines. Semi-automatic washing machines greatly facilitated the work of housewives, however, complete automation of washing was still far away.
Automatic machine
In the first half of the twentieth century, semi-automatic washing machines flooded the market and were very common in Europe and America. In 1951, the situation began to change because the first automatic washing machine appeared. This washing machine was already very similar to the modern one, since it had a spin function. The machine had two control switches, one turned on the washing mode, and the other the drying mode; there was no automatic switching between washing and drying.
In 1962, a representative of the Miele company invented an automatic washing machine, which was controlled by just one switch. The main problem with washing machines of the 60s with a spin cycle was that they spun things rather poorly, because the drum rotation speed did not exceed 600 revolutions. In 1970, an automatic washing machine appeared capable of spinning clothes at a speed of 1000 revolutions. It was very noisy, but the quality of the spin cycle, as well as the quality of the wash, was excellent.
Note! Automatic washing machines of the 50s and 60s did a great job, but they had mechanical controls.
In 1978, an engineer at the Miele company came up with, and then a whole team of engineers launched, the first automatic washing machine with microprocessor control. This machine no longer required switching between washing and spinning modes. In fact, this was the first prototype of a modern automatic washing machine. Modern automatic washing machines are capable of performing a full laundry care cycle; they have the following functions:
- drying;
- easy ironing;
- bubble wash;
- automatic laundry weighing;
- smart wash;
- washing of certain types of fabric and others.
So we talked briefly about the foreign history of washing machines, including touching on the question of who first invented the washing machine. If you are interested in more detailed history of the washing machine, read the publication of the same name on our website.
Russian models
In general terms, everything is clear with the history of washing machines in Europe and America, but what about in Russia? The USSR had quite a lot of its own washing machines, although often the prototypes of our “Vyatka” and “Rig” were foreign Husqvarna and Mile. Until 1925, there were no washing machines in Russia at all, then they began to be purchased in small quantities abroad for nomenklatura workers.
After the Second World War, the USSR economy began to recover rapidly. Thousands of new enterprises appeared, thanks to whose industrial capacity the USSR was able to launch the production of its own semi-automatic washing machines. So in 1949, the Riga RES enterprise launched the production of EAYA-2 and EAYA-3 machines. The washing machines went on sale in 1950, and to buy them you had to stand in line, which could last for 5 years.However, these were the first washing machines available to the mass consumer produced in the USSR.
In 1966, the production of Vyatka washing machines was launched in the USSR at the Kirov plant. They were not much different from the “products” of the Riga plant, they were the same round washing tanks, and the water had to be poured in a bucket. The first “Vyatka” had only one plus - it had a roller squeezing mechanism attached to it. In the 70s, the USSR industry began to produce a whole series of washing machines. Almost every million-plus city had an enterprise that manufactured washing machines. At the same time, washing machines “Volga”, “Chaika”, “Volna” and others appeared in the USSR.
For your information! In some houses you can still find similar washing machines. They are 40, or even 50 years old, and they work great - Soviet quality.
The history of USSR washing machines did not end there. In the 80s, the same Kirov plant launched the production of the first fully automatic washing machines in the USSR, “Vyatka-automatic 12”. Production 
These machines were established at the expense of the Italian concern that produces Ariston equipment. Vyatka-automatic 12" is a copy of one of the models of Ariston washing machines.
Subsequently, the USSR collapsed, and Russian industry was in decline. Gradually, foreign companies appeared on the Russian market and began producing automatic washing machines. Nowadays, you can quite often find Samsung, LG, Ariston, Whirlpool, Bosch, Indesit washing machines made in Russia, however, their quality still leaves much to be desired. Russian-made washing machines are not valued.
In conclusion, we note that even historians have difficulty answering the question of who and when invented the very first washing machine.It is believed that the first washing machine was made in the middle of the 19th century and it is from this moment that the existence of this invention should be counted. We have no choice but to agree with this statement, especially since we cannot refute it.
Interesting:
19 reader comments
Many thanks to everyone who came up with this miracle machine! What a blessing, my hands don’t hurt and I have freed up time!
We pray for those who came up with...
Thank you, inventor!
Do you remember how they used to wash on ordinary washing machines: first they soaked, washed, and manually wrung out. Then they rinsed. And they hung them outside on ropes to dry. And now it’s beautiful - I pressed the button and did everything myself.
Respect and respect from all women!
This is the most brilliant invention! Every time I throw laundry into the drum, I say: “Thank you very much for the miracle machine!”
Like all housewives, I am very grateful to the inventor for the miracle that he gave us. This is such a relief to our lives that we are ready to bow low to the person. Thank you!
Praise be to all clever inventions! Thanks to our laziness, such necessary things are invented!!!
The inventors of the automatic washing machine made their work easier for how many women, thank you very much!
In my opinion, this invention is worthy of all the world awards! Low bow.
Sometimes I laugh at myself. Why doesn't the machine hang the laundry on the line?
Thank you very much to whoever invented the automatic machine!
So I don’t understand, we don’t have our own production of washing machines?
Huge gratitude!
I am 70 years old. “Automatic” appeared in my life 20 years ago, when my 5 children became adults. Today I can’t imagine how I managed without such a machine. Standing near this miracle, I thought once again: the man who invented the machine deserves gratitude from all the women in the world, like no one else!
Thanks to the inventor!
Holy man! Thanks for the automatic machine!
Miracle of technology. Low bow to the inventor.
Women washed by hand, but men invented the machine. Thank you, men, for your concern! What would we women do without you?