In the old days, people washed clothes by hand. Of the devices, they had: a wooden tool (valek), a pelvis or vat, a solution of sifted ash (lye), or a decoction of soap root. Lye very well washed clothes, washed at home on their own or hired laundries. With the advent of the first machines, the laundresses, alas, were left without work.
The linen was boiled in a solution of liquor in the furnace, on the furnace, or specially heated, heated stones were placed inside the tub, which made the water boil. Then, a lump of linen removed from the vat was put on a bench and beaten for a long time with a wooden tool - a roller - until it stopped spraying the soap solution.
How to wash clothes before the fifties
Washed in the bathroom, in basins, in the trough. To help the housewives was a brilliant invention of 1797 - a washboard. Soapy laundry rubbed across the scars of the device, and all the dirt fell off. The name “washboard” has been preserved as a metaphor for poor quality roads.
The first washing machines
According to some reports, the first washing machine was patented by Noah Kushin, who invented the first device with a manual drive, where it was necessary to twist a special handle.
The very first cars were made in 1851 in America by James King. They were driven by a pen. In 1874, William Blackstone invented the first household washing machine. A unit with an electric motor was born in 1908, it was invented by Alva Fisher.
The first washing machines in the USSR
How and when did they appear? For the first time in the USSR, washing machines began to be installed in the apartments of government officials in 1925. These units were brought from the USA. The first Soviet factory for the manufacture of washers was the Riga RES Plant. I must say that the products of the Baltic plants at that time were in great demand and respect due to quality.
Today, photos of the first washing machine in the USSR can be found in old magazines. So, in 1950 two models were made - EAA-2 and EAA-3, which went on retail at a price of six hundred rubles at a cost of one and a half thousand - the rest was paid to the factories by the state. I must say that one and a half thousand rubles is a completely monstrous price for those times.
The washing machine EAY-2 was quite progressive. She had an interesting design. The machine had a vertical loading, a steel tank-drum, inside of which steel blades spun. The typewriter did not have a timer, the hostess had to determine the washing time by eye, usually it is twenty to thirty minutes. It is curious that the machine had a centrifuge function: by switching the lever, the drum itself was spinning, and the blades were motionless, so the liquid was pressed. The USSR washing machine was on retractable wheels, and during operation it was installed on shock-absorbing rubber supports.
The launches of the next issue of Riga-54 were very similar to the Erdvadveda robot from the movie Star Wars and were designed for 2.5 kg of laundry. The next model "Riga-55" completely copied the Swedish car company "Huskvarna."
How were washing units improved?
In 1966, a timer appeared in the USSR washing machine: an extremely unreliable unit with which it was possible to adjust the washing or spin time. Thus, it was already an automated washer. It was extremely difficult for citizens to buy a car: they had to stand in line for three to five years.
A few years later they released the first semi-automatic machine, it was called the Volga-10 and made it in Cheboksary. They are now preserved in the homes of pensioners.
The rise of primitive washers
After the simplest design of washing machines was tested and debugged, many enterprises began to produce household appliances similar to each other. As a rule, they were made at defense enterprises as consumer goods. There was such a national economic plan for them: to produce goods for the population. As they say, in the morning of a rocket, in the evening of the same metal - washing machines and vacuum cleaners. The products of defense plants were of excellent quality.
What other brands of cars were produced in the USSR? “Oka”, “Ural”, “Siberia”, “Dawn”. All of them were structurally similar and usually consisted of an unaesthetic tank in the form of a barrel with a top loading, there were electric drive blades at the bottom of the tank, and the motor itself was located at the bottom. Sometimes a spin device was attached at the top. Photos of washing machines of the USSR are in the article.
"Oka" type washing machines - an example of incessant classics
What is the structure of the classic car of the USSR and, oddly enough, of today? Laundry machine "Oka" - activator type. She does not have a rotating drum, but has a stationary vertical tank, at the bottom of which blades are installed - they mix the washing solution with the laundry. This design was simple and colossal reliability. Machines of this type could easily work several warranty periods.
The device of the old USSR washing machine: there is a metal (now plastic) barrel, inside of which an electric drive and a fixed tank are mounted. That, in fact, is all. There are on-off toggle switches and sometimes in some models a timer that controls turning off. The machine is extremely reliable and, if properly operated, practically does not break. Of the typical rare failures - leakage of washing solution through the seals, the destruction of the blades and engine burnout. The last two defects are due to overload. Also, the manufacturer strongly does not recommend doing several washing cycles in a row. After spending one cycle, it is worth taking a break, give the car a rest.
You will be surprised, but the Oka washing machine in various modifications is sold and now costs about three thousand rubles. The Oka is especially good because it does not require a tie-in into the water supply system.
The era of drum devices - semi-automatic
Progress went forward, and now they developed the first machine with front loading of laundry and a drum. This happened in the early seventies, the car was called "Eureka" and was a semiautomatic device. That is, the washing cycles were set by the programmer, but the water had to be poured manually. The machine had a spin mode. Its disadvantage was that water had to be poured on its own. Since it was not always possible to accurately measure the amount of liquid being poured, very often soapy water broke through the seals and poured the floor of the bathtub, and hence the neighbors. The electric motors of the USSR washing machines often failed due to leaks.
Cars for students
In parallel, the development of compact, small-sized washers was carried out, bearing once its own, and now the common name "Baby". Most of all, it resembled a huge night pot: a relatively small plastic tank and an electric drive on the side.
The car was really tiny and perfect for students, bachelors, and also families with children, but who did not have money to buy a more expensive and powerful model. These devices are still in demand.
Automatic washing machines of the USSR
Citizens of the Soviet Union first met with an automatic machine in the late seventies. In Kirov, under the license of the well-known Italian company Marlon-progetti, a factory was built that produced the first automated washing machines Vyatka-Avtomat in the USSR. It was an exact copy of the company's products.
The car was distinguished by excellent quality and many functions - a real robot, in fact. The device possessed such unprecedented properties that people from all over the region specially came to the happy owners to look at the curiosity. This machine cost gigantic money: four monthly salaries, and in order to purchase it, they demanded to provide a certificate from the housing office - the current management company - that the state of the electrical wiring allows it to be connected. The fact is that the unit was designed for heavy loads of the mains (due to drying, mainly), and the wiring in old buildings could not withstand, heat up and catch fire.
So, it was the first automatic washing machine in the USSR, like almost all the previous ones, made according to foreign analogues. After that, there were several more modifications, well, and then the USSR collapsed, and the era of imported cars came, which we can see today in every apartment or house.