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 Washing
Machines
The washing machine was the first domestic appliance to electronically automate the process of cleaning dirty linens and clothes. Mechanically they work by producing a physical rotation energy. Combined with a thermal energy produced by the temperature of the drum, and a water and chemical solution. There is a disadvantage to using water compared to a commercial dry cleaning service. The wear and tear on fabrics is increased, and shrinkage becomes an issue. Hand washing has always been a laborious task. Therefore, it's probably no surprise mechanical devices have been created for thousands of years to cut down on the toilsome effort required. Electrically powered washing machines began to appear in the US by the 1900's. They were only commercially viable by the late 1920's. It took until the 1950's for the UK to catch up, which was largely due to the economical impact of WW2. However, unlike the US consumer, which was purchasing fully automatic machines (wash and spin dry) by the 1940's. The washing machines sold in the UK, from 1950-60's, were fairly basic. Only by the 1970's did fully automatic wash and spin machines become the norm in the UK. At the same time, electronic, rather than mechanical components controlled the speed of the motor. During the past decade there has been a few attempts to improve upon the single cylinder rotating drum. Most notably from Dyson, who released a twin cylinder rotating drum. Due to increasing worldwide energy costs, the new frontier for manufacturers
is energy efficiency. A university in the UK has recently managed to develop
a prototype which uses a single cup of water per cycle.
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