In all honesty, when most people think about facts to do with laundry what springs to mind first are things like stain removal tricks, or when did mankind start washing their clothes. The truth is laundry has lots of surprising tales and facts associated with it. This post will highlight 8 of the most surprising facts about laundry!
- How Vikings did their laundry.
- Ancient Roman’s use of urine to clean clothes.
- Chinese were the first people to use the iron.
- H.Sidgier invented the washing machine.
- Astronauts incinerating their dirty laundry.
- Pochon invented the early tumble dryer.
- Washing detergent was invented because of soap shortages during the First World War.
- 70% of dirt on your clothes is invisible.
How Vikings did their laundry.
Early sea voyagers like the Vikings used to tie their laundry up and hang it off the back of ships to wash as it passes through the waves.
Ancient Roman’s use of urine to clean clothes.
In Ancient Rome they would heat urine with water, insert the clothes into the cocktail and stomp on the clothes to clean them.
Chinese were the first people to use the iron.
Ironing as we know it today was invented by the Chinese. They were the first people to iron clothes with metal over a thousand years ago.
H.Sidgier invented the washing machine.
1782 was the year the first washing machine was invented. Its creator was H. Sidgier of Great Britain. This was a very primitive version of what we have today, Sidgier designed a rod cage that would crank. Years later inventions like the hand-powered drum machine helped form the machine we use today.
Astronauts incinerating their dirty laundry.
Astronauts have historically incinerated their dirty laundry in the Earth’s atmosphere on their way back down. This was initially a way to save water but Nasa does hope to use soiled laundry to feed plants in the future.
Pochon invented the early tumble dryer.
Dryers have been around for 200 years. Although this is new in comparison to the washing machine, they were not commonplace in houses until after the 1960s. You can thank Pochon from France who designed and created the first-ever hand-cranked dryer. Even after the first electric dryer was created in 1936, most people continued to use the old-fashioned model for many years to come.
Washing detergent was invented because of soap shortages during the First World War.
Washing detergent as we know it today was invented because of soap shortages during the First World War. Chronic shortages of fat meant soap could not be made which led to the creation of synthetic detergent. It was first marketed as ‘Dreft’
70% of dirt on your clothes is invisible.
70% of dirt on your clothes is invisible. According to scientists’ even if your clothes appear to be clean what makes them dirty isn’t necessarily what you can see. Various types of human matter like dead skin cells, sweat, natural body oils and even the wrong type of detergent can make your clothes much dirtier than they may appear.
If you are too busy reading surprising facts about laundry instead of getting some done then let Laundryheap help with our convenient and professional service.