The History of The Front-Loading Washing Machine – in Less Than 500 words

In June this year, researchers at the University of Leeds developed a technology set to revolutionize the washing machine industry. By using plastic granules and just a cup of water per cycle, the design is a milestone of the washing machine industry and might well be the first commercially used near-waterless washing machine on the market, as soon as 2009. The front-loading design of what we know and love in Europe as The Washing Machine has seemingly come a long way over the years. So this is its history – in less than 500 words.

In the 1950s, as the UK and Europe recover from the Second World War, electric washing machines start to become popular. With the introduction of the Rolls Razor machine during the 60s, cheap washing machines boom began with the company selling in the region of 200,000 by the end of 1963. Due to the Postal Strike of 1964 and other factors such as a so-called war between retailers and sales, the company went into liquidation, finally falling to the hands of Ariston in the late 70s.

The front loading automatic washing machine boomed in popularity during the 70s. At this time a design change occurred with the electronic (as opposed to mechanical) control of drum speed during washes. The next big design change came in the 90s and was introduced by James Dyson, famed for his reinvention of the vacuum cleaner. His redesign incorporated two drums that revolved in opposition with the aim of cutting wash time and providing cleaner clothes in the end. The product never took off commercially however and is now out of production.

In 2006, Japanese company Sanyo introduced the AWD-AQ1, a front-loading washer that utilized two new technologies called ‘Air Wash’ and ‘Aqualoop’. The former process involves an air jet pumped in the drum instead of water to break down odour, whilst the latter means that the minimal water that is stored in the machine is recycled by being infused with bubbles at the end of each cycle. Sanyo have also released a model with a door that opens from the left – another important milestone in washing machine design.

In recent years EU directives have heralded the introduction of energy labels for white goods that rate the product’s efficiency as well as giving other valuable information as standard – such as performance and energy consumption. The models are rated from A to G with A being more energy efficient and G being less energy efficient.

It’s with this cultural shift toward desirable greener products that has shaped the most recent design of the humble washing machine. The new technology devised by the University of Leeds, called Xeros, achieves an astonishing level of cleaning whilst using 2% of the amount of water of a typical machine, and is set to revolutionize the industry.

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