The history behind our laundry routines
If you have a household to look after and a family to take care of, laundry and ironing are two staples on your to-do list. But have you ever stopped to ask yourself about the origins of these activities or how they’ve changed over the years? The way people do laundry has evolved over time, and the products we love today (like our steam irons, for example) have also come a long way.
Laundry over the ages
Because ancient civilizations tended to develop around bodies of water, clothes were often washed in rivers. This tactic is still used by some communities in different parts of the world today, where people take their items to the river and scrub them diligently over rocks before laying them out in the sun to dry. When homespun fabrics began to be replaced with cheaper, more massively produced garments, an efficient method of keeping things hygienic was needed. This new demand can also be recognized in a new laundry industry created by the Romans, where so-called Roman fullers washed, dried and even dyed the clothes of the Empire’s citizens. In the Middle Ages, with populations booming and cities growing, going to the river stopped being a possibility for many. This is when tubs for washing and processing clothes began to be used. Because it was an arduous task that could take a very long time, it was often handled by servants. The Industrial Revolution gave us the washboard, which is still used today. A wooden frame with metal sheets, it’s a portable, efficient way to keep things clean. Today’s technology allows us to do our laundry quickly and effortlessly, almost making us forget how much the process differs from its beginnings. From the invention of the electric washing machine in 1908 to today, many advances have been made in electrodomestics and other products that make looking after our garments and clothing easier than ever.
Fun facts
The history of ironing
Laundry isn’t the only thing that’s changed over time: ironing and the iron itself has also come a long way. Using metal to iron is something that was introduced by the Chinese over 1000 years ago, but researchers discovered that people were using heated rocks to smooth out animal hides as long as 40,000 years ago. Materials like stones, glass and presses have been tried and tested as well, with the first flat irons appearing thanks to blacksmiths’ experiments in the Middle Ages. This is the predecessor of the electric iron as we know it today, but the process was far from being the simple task we’re used to. Problems included not being able to regulate the heat, getting soot and grime from the flames on the garments, and having them cool down too quickly. When we think about our Philips irons and steam generators, it’s almost impossible to imagine what it would be like to iron large piles of clothes using heavy, dirty blocks of metal — and risking the cleanliness of our freshly-laundered clothes to boot!
Find the best steam generator for you
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Azur Elite Steam Iron with OptimalTEMP technology
GC5037/86
- 3000W
- 70 g/min continuous steam
- 260g steam boost
- SteamGlide Advanced soleplate
