Page "Laundry" Paragraph 13

Meanwhile 19th century inventors further mechanized the laundry process with various hand-operated washing machines.

Most involved turning a handle to move paddles inside a tub.

Then some early 20th century machines used an electrically powered agitator to replace tedious hand rubbing against a washboard.

Many of these were simply a tub on legs, with a hand-operated mangle on top.

Later the mangle too was electrically powered, then replaced by a perforated double tub, which spun out the excess water in a spin cycle.