The Washington times., 1922-05-15
-FOUR METHODS
USED IN MAKING
WASH MACHINES
rs Different Electrical Models,
but All Use One of Four
- Principles.

Although there are more than
seventy-five different electrical
washing machines on the market,
there are only four principles. or
methods, Of mechanical washing.
Al OF the machines employ one of
these four methods, and the differ
ences between them are therefore
differences in construction and de-
tail.
One of the oldest methods Is that
which is commonly described as
the vacuum cup" method. Ma
chlnes of this type are equipped
with bell-shaped metal cups, very
smooth, to prevent wear or injury
70 the clothes which move up and
down in the tub. These cups, in
their downward stroke, push the
sudsy water through the meshes
OF the cloth, driving away the dirt
with 1t. On the upward stroke, the
vacuum or suction of the bell draws
water upward again, so that at
each complete stroke the water is
driven through and sucked back.
Method Older Than Washers.
This method Is much older than
the oldest electric washer. Years
ago the travelling peddlers who
drove through the rural districts,
carried and sold simple form of
the vacuum washing cup. These
were fastened to a handle very
much like a broomstick, and the
housewife washed in the good. old
fashioned wooden tub by sloshing
the clothes up and down with this
primitive device. Years later the
vacuum cup was hitched to a mo.
tor and today this type of washer
Is used with absolute satisfaction
by thousands of young housewives
who think they have discovered q
new" method of washing.
A second type of washer simply
lifts the clothes out of the soapy
water and drops them back again.
This method also is ancient and IL
today the accepted method of
washing filmy blouses and other
delicate things by hand. Most Of
the eo-called cylinder type" wash
ersN operate on this principle.
The revolving drum or cylinder car
and allows them to fall back; then
the cylinder reverses and the clothes
are swept through the water, raised
out on the other side, and dropped
back. This process, repeated for
half an hour in hot water and a
good soap powder, will clean the
most hopelessly greasy and dirty
garment-overalls, working shirts,
shop towels. even the oily waste used
to wipe machinery.
The exact opposite Of the last
described method is one in which
the water is driven through the
clothes. Such washers are described
as being of the "oscillating" type,
because the whole tub of water is
moved or swung backward and for
ward to give the water driving
power. This method also Is effective
and has been used with complete
satisfaction for over twenty years to
the writer's personal knowledge.
Fourth Method Dolly Type"
The fourth method is that used by
the dolly type" washers. This type
has been especially popular in rural
districts. where hundreds OF thou
sands of them have been sold, gen.
orally worked by hand power. The
dolly" looks like a sort of milking
stool, with three or four very smooth
and perfectly rounded legs. These
prongs or legs catch the clothes,
twist them and turn them, and force
them around in the sudsy water
until every vistage of dirt has been
washed away. This process is not
so gentle as that of the cylinder or