A
washing machine (also known as a
laundry machine, clothes washer, or washer) is a piece of household equipment that is used to clean clothes. The word is most commonly used to describe devices that clean with water rather than
dry cleaning or
ultrasonic cleaners.
Laundry detergent, either liquid or powder, is added to the wash water by the user.
In
1691, the first
English patent in the area of washing machines was granted. In the
January 1752 issue of The
Gentleman's Magazine, a
British newspaper, a sketch of an early washing machine emerged. The washing machine design by
Jacob Christian Schäffer was patented in
Germany in 1767.
Henry Sidgier received a
British
patent for a
spinning drum washer in
1782, and
Edward Beetham
sold many
'patent washing mills' in
England
in the 1790s.
James King invented the first drum washing machine in 1851,
Hamilton Smith patented a rotational version in
1858, and
Thomas Bradford, a
British
inventor, invented a piece of hugely successful machinery that resembles the contemporary machine in
1868.