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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsOnly One Factory in North America Still Makes Washboards, and They Are Flying Off of Shelves
For the uninitiated, washboards are used to clean laundry, and typically have a wooden frame surrounding a rippled metal surface. You soak clothes in soapy water, then rub them against the metal surface to scrub the fabric. Washboards are antiquated, but one last remaining factory produces them in North America. In Logan, Ohio, the Columbus Washboard Company still sells about 80,000 washboards per year. Co-owner and factory manager James Martin estimates that 40 percent of the company's sales are to people using them to wash clothes or keeping them for a prepper stash, 20 percent are sold for decoration and 40 percent are sold for use as musical instruments. Washboards are considered percussion instruments, with players using any available tools to make noise on the rubbing surface.
Weve had at least a double increase in sales from Covid, says co-owner Jacqui Barnett. Were selling to a lot of individuals that live in apartment buildings, so they can do their own laundry in their own sink instead of having to face going to a laundromat right now. The company really only knows how washboards are being used if customers tell them, but Barnett and Martin are able to determine the most likely use based on the shipping addressesmany of which are now apartment buildings in larger cities. It's especially telling considering they haven't changed up marketing at all during the pandemic; the company still relies on its website and advertising in local tourism magazines.
In Kidron, Ohio, Lehmans Hardware Store, which focuses on selling non-electric products, has seen a similar boost in washboard sales. For the main galvanized washboard, we have seen, from February 19 to October 20, a 500 percent increase, and the three other washboards have at least doubled, says Glenda Ervin, sales manager and daughter of the stores founder. Typically, Lehmans sells to homesteadersbut Ervin notes that the sales increases across their products are from people who are new to that lifestyle. Its all about people being concerned that the way they do things isnt going to work anymore, says Ervin. So people look to the past to secure their future. My great-grandma probably did all her laundry in a tub with a washboard, but thats not something I would do unless I was worried I wouldnt be able to use my washer and dryer anymore.
No one really knows when washboards started to be used, but the first known patent was awarded in 1797. From there, they continued to gain popularity as the best way to wash clothesuntil the washing machine was invented in the early 1900s, anthropologist Cassie Green noted in her 2016 thesis, "Agitated to Clean: How the Washing Machine Changed Life for the American Woman." As the technology improved, washboards were used less frequently, slowly fading almost out of existence after the 1950s.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/only-one-factory-north-america-still-makes-washboards-they-are-flying-off-shelves-180976194/
Sherman A1
(38,958 posts)A back to the future moment.
Beachnutt
(7,290 posts)jpak
(41,757 posts)Just in case...
PatSeg
(47,282 posts)I remember paying $1.75 for it at K-Mart. I got a lot of use out of it.
Arkansas Granny
(31,507 posts)I believe it was used for delicate clothing. I never saw her use it, but it was hanging on her back porch .
Croney
(4,657 posts)kids' baseball pants, and I've tried making one a frottoir but it didn't sound very good. Wrong metal, no talent.
marybourg
(12,598 posts)scrubbing surface, then they got more cheaply made and the scrubbing surface was galvanized. I may still have that one. Yes, theyre very handy for people who live in apartments. Thats why I bought mine, in 62 or so.
left-of-center2012
(34,195 posts)first one had a heavy, rippled glass scrubbing surface,
then they got more cheaply made and the scrubbing surface was galvanized
Apparently the galvanized came first:
A "fluted" metal washboard was patented in the United States by Stephen Rust in 1833.
Zinc washboards were manufactured in the United States from the middle of the 19th century.
In the late 20th century and early 21st century, ridges of galvanized steel are most common,
but some modern boards are made of glass.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washboard_(laundry)
marybourg
(12,598 posts)and only the cheaper metal ones were left on the market.
left-of-center2012
(34,195 posts)My post refuted glass ones coming first. They did not. Galvanized ones were first manufactured.
marybourg
(12,598 posts)underpants
(182,632 posts)BumRushDaShow
(128,525 posts)guardian angels!
hvn_nbr_2
(6,486 posts)"40 percent of the company's sales are to people using them to wash clothes or keeping them for a prepper stash"
Is that for people who are prepping for end times or civil war or collapse of society or something?
Aristus
(66,294 posts)I don't think clean clothes are a priority with them, even in the best of times...
icwlmuscyia
(296 posts)Using it to scrub the really bad stains etc.
onethatcares
(16,163 posts)from the National Washboard Company, Memphis Tenn No. 701.
It's on my music cabinet. Haven't played it in years
Spazito
(50,169 posts)I did my laundry by hand as I live in an apartment complex and was not going to risk going to any one of the communal laundry rooms and, at the time, I would have given anything to have had a washboard at that time so I can certainly identify with what the makers are saying regarding the increase in sales.
I am back to using the communal laundry rooms as the safety precautions both the building managers and me are using lower the risk quite a bit and I still don't have a washboard, it is on my 'bucket' list, lol.
luvs2sing
(2,220 posts)the music festival they have there every summer. Its quite interesting.
Heres a video of hubsters best friend playing the triple washboard he designed, made from Logan washboards.
[link:
jeffreyi
(1,938 posts)A classic.
Arthur_Frain
(1,840 posts)Keep fit and keep clean..of course the price is a bit steep.
On edit, had to delete the link, my security software was objecting to it the longer the window was open. Anyway its a stationary bike that has the wheel replaced with a washtub. Im off grid and Ive seen these around. Mostly home made jobs, and folks have a lot of time on their hands now, so put that creativity to use.
FakeNoose
(32,596 posts)As a woman who occasionally washes underthings by hand, I can attest to this. Doubtful that many men would agree, but women's delicate lingerie items are more likely to get ruined when washed incorrectly.
A washboard isn't strictly necessary when washing delicates by hand however. Normally I find that soaking in warm gentle detergent and then swooshing in fresh cool water is enough. Many delicate things need to be air-dried either by hanging or laying flat. After years of having to throw out items that were ruined in the washer or dryer, I've learned the hard way.
I don't own a washboard like my Grandmas used, but I would buy one just to support the Columbus Washboard Co., and for the nostalgic aspect of owning one.
intrepidity
(7,275 posts)csziggy
(34,131 posts)https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QX4TP72/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=sl1&tag=ragon-20&linkId=a68fdcf99140db58f61191f640c7ca8f&language=en_US
It seems to work a little like a salad spinner!
If you scroll down to where they compare other items, there are other portable that extract the water. The clothes won't be completely dry, of course, but if you get most of the water out, they will dry faster.
intrepidity
(7,275 posts)csziggy
(34,131 posts)I hadn't seen one of those in decades.
I used to have a washing machine with a mangle at the barn for washing horse blankets but I knew that was not what you were thinking of. I wonder why some of these little portables don't include a mangle? That removes more water than spinning does.
intrepidity
(7,275 posts)It's a, whatchamacallit, not onomanopoeia, but the kind where the word describes what it does... hmmm...
Mangle. Love it!
csziggy
(34,131 posts)I think that is where the name came from.
intrepidity
(7,275 posts)that should minimize injury. Just don't affix a motor to it...lol
But yeah, I imagine that's something like how it got named.
csziggy
(34,131 posts)And while shoving horse blankets into it, it was easy to get your hand caught. Fortunately, I never got more than a fingertip caught and was able to pull loose, but I have read stories about people getting their entire hands run through one of those and being badly injured.
Mine was like this one:
I think "mangle" is the British term - all the American info I can find calls them wringers. I suspect I read mangle in some old British story and the name and association stuck with me.
intrepidity
(7,275 posts)But the prospect of feeding a horse blanket through a hand-cranked one is unimaginable, lol.
csziggy
(34,131 posts)One to feed it in, one to crank and another to catch it.
Now, the people running the barn take their horse blankets to a commercial laundry once a year. Much easier for them!
intrepidity
(7,275 posts)(just not while horse is still wearing it)
bedazzled
(1,760 posts)You might have heard it there
csziggy
(34,131 posts)I read a lot of British stories as a kid and young adult - I'm old so it would have been . I've never read a King book - his first came out later than when I remember reading about a mangle. While I admire his art, King's style of horror doesn't appeal to me.
bedazzled
(1,760 posts)It was a wringer in NJ when i grew up...
Roisin Ni Fiachra
(2,574 posts)corrugated cement basin with a drain. They are very common in Mexico and work well for hand washing clothes.
The lavadero is a bit rough on clothing, but otherwise works great.
Handy folks can make their own if they know how to work with cement.
How to use a lavadero: