If you have ever been in a Russian town, you will probably have observed that in the rivers and lakes there are wooden platforms that extend from the shore.These platforms were not built to fish or enjoy the views of the shore, but to wash clothes.

Just a century ago, the clothes were washed even in cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg.It was considered a very hard work, especially in the years prior to World War II, when not all houses had running water.Today, these wooden platforms are used mainly to wash carpets, and only in summer, when the water is hot.

To wash clothes at home, people wore a Palangana and a wash board.The clothes rubbed in the table and then cleared with soapy water in the Palangana.Instead of detergent dust, people used to wear clothing soap.It seems quite simple, but it was really hard work, and one could easily scrape your hands on the surface of the washing table.The positive side is that washing clothes in this way did not require electricity.

White garments, such as bedding, shirts and towels, soak before washing.To do this, laundry soap was dissolved in hot water and let the clothes stand for several hours.The especially dirty garments could be boiled in a soapy solution with the addition of soda.The laundry soap contained a large amount of alkali, which allowed him to undo the fat.

The first Soviet washing machines appeared in the 1950s. A lot of time and work. All these models had a more or less similar design and were popularly known as "motor with motor." The gadget was placed inside a bathtub, filled with tap water and used to make a family cast during the week. Jabonosa water used by the machine was emptied through a rubber hose in the bathtub. These machines were quite good to wash for themselves, and even fill them with water and then empty them was not very complicated. Its main defect was the absence of a centrifuged cycle; There were runoffs, but they didn't work well and practically no one used them. Therefore, the washed clothes but not yet clarified should be clarified in the bathtub and then drain by hand. This was the most difficult part of the entire process.

Soviet engineers also developed compact washing machines that did not occupy much space and were suitable for small apartments.The first model was called Maliutka ("baby" in Russian), and all subsequent varieties of this type of washing machine were unofficially called the same name.In fact, they are still sold in Russia and are especially popular for dachas.Which makes sense if one takes into account that weigh less than 10 kg, cost one third or a quarter of what a standard washing machine costs and can wash up to 4 kg of clothes once.

A great advance in the Soviet washing machine industry occurred in the late 1970s with the launch of the semi -automatic washer Evrika.They cost a lot, but still you could only buy one if the right connections were had.It required installation, weighed as much as a “cast iron bridge” (about 80 kg) and connected to tap with a water hose.But, unlike its predecessors, it had a clarified and centrifuged cycle, so the result was not only clean, but also drained clothes.However, during the centrifuged the machine shook and jumped so much that a special support had to be put.“When the centrifugate started, my grandmother told my grandfather:‘ Volodia, come to hold it! "So the two sustained her from above and they released her only when the centrifugate ended.The jaleo was terrible, ”recalls the Moscovita Vasia Shapobalov of his childhood in the 1980s.

Fully automatic washing machines, such as the Viaatka-Ahtomat, appeared later, but were a rarity, since for a typical Soviet family their price was as affordable as buying a spacecraft.

The USSR began to produce synthetic detergents at the same time as washing machines.The first powder detergent, called Novost, went on sale in the Soviet Union in 1953. It was based on hydrogenated animal fat.In the mid -1960s, the range of powdered detergents had expanded, appearing on the market the brands was, lotos, astra, luch and others.In addition to powdered detergents, there were also washing pastes.They smelled fatal, but they could face almost any stain.“It could be used to wash clothes, to wash your hands or to clean the floor.Even now, nothing can be cleaned by soot or dirt after repairing a car as well as one of those pastes, ”many Russians remember.

One of the objectives of the Soviet regime, especially in its early years, was to free women from the slavery of domestic tasks.Throughout the country, kitchens and huge mechanized laundry factories appeared to deal with housework.Lavanderías were installed in the factories for the workers, along with municipal laundries where anyone could wash the things of it.The laundries, like everything in the Soviet Union, had to comply with certain operating standards.

In the 70s, many large cities already had self -service laundries.In Moscow, one of the first was the Chaika laundry, where the clothes could be washed and drying for a modest price.It also offered ironing and dry cleaning services.

Today, it is difficult to imagine an apartment without a washing machine.The huge laundries that flourished in the Soviet era no longer have demand, although in all the cities of Russia there are still, as well as tints.They are used above all to clean items difficult to take care of at home, such as carpets, mats and coats.

Read more: What are the most relevant inventions of the twentieth and twenty -first centuries, according to the Russians?

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