Page 596 - Ultimate Visual Dictionary (DK)
P. 596

THE MODERN WORLD
       Iron and washer-dryer



       IN THE DAYS BEFORE WASHING MACHINES, laundry was done by hand—    FRONT VIEW OF A MIELE
       washed in a barrel, squeezed in a roller-mangle, hung on a line, and   WASHER-DRYER
       smoothed with an iron heated on the stove. In the 1880s, electrically
                                                                         Detergent
       heated irons were one of the first home electrical appliances. Today’s
                                                                         tray
       iron still applies heat, sometimes moistened with steam, to dampen
                                                                         Control
       and flatten garment fibers. Machines with electric heaters and motors
                                                                         panels
       took the strain out of washing from the 1910s. Up to the 1960s, three
       machines were needed to wash, spin, and dry. Now clothes are
       swirled in a rotating ribbed tub of hot water, then spun fast to throw   Door
       off most of the water, before slowly tumbling in electrically heated
       air to dry—all in one appliance.                                  Filter
                                                                         access
                                                                         flap
       COMPONENTS OF A STEAM IRON
                                                    Nose
                            Spray                            Steam
          Steam             barrel                           barrel
          control                                                          Steam
          knob     Spray                      Spray
                   nozzle     Spray           nozzle                       release    Nose
                   aperture   pump                                         activator



                                                                                                Heating
                                                                                                elements
                                  Water                             Soleplate
                                  tank                              surround



                                                                                                 Pilot
                                                                                                 light
               Handle
        Temperature
        and steam
        control dial




                                                                    Power
                                                                    spade
       SIDE VIEW OF STEAM IRON
                                                                    contacts
            Flex kink guard  Steam control
                           knob
                                                                       Grounding
                                                                       wire                       Pilot
                                  Spray and                                                       light
                                  steam knobs                                                     supply
                                                                    Securing screw       Power    wire
                                                                    mounting             supply
                                    Temperature and
                                    steam control dial                                   cord
                                                                    Heel molding
                                        Water tank
                                                                    Flex clamp
                                                                                         Flex cord
                                        Soleplate
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