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Chronology and Key Facts |
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 Development of washing methods
Environmental Impact of washing products
Analysis of time spent on laundry
Impact of growing hygiene awareness on health
Chemistry and the trend towards specific formulations
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Development of washing methods |
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| Prehistory |
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Antiquity |
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Middle Ages |
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Renaissance |
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18th-19th Centuries |
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20th-21st Centuries |
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| Few methods, or none at all. |
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Traditional laundering methods endure: soaking, boiling, beating, rubbing, rinsing and wringing out, then drying in fresh air where possible. Washboards and sticks improve the end result of this very tiring, long and costly task. The “grand wash” only takes place twice a year. |
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Invention of the washing machine. A closed tub with wooden paddles (later metal) allows laundrywomen to stand upright and not get their hands wet. |
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The first electric washing machine, made in the USA in 1908, features an overhead electrically powered agitator. Around 1920, new machines are fitted with a horizontal drum. At the end of the 1940s, electric machines have an impeller. During the 1950s, a heating element and automatic spin are added. Automatic machines appear in the 1960s: wash, rinse and spin at the touch of a button, in the same vertical, and later horizontal, drum. By the end of the 20th century, electronics replace electro-mechanical controls, on energy-saving machines with new wash cycles, using more environmentally-friendly products. |
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Environmental Impact of washing products |
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| Prehistory |
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Antiquity |
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Middle Ages |
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Renaissance |
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18th-19th Centuries |
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20th-21st Centuries |
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| No washing products. No impact. |
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Washing products, but no impact. |
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400 to 1750
Good water quality, but deteriorating due to growth in population and increasing use of washing products.
1750 to 1870
Deterioration increases, for same reasons.
1870 to 1960
Industrialization and use of non-biodegradable surfactants, etc., greatly contribute to rapid deterioration in water quality. Concern over environmental impact of products is virtually nil.
1960 to present day
Water quality improves considerably and becomes acceptable. This is due to waste water treatment and development of biodegradable surfactants (biodegradability tests to safeguard the environment). |
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Analysis of time spent on laundry |
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| Prehistory |
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Antiquity |
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Middle Ages |
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Renaissance |
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18th-19th Centuries |
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20th-21st Centuries |
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| No impact. |
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Laundry, apart from routine washing, is difficult, tiring and costly in terms of means and time. Highly symbolic and ritualized, it is at the heart of community life and is exclusively the women’s task. |
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Washing methods become more effective and mechanized. Hygiene gains in importance. The laundry loses its mystique, to become an ordinary chore, easier, less tiring and quicker. |
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Washing machines make the task faster, easier and more efficient. Any member of the family can do it, everything is automatic. Leisure time is increased. In every washing product available, each type of molecule must meet exacting standards, such as toxicity and biodegradability. |
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Impact of growing hygiene awareness on health |
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| Prehistory |
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Antiquity |
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Middle Ages |
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Renaissance |
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18th-19th Centuries |
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20th-21st Centuries |
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| Probably the first impact of hygiene on health is the realization that not everything is good to eat and that dirty hands should be washed. |
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Washing hands before eating, disinfecting homes, doctors’ advice on personal hygiene, laundry: the link between hygiene and health is demonstrated very early during Antiquity. |
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A step backwards. Nudity is taboo, superstitious fear of water, overcrowding in towns where waste water is thrown out of windows, etc. Hygiene is no longer a daily routine, and the consequences are soon felt, e.g. Black Plague epidemics in Europe. |
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Hygiene gains in importance. Science progresses, contagious diseases are being understood, hygiene campaigns are introduced, soap is widely used. |
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Hygiene rules the day, and the results are obvious: epidemics are stemmed and life expectancy prolonged. Personal hygiene and domestic hygiene - today cleanliness is part of our culture. To the benefit of everyone. |
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Chemistry and the trend towards specific formulations |
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| Prehistory |
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Antiquity |
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Middle Ages |
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Renaissance |
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18th-19th Centuries |
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20th-21st Centuries |
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| Water only. In time, probably hot water. |
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Early attempts to combine glycerol and alkali base. Use of tallow, ash, urine and animal excrement. |
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Saponification improves. Still glycerol with alkali base. Use of vegetable fat, addition of perfumes. |
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Goat tallow, olive oil, beech ash, various perfumes. Soap making becomes more refined and specialized. |
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Leblanc, Solvay, Chevreul, Scheele - chemists research and improve the process. Saponification becomes more complex with 5 to 10 ingredients. |
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Surfactants (anionic, nonionic, cationic, amphoteric), sequestering agents, builders, anti-redeposition agents, as well as perfumes. Today, all-purpose detergents contain 20 to 30 highly specialized ingredients. |
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