Agitation

A manual dolly type washer produced by the Dowswell Manufacturing Company, Hamilton, Ontario, c.1898 (720543). Photo courtesy of Imager.

Before mechanization clothes were agitated by rocking the vessel containing water or by wielding a dolly (a stout stick topped by a handle with a cluster of wooden "fingers") through it. Mechanical means alleviated this task. The manual dolly type washer often had a large open flywheel gear that rotated the dolly in forward and reverse motion pulling garments through the wash water (720543). In time, the addition of a toothed gear mechanism enabled the vertical movement of the wash dolly (920123).

The manual oscillating type washer could be operated while seated.Renfrew Wash-Rite was manufactured by the Renfrew Machinery Company, Renfrew, Ontario, c.1930.

Manufacturers also produced manual oscillating type washers that agitated the clothes in the wash water (790488). The operator pushed and pulled a hand lever that rocked the tub-full of water and laundry end for end. Springs attached to the frame and the tub aided this swing action. Baffles inside the vessel increased the agitation of the wash water by directing the flow in a figure-eight movement.