Vacuum Action

The laundress could also use a wash plunger to create a suction and pressure action that forced soapy water through fabric (950569). By the 1890s, manufacturers grouped vacuum wash plungers. A hand lever connected to a gearing mechanism raised and lowered the cluster of plungers.

A pre-mechanical era wash plunger, the Perfect model, manufacturer unknown, c. 1910 (950569). Photo courtesy of Imager.

Vacuum washer by Maxwell's Ltd., St. Mary's, Ontario, c. 1920, (L05669).