Posted
June 6, 2013
Two
thousand years ago, women in Korea and China were pressing wrinkles
out of cloth with flat-bottomed metal pans full of hot water.
A
few centuries later, Vikings were pressing wrinkles out of linen with
smoothers made from glass.
From
the 17th Century, sadirons were used. These were thick
slabs of cast iron, heated up on a stove or other device. They were
lifted from the stove and pressed onto cloth using wooden or bamboo
handles. Sometimes people had many small irons heating at once; as
soon as the iron in use began to cool down, the ironer would switch
it for a hot iron.
Box
irons were developed later. Inside the metal box of one of these
irons, people put hot coals or (in India) burning coconut shells.
In
the late nineteenth century, many people used liquid irons that were
heated by fuels such as whale oil, natural gas, or even gasoline!
These clothing irons were a fire risk—but I would think would also
risk making clothing stinky and stained!
Finally,
on this date in 1882, a man named Henry W. Seeley applied for a
patent for an electric iron. Yeah! Our cloths and clothing were
saved!
(Not
that I personally ever use an iron!)
Of
course, Seeley's iron wasn't the last improvement in clothing irons.
People went on to invent an iron with a thermostat and later a steam
iron. And permanent press fabric!
Also
on this date:
Plan
ahead:
Check
out my Pinterest pages on June
holidays, historical
anniversaries in June,
and June
birthdays.
