Washing kettle
A washing kettle is a heatable container that is used to heat water or washing liquor and in which laundry is washed. The heating is mostly done by a wood or coal fire, less often with gas. Up until the general spread of the washing machine in the 1960s, washing kettles were part of the equipment of most households, today they are rarely used.
construction
The essential components of a washing kettle are the actual kettle, a round metal tub, and the associated substructure in which the fire necessary for heating burns; Appropriate flaps are provided to maintain the fire and remove the ashes. The substructure can be bricked or made of metal (mostly cast iron ) or concrete . Such boilers had the advantage that they were transportable and could therefore be taken with you when moving, and they could be easily set up without the help of a bricklayer or stove fitter , since only the stove pipe had to be connected. The kettle itself is made of copper or enamelled sheet steel , and there is usually a lid that is placed on when the water is heated. The boiler can be removable, in this case handles are usually attached to the upper edge; Permanently installed kettles often have a drain cock with which they can be easily emptied.
In addition to washing, the kettle could also be used for other purposes, especially in agriculture , for example to prepare cattle feed or to heat glasses for awakening or cans for sausage making . Washing kettles were mostly set up in the laundry room , more rarely in the normal kitchen . Before bathrooms became common, the laundry room was mostly used for personal hygiene; the washing kettle then supplied the warm water with which, for example, a public bathtub could be filled.
While washing kettles were still widespread in the mid-20th century, they have largely disappeared today with the advent of the washing machine. Most museums that deal with local history and everyday history have at least one copy, but new washing kettles are still being produced and sold. They are mainly used in self-sufficiency or ecological life projects.
