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As I understand it, when they first became available in the home, they were so miraculous that those whose former duty it was to wash the clothes by hand would

As I understand it, when they first became available in the home, they were so miraculous that those whose former duty it was to wash the clothes by hand would sometimes luxuriate in their newfound free time by sitting in a nice chair and just watching the clothes wash themselves. Also, I reckon there was a risk of people opening the doors out of incredulous curiosity. As a child, I definitely would have tried to open the thing if it didn't have a window.

Toenex 13y ago
True, the invention of the automatic washing machine pre-dates the television by some 30 years!
delinka 13y ago
My grandmother's house has had a front loading washer with a window for my entire life. (Sure, it's been replaced several times, but always with another front loader with a window.) I learned early on that the door actually locks once the water has started. I also remember noticing that the opening was small enough to make climbing in impractical for human children.
aestra 13y ago
Ever try it? You can't. The machine won't let you... Yeah I did try to open it when I lived in Europe and had a front loading machine. Also do you have a source of this or is it just idle speculation?
- JonnieCache 13y ago
  Obviously you can't open it. The three year old me likely would have had a bloody good go at it though, if he wasn't pacified by the spinning clothes through the window. My source for the first bit is a Hans Rolsing ted talk about washing machines, as well as my own grandmother.
- oneeyedpigeon 13y ago
  More idle speculation, but presumably the very first models weren't advanced enough to have an auto-locking mechanism. Since the only difference (that I can think of) between top- and front-loading models is the safe/disastrous result when opening mid-cycle, I can only imagine it has seomthing to do with that.
- arethuza 13y ago
  Turn it off then wait a couple of minutes until the timer enables the catch on the door.

Toenex 13y ago

True, the invention of the automatic washing machine pre-dates the television by some 30 years!

delinka 13y ago

My grandmother's house has had a front loading washer with a window for my entire life. (Sure, it's been replaced several times, but always with another front loader with a window.) I learned early on that the door actually locks once the water has started. I also remember noticing that the opening was small enough to make climbing in impractical for human children.

aestra 13y ago

Ever try it? You can't. The machine won't let you... Yeah I did try to open it when I lived in Europe and had a front loading machine. Also do you have a source of this or is it just idle speculation?

JonnieCache 13y ago
Obviously you can't open it. The three year old me likely would have had a bloody good go at it though, if he wasn't pacified by the spinning clothes through the window. My source for the first bit is a Hans Rolsing ted talk about washing machines, as well as my own grandmother.
oneeyedpigeon 13y ago
More idle speculation, but presumably the very first models weren't advanced enough to have an auto-locking mechanism. Since the only difference (that I can think of) between top- and front-loading models is the safe/disastrous result when opening mid-cycle, I can only imagine it has seomthing to do with that.
arethuza 13y ago
Turn it off then wait a couple of minutes until the timer enables the catch on the door.