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Laundry, one of the most time-consuming domestic chores throughout history, was traditionally performed by beating wet fabric against rocks or washboards, a method that cleaned effectively but wore down fibers quickly and consumed an entire day of labor, often assigned to women or servants. The invention of hand-cranked and later motorized washing machines in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries dramatically reduced the physical labor involved, though early electric models posed genuine electrocution and injury risks due to exposed wringers that could catch fingers or hair. Detergent chemistry also advanced considerably, moving from harsh lye-based soaps that damaged skin and fabric toward milder synthetic surfactants. Despite these advances, some historians argue that labor-saving laundry technology did not reduce the total time women spent on domestic work, since rising cleanliness standards simply expanded expectations for how often clothing should be washed.