‘Rapide’ automatic twin-tub washing machine, with textile dust cover, by Rolls Razor Limited, Cricklewood, London, England, 1960-1965

Rolls ‘Rapide’ automatic twin-tub washing machine sold for £60 and was made on an assembly line in the Rolls Razor factory in Cricklewood, where prospective customers could view the process. By 1962, Rolls had secured 10% of the market and was the third largest manufacturer of washing machines in Britain. Many Rolls machines were sold by door-to-door salesmen who signed customers up to hire purchase deals.

The wash tub agitates the washing in hot soapy water. Wash times are a fraction of those for automatic washers. Typically, a wash would agitate for 5 minutes or less. However, the washing has to be rinsed separately. To do this, it must be transferred to the other (spin) tub to be spun at high speed, which pushes water out of the clothes. The first spin removes soapy water from the wash cycle. (Many users would recover this water back into the the wash tub to wash the next load in). Clean water is then added and spun through the clothes in order to rinse them. A final spin is done to get the washing as dry as possible.