Electrical appliance cable

Ashton cables - 2 core braided rubberised flex. Steel and cardboard reel of braided flex.

Part of the Bob Gray collection of electrical objects.

Flex such as this was typically used for low current applications such as lighting and small appliances. It was superseded by PVC insulated flex by the 1960s because the natural materials used in this flex, particularly the rubber insulation, tended to degrade with age and lose their insulation properties. The braiding process was also complex and time consuming compared to the ease of extruding plastic.