Title: Vacuum clothes washer

Identifier: Tobacco Farm Life Museum   (https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/13959)

Description: Vacuum clothes washer or laundry agitator. Many clothes, such as undergarments, are too delicate to be washed vigorously with a washboard. In cases such as these, the farm family uses a vacuum clothes washer that acts as a plunger to clean their clothes. This clothes washer, a metal, cone-like head, with a wooden handle, acts like a plunger when moved up and down in a tub of water. A vacuum force is created that rids the clothes of dirt. This process is gentler than scrubbing on a board and allows for longer ware of delicates. Early 20th century. The accompanying video describes how the vacuum clothes washer is used.