Pesky stains and spots caused by oil, ink and grease spills also served as nuisance during the 1800s. Brooms and rug beating proved useless for stain and spot removal. Even vacuums, first invented by Ives W. McGaffey in 1868, later developed into the first electrical-powered vacuum (known as the “Model O”) by James Spangler in 1907 did very little to remove unwanted stains. In the 1830s, housewives discovered that scrubbing stains with lemon juice and a hot loaf of bread proved useful in treating spots caused by grease, ink and oil. Experimentation with stain removal and carpet cleaning continued well into the 1900s. Bull’s gall with water and flannel were used to scrub out heavily soiled areas of carpet, while other individuals used clay or chloroform solutions in their carpet cleaning process.
How Steam Cleaning Came About
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