Craigmillar Steam Laundry, Edinburgh

Category

Library Item

Item no

11998

Title

Craigmillar Steam Laundry, Edinburgh

Description

A woman holds an empty laundry basket she is surrounded by baskets overflowing with laundry and women sorting or repairing their contents.

Artist / maker

Couper, James Lamb

Date

1890

Type

Photograph

The Craigmillar Steam Laundry was founded in the early 1880's. It is described in 'A Descriptive Account of Edinburgh - Illustrated', published around 1893, as "the largest, best arranged, and most perfectly equipped establishment of this kind in Scotland". The laundry used state of the art equipment including steam driven washing machines and hydro-extractors, a type of spin drier. In addition to the cleaning, ironing and finishing of clothes the laundry dealt with a whole range of materials including carpets and curtains. All finished goods were despatched in the company's horse drawn vans. In the late nineteenth century the laundry employed roughly 130 people.

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Related subjects

Architecture > Architectural features > Floors

Architecture > Architectural features > Walls

Business > Service industry > Cleaning establishments

Furnishings > Equipment > Laundry

People > Industry > Laundresses

Places > Edinburgh areas > Newington

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh