A Norahammars Bruk model 3005-2 mangle from 1934

A mangle is a mechanical laundry aid consisting of two rollers in a sturdy frame, connected by cogs and, in its home version, powered by a hand crank or electrically. While the appliance was originally used to wring water from wet laundry, today mangles are used to press or flatten sheets, tablecloths, kitchen towels or clothing.

It was invented sometime in the 18th century; it was a cheaper, simplified version of the box mangle. Box mangles were large and expensive; they were used by wealthy households and large commercial laundries. Middle-class households and small-scale washerwomen used the plain mangle. Later in the 19th century, the steam engine was harnessed to laundry purposes and commercial laundries used steam-powered mangles. The box mangle is said to have been invented in the 17th century. ...

When washing machines were first invented, they were simply a tub on legs or wheels, with a hand-cranked mangle on top. Soon, the electric washing machine rendered this use of a mangle obsolete, and with it the need to wring clothes mechanically. In some countries, notably in the Anglo-Saxon world, mangles dissappeared entirely. Front-loading washing machine. ...

Instead, mangles for pressing gained in popularity, often with built-in cloths that thickened the pressed object or big springs that kept the rollers tight. In the 1940s electric mangles were developed and are still a feature of many laundry rooms, appreciated for their ease of use compared to irons and trouser presses when pressing large pieces of cloth or doing neat flolds. An iron Ironing or smoothing is the work of using a heated tool to remove wrinkles from washed clothes. ...