Christiane Pakula & Rainer Stamminger Received: 15 January 2009 /Accepted: 7 December 2009 /Published online: 8 January 2010 # Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009 Abstract Washing laundry is one of the most widespread housework in the world. Today, washing machines do this work in many private households, using water, electricity, chemical substances, and process time.…