We love all things cleaning, so we thought we’d share some cleaning trivia for National Trivia Day. Over the past hundred years, the way we clean our homes and public spaces has changed drastically. Here are just some of those ways: 

• The vacuum cleaner was invented in 1901. The earliest models were so large they had to be pulled by horses and parked outside buildings, with long hoses snaking in through the windows. It wasn’t until the 1920s that portable electric vacuum cleaners became a common household item. 

• Laundry detergents as we know them didn’t exist until World War II.  Before then, people used soap flakes or scrubbing boards. 

• The first synthetic sponge was produced in 1941, but people have used natural sea sponges for cleaning for thousands of years. 

• Self-cleaning ovens were first introduced in the 1960s. They use high heat to burn off spills and splatters, making clean-up easier. 

• In the 1920s, housework like cleaning and laundry took about 52 hours a week. Today, the average American spends around six hours a week cleaning. Cleaning innovations have come a long way to save us time and effort! 

Whether you’re a cleaning enthusiast or just love quirky facts, we hope you’ve learned something new and will share cleaning trivia tidbits with friends and family. Who knows—you might inspire others to tackle that messy closet or try a new cleaning hack!