Ewbank is a brand of cleaning products founded in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in 1864. Originally owned by Entwisle and Kenyon Ltd, then by Earlex Ltd.

History

In 1864, Ewbank was founded in

Accrington Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, by John Ramsbottom and George Hacking. Originally the company produced

water meter Water metering is the practice of measuring water use. Water meters measure the volume of water used by residential and commercial building units that are supplied with water by a public water supply system. They are also used to determine Flui ...

s.Crossley, Richard Shaw & Ainsworth, Richard (2013) ''Accrington Through the 19th Century'', Robert Cunliffe, , p. 110 They were joined by John Haworth, James Entwisle, and James Kenyon. When the founders retired, the company was renamed Entwisle and Kenyon Limited. Around 1875, Entwisle & Kenyon began manufacturing

washing machine A washing machine (laundry machine, clothes washer, washer, or simply wash) is a machine designed to laundry, launder clothing. The term is mostly applied to machines that use water. Other ways of doing laundry include dry cleaning (which uses ...

s and mangles.Gantz, Carroll (2012) ''The Vacuum Cleaner: A History'', McFarland and Co Inc, , p. 33 In 1882 Richard Walton Kenyon visited the U.S. to source wooden blocks for mangles, and came across a carpet sweeper factory in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. Recognizing the potential for the product in the UK market, Kenyon designed a carpet sweeper for Ewbank. It went on sale in 1889, and became the leading product of its kind in the UK, where carpet sweeping became commonly known as "ewbanking". The name 'Ewbank' originated from the Ewbank area of

, where the factory was located. Several models of sweepers were produced, such as the 'Standard' and 'Parlour Queen', as well as miniature versions designed specifically for children. Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Ewbank established itself as a major manufacturer of floor-care products, with a presence both in the UK and internationally."Entwisle and Kenyon Limited", ''Statist'', Volume 179, p. 752, 1963 While the initial models used metal casing, by the mid 1970's the sweepers were made from Novodur."Ewbank Sweeps the Field with Novodur", ''Engineering Materials and Design'', Volume 19, p. 33 By the mid-1970s Ewbank was owned by Prestige. In 2003, the company was acquired by Earlex Ltd. In November 2013 Ewbank became independent once again and has since established subsidiary companies in the US and Hong Kong. The company has expanded its product line to include carpet cleaners, vacuum cleaners, floor scrubbers, steam cleaners, and polishers.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ewbank (Company) Companies established in 1864 Home appliance manufacturers of the United Kingdom Vacuum cleaner manufacturers British brands Companies based in Surrey Godalming