History of The Pressure Cleaning Industry

In 1926 Frank W. Ofeldt II, was perfecting his design of a portable Whiskey Still for a local moonshiner, when he detected a potential discovery to create a cleaning contraption that would mix wet stream with chemicals. He meets Frederick E Schuchman Sr. who finds Ofeldt project interesting. Ofeldt and Schuchman join forces and soon began developmental work on what was temporarily termed the " Hypressure Vapor Spray Generator ".

A man name Mr. Eltinge, who is the brother of the world-famous female impersonator Julius Eltinge. Looking for work as an Ad Man, Mr. Eltinge asked what a Hypressure Vapor Spray Generator was, and after it was explained, Mr. Eltinge reply was "Why don't you call it High Pressure Jenny?". And from there the name stuck. Mr. Eltinge wasn't hired but was paid $20.00 for the rights to the name.

Around the same time Ofeldt Whiskey Still was cleaning his floors, a man named Walter Kerrick in California uncovered the same basic manifestation. Walter Kerrick took his finding and obtained what became known as the " Kerrick Patent ".  Walter Kerrick invented his version of the steam cleaner which embodied the principle of a coiled tube and forced circulation and got a patent on it, but he couldn't build it. So he approach Mr. William Clayton Sr., who bought the rights and employed Kerrick as chief engineer.

As Frank W. Ofeldt II and Walter Kerrick were fashioning the first steam cleaners, Job Fordyce "Ford" Malsbarys technological innovations were shaping his entry into the steam cleaning industry, which occurred around 1933. It was then that Ford Malsbary started Malsbary Garage which incidentally, largely catered to Model-T cars. Ford created a burner that utilized gasoline as fuel, vaporizing it and blowing it into a combustion chamber.

Ford Malsbary eventually created systems using hot water as well as steam for utensil sterilization, which was high in demand in the Dairy Industrey. In truth, each of these manufacturers developed the technologies that soon led to the development of the pressure washer.