six o'clock
This was done by dumping them into a spinning receptacle that went at a rate of a few thousand revolutions a minute , tearing the water from the clothes by centrifugal force . Then Martin began to alternate between the dryer and the wringer , between times `` shaking out '' socks and stockings . By the afternoon , one feeding and one , stacking up , they were running socks and stockings through the mangle while the irons were heating . Then it was hot irons and underclothes till six o'clock , at which time Joe shook his head dubiously . `` Way behind , '' he said . `` Got to work after supper . '' And after supper they worked until ten o'clock , under the blazing electric lights , until the last piece of under-clothing was ironed and folded away in the distributing room .