With a simple design that impacted millions of homes, Manuel Jalón’s mop freed people from cleaning on their knees and transformed domestic hygiene.
In the world of housework, where millions of people spend hours to keep the home impeccable, any idea that facilitates this task and reduces the time invested becomes an ally. One of these inventions, born in Spain, forever changed the way of cleaning the floor and is still present in thousands of homes: the mop
This simple but revolutionary device, composed of a stick and absorbent strips, made it possible for the first time to clean the floor without having to kneel. Its creator, a military man and aeronautical engineer, Not only did it respond to a common need, but it also introduced a product to the market that would soon become popular throughout the world.
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How the mop was created
The history of the mop has its origins in the 1950s, when Manuel Jalona Spanish engineer from the Air Force, traveled to USA as part of his aeronautics training. During his stay at the air base of Chanute, IllinoisJalón observed how the hangar workers used a peculiar system to clean the floors: a stick with cotton strips, which was drained into a metal bucket equipped with rollers. This tool immediately caught his attention and made him think about the difficulties that existed in Spain in carrying out this task.
Upon returning to the Iberian country, the young soldier, inspired by what he had seen, decided to design his own version of this “floor washer“. As the historian relates Carlos Rivadulla“Jalón realized the great advance that this utensil represented, especially when remembering how in his country people knelt to clean with a cloth.” This image, added to the physical difficulties that the traditional cleaning method caused, motivated the engineer to design a system that allowed cleaning while standing.
With this idea in mind, Jalón worked together with a mechanic and a sheet metal worker to develop a model that would facilitate the task of cleaning the floor in an ergonomic way. In 1957 he patented his inventiona metal bucket with rollers that drained the cotton strips from the mocho by operating a lever. After a while, Rodex Manufacturingthe company he founded to market the product, began distributing it. “This metal bucket was the floor washer that everyone needed, but that they didn’t yet know about,” Jalón said in interviews at the time.
The inventor without profits: did Jalón collect royalties?
Despite the success of the invention, the military businessman never benefited financially the way it is usually associated with such a popular product. Although his company sold millions of mops, he did not receive “royalties” or additional payments for the use of his invention abroad. In fact, in 1989 he sold the company to the multinational Curver B.V. after having distributed more than 60 million units.
Jalón, however, faced legal challenges to defend his authorship. In 2008, a Spanish court confirmed that he was the sole inventor of the mop, following a lawsuit by the family of Emilio Bellviswho claimed to be the creator. The ruling was clear in stating that “Jalón’s invention possessed originality and technical merit.” Years later, the Spanish justice system reinforced this decision, and Jalón’s legacy as the creator of the mop was ratified.
Source: Ambito
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