Hairdryer

The first electric hairdryer in Germany was produced by
the company Sanitas, who marketed it under the brand name “Foen”
(named after the warm Alpine wind known as the föhn).
Although early hairdryers were loud, cumbersome, and unsafe,
these electrical appliances quickly became bestsellers:
Advertisements even claimed that they could be used not only to dry hair,
but also ease rheumatism, thaw pipes, and puff up feather boas.

Thanks to new plastics, which offered new colours and shapes,
the design of hairdryers changed in the post-war period.
Influenced by current fashions, they were often white
and had a modern, streamlined shape.

Today nearly all German households have hairdryers.
However, there are few people who offer repairs for them.
Like many small household appliances, they end up as electronic waste,
which amounts to 1.9 million tonnes per year in Germany.