hi
No, these washers were all metal - we had these in this time in Germany, too!
They were heated by steam which came from a boiler that also drove the steam-engine which was the motor for the machines.
The presoaked washing (soaked often with chlorine bleach and soda to kill the germs) were sorted and, if necessary, pretreated by hand (2. pic: the woman with the woodden wash-board washer in front of her and the soaking basins in the rear of the pic) then put into the drum. Warm water was filled in via the tubes, soad and soap-powder added and the gear was switched on to make the machine run. Then the valves for the steam were opened and the boiling process started. Later, suds where drained and the hot water valve was opened for a first hot rinse. Then, after thus having been drained the cold water tap was opened and the cold water cooled and rinsed the clothes in an overflow rinsing process. Finally washing was drained again and a last cold rinse had to be made by opening valves and taps, sometimes with blueing added. In the end the washing had to be transferred into the spinner and water was extracted before the washing was hanged into gas or steam heated gallery dryers (huge cabinet dryers) to pre-dry them. Some articles were (heavily) starched and spun again and together with the others, still lightly humid items, sent through big steam-mangles, with often 5-6 rolls, to iron, disinfect and totally dry the clothes in one go!
Ralf
