My wife is from East Germany and tells me I must use hemp packing to stop the bathroom and laundry taps leaking. But every tap I unscrewed for at least 20 years has 1 or 2 o-rings on the spindle to seal it. I have lived in 6 different flats since leaving home, and even in my parents' house I can't recall seeing hemp. I asked the local hardware store if they had plumber's hemp, and they said no (they were a small shop, I admit). So I am curious, when where o-rings introduced in the western countries? 1960s? 1970s?
- posted
18 years ago