New York native Frederic L. Martin and his Ohio bride Mary Paulus married in Madison County in 1880.

Records show that they went to California in an economy boosted by the discovery of gold. They were unsuccessful, but used the methods taught to them and started cleaning oriental carpets for the industrialists in the area.

The couple moved back to Columbus and worked with JM Schuster on East Street, a company called Columbus Steam Carpet Beating and Renovating Works, which operated from 1886 to 1890.

In 1890, the couple opened Martin's carpet cleaning and steam renovation factory near the Scioto River in the German Village, and they had their first child, Laura. They also have three children, Ethel, Paulus and Little Frederick.

In his spare time, Frederick Sr. started making washboards in his backyard. Washboard was first introduced in Scandinavia, and a US patent was issued in 1833 for the style Martin was building, which integrated corrugated metal panels in the frame.

In 1895, Martin founded the Columbus Washboard Company. Over the next 25 years, as he and his wife continued to focus on carpet cleaning, he sold less than 1,000 washboards.

The flood of 1913 posed a major challenge to the carpet cleaning industry because the cleaning plant was destroyed. After Columbus requisitioned their land for flood control purposes to widen the river, the family moved to 75 West Fourth Avenue, and the company moved into their home in Victoria Village and operated until 1925.

In 1908, Martin obtained a patent for a special friction plate, which he called the Bear-On-Easy plate. He designed two styles, one for underwear and one for sturdy clothes. In 1925, Martin's youngest son Frederic Jr. bought all the company's things from his father, including the patent and trademark of the Bear-On-Easy washboard, a saw, and a metal crimping machine. Paulus joined the carpet cleaning company, which is still family-owned Martin Carpet Cleaning.

Frederic Jr. purchased the Columbus Washboard Co. manufacturing plant in Grandview Heights at 1372 Oxley Road in 1938. He and his wife Margaret sold more than 23 million washboards before their death in 1987. Their business strategy is to develop innovative and professional models of simple washboards. For example, the "V for Victory" washboard was produced in 1941, and it was made of wood due to the shortage of metal in the country due to World War II. During this period, the company had to be creative on the surface, so another washboard used glass as a friction surface.

The washboard is also used as a percussion instrument. Traditionally, it was used in jazz, zydeco, skiffle, kettle bands, and old-time music. It was played mainly by percussion, but it was also used to scrape the washboard with a thimble.

By the early 1970s, all competitors had closed down, leaving only the Grandview factory producing washboards.

Pat Taylor, the niece of Frederic Jr., inherited the company after his uncle died in 1987. She and her husband Mike jointly run the company and then sold it to a small group of investors in 1999.

In order to reduce costs, the partner moved the company to Logan and purchased the vacant Goldman shoe factory building near the city center, where the company is still thriving.