 After a while, F.L. took sole control of the company and renamed it the Maytag Company. He also dabbled in other businesses and by 1910, concentrated on developing a washing machine with a gas-powered motor and another with an agitator that forced the water through the clothes, something he called the gyrofoam. Those inventions proved popular and by 1927, Maytag was producing more than twice the number of washers of its nearest competitor.