Beginning in the Middle Ages, its hydropower was used for watermills along the Jona, later for textile production facilities. In the early 19th century, Rüti was one of the centers of the industrialization in the southeastern parts of the canton of Zürich. In 1847, "Caspar Honegger", a factory for weaving machines, was established in the "Joweid" valley (river Jona), later "Maschinenfabrik Rüti AG" with its global relations, and in the 1990s of Sulzer and the G + F group. A collection of weaving machines produced by this company is now housed in a museum in nearby Neuthal.