UK to Give Waterless Washing Machine a Spin

[bluesand]

http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/48719/story.htm


LONDON - A washing machine using as little as a cup of water for each washing cycle could go on sale to environmentally conscious Britons next year.

Xeros Ltd, which has been spun out of the University of Leeds to commercialise the technology, said on Monday the new machines would use less than 2 percent of the water and energy of a conventional washing machine.
Plastic chips are used to remove dirt and stains from clothes, leaving them dry and reducing energy consumption as there is no need to use a dryer after the washing cycle, Xeros said in a statement. The firm, which recently secured investment of almost 500,000 pounds (US$984,400) from IP Group Plc, told Reuters the price of the new machines was "not expected to be dramatically different from (conventional) washing machines." Washing machine usage has risen by 23 percent in the past 15 years. The average UK household uses almost 21 litres of water daily on clothes washing, 13 percent of daily household water consumption, according to Waterwise, a non-government organisation focused on decreasing water wastage in Britian.

[Byzantea]

cool!

[sybaritik]

That would be pretty cool if it works well.

[rainforests1]

It says it reduces energy consumption, but does it still use a lot of energy? It doesn't sound perfect, but possibly a big step in the right direction.

[Earthling]

Cool! When our washing machine goes wrong I'll try and convince my landlord to get one of these.

[IamJen]

I'd love to hear more about this. :yes:

[Badger_Lady]

One of the big benefits to my mind (which isn't included in the article) is its portability - presumably, if you only need one cup of water per load, it doesn't need to be plumbed in..? So you can put it anywhere in the house and plug it into a mains electric socket, off you go :)

[bluesand]

I'd love to hear more about this. :yes:

http://www.intology.com/science-technology/xeros-washing-machine-that-uses-1-cup-of-water/



Scientists at University of Leeds have developed a new washing machine named Xeros that carries out a full wash using only one cup of water, leaving clothes virtually dry.
The Xeros technology, developed by Professor Stephen Burkinshaw, enables massive savings to be made in the amount of water and energy consumed during the washing, scouring, dyeing and printing of textiles. It uses less than 2 per cent of the water and energy of a conventional machine.
According to statistics an average household uses about 20 litres of water daily washing clothes.
http://www.intology.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/xeros-working.jpg
The washing machine uses thousands of tiny plastic chips – each about half a centimeter in size – to absorb and remove dirt.
The water is heated during the washing cycle to help dissolve dirt which is then picked up by the chips. The chips can be used up to 100 times which equals around six months of washing for many people. About 20kg of the chips are added to each load along with a cup of water and detergent.

[bluesand]

That would be pretty cool if it works well.

Agree , there I others out there ..."soap free" another in 2005 "water free"

Just seemed to disappear .

[slimlife]

Cool!
It can not only reduce water-usage but also remove drying stage!

[IamJen]

Thanks for posting that bluesand. I'm trying to find out how the chips are separated from the clothes, at the end of the cycle. I'm imagining a scene like when I leave a tissue in one of my pockets. :no:

[bluesand]

Thanks for posting that bluesand. I'm trying to find out how the chips are separated from the clothes, at the end of the cycle. I'm imagining a scene like when I leave a tissue in one of my pockets. :no:

You are well ahead of me Jen ..I'm still trying to work out the beginning , the adding of one cup of water , I assume it is mist spayed in . As you say 20 kg of plastic chips to separate from the clothes at the end of the cycle is interesting

Still , when a new invention is announced , its best to explain it in such a way to confuse every one (mainly your competitors ) until you get it on the market .:shifty:

They reckon it will be on the market next year , well we will see , i hope so.

[IamJen]

Woot!

Laundry's a big struggle for me, wrt environmental issues. We bought a tumble dryer last year, because we just couldn't get our clothes dry in a timely fashion. They would take so long to dry that the many of the clothes would smell (eww) and need to be washed again. I've been able to put much on the line now that the weather is warmer, but having the clothes come out of the washer in a drier state would be great.

[LovelyPerv]

It would be great if it worked well.

I can't help but wonder if it would meet my own personal needs (assuming it catches on and makes it to the US). I need it to be able to remove a ton of cat & dog hair, along with oils and chemicals I get covered with at work.

And...I'm having difficulty seeing a cup of water spread itself evenly across an entire load of clothes. Clothes can absorb a lot of liquid.

[Wednesday_12]

I'm wondering what happens to the chips at the end of their life? Can they be recycled too? (I am trying to be waste free, and water can be recycled, but chips maybe not?... I understand there are flaws in this, so inform me where you can!).