3 ms·

Nearly Waterless Washing Machine to Debut in 2009

6 points by prakash 18y ago

river_styx 18y ago
This explains how the plastic chips remove dirt, but what about stains and smells?
- sh1mmer 18y ago
  Washing machine generally work on a couple of principles, * beating wet fibres to remove unwanted particle mater (stains, dirt, etc) * centrifugal force to extract water It looks like by adding the plastic chips the surface area and frequency at which the laundry is beaten is increased. This allows for the reduction in water. Depending what kind of "plastic" is used it may be something biodegradable. The stains and smell associated with dirty laundry is because of the foreign contaminants in the cloth. If those are removed and absorbed by the plastic particle then the clothes won't smell any more. Personally I wonder how many plastic particle would 'escape' each wash though. That could be a bit of a pain. But this seems like a great improvement to washing machine technology.
mattmaroon 18y ago
Most people in countries that can afford new washing machines don't worry too much about water. And I don't see how replacing water with plastic could possibly be good for the environment.
- froo 18y ago
  Most people in countries that can afford new washing machines don't worry too much about water. ... except if you live in a country that is known to suffer from severe long-lasting droughts as a result of climate change....like us here in Australia. We're more than able to afford new washing machines - in fact, our government subsidises us (in the form of cashbacks) for getting more efficient machines. The problem is the lack of rainfall combined with increases in population and water requirements as a result. In fact, we're so water conscious now that there is legislation in place, in the form of water restrictions, to help limit unnecessary water usage. EDIT - just thought I'd break down some numbers to show why this is a good thing for us. Household water usage in Australia is just over 11% of the total water usage, the second highest use in Australia behind Agriculture. I'm not sure on our specific percentages of washing usage to normal usage, but if we assume that the 13% figure is fairly consistent with the UK (given relatively similar cultural backgrounds) then our washing machines account for about 1.4% of all total water usage in Australia. Being able to cut this down significantly is good news, when you consider water usage (for us anyway) is measured in gigalitres (potentially saving up to 268 GL a year) - thats a whole heap of h2o
deleted 18y ago
[deleted]

6 points by prakash 18y ago

river_styx 18y ago

This explains how the plastic chips remove dirt, but what about stains and smells?

sh1mmer 18y ago
Washing machine generally work on a couple of principles, * beating wet fibres to remove unwanted particle mater (stains, dirt, etc) * centrifugal force to extract water It looks like by adding the plastic chips the surface area and frequency at which the laundry is beaten is increased. This allows for the reduction in water. Depending what kind of "plastic" is used it may be something biodegradable. The stains and smell associated with dirty laundry is because of the foreign contaminants in the cloth. If those are removed and absorbed by the plastic particle then the clothes won't smell any more. Personally I wonder how many plastic particle would 'escape' each wash though. That could be a bit of a pain. But this seems like a great improvement to washing machine technology.

mattmaroon 18y ago

Most people in countries that can afford new washing machines don't worry too much about water. And I don't see how replacing water with plastic could possibly be good for the environment.

froo 18y ago
Most people in countries that can afford new washing machines don't worry too much about water. ... except if you live in a country that is known to suffer from severe long-lasting droughts as a result of climate change....like us here in Australia. We're more than able to afford new washing machines - in fact, our government subsidises us (in the form of cashbacks) for getting more efficient machines. The problem is the lack of rainfall combined with increases in population and water requirements as a result. In fact, we're so water conscious now that there is legislation in place, in the form of water restrictions, to help limit unnecessary water usage. EDIT - just thought I'd break down some numbers to show why this is a good thing for us. Household water usage in Australia is just over 11% of the total water usage, the second highest use in Australia behind Agriculture. I'm not sure on our specific percentages of washing usage to normal usage, but if we assume that the 13% figure is fairly consistent with the UK (given relatively similar cultural backgrounds) then our washing machines account for about 1.4% of all total water usage in Australia. Being able to cut this down significantly is good news, when you consider water usage (for us anyway) is measured in gigalitres (potentially saving up to 268 GL a year) - thats a whole heap of h2o

deleted 18y ago

[deleted]