9 ms·

An off-grid, flat-packable washing machine

245 points by ohjeez 10mo ago

tehwebguy 10mo ago
Feel like replacing my piece of shit LG with this. It can only soak for a predetermined amount of time and if I try to pause it to soak longer it drains the water in 3 minutes. Plus, scrud!
- araes 10mo ago
  It sounds kind of sarcastic, yet that was actually the personal thought also. Really sounds like its comparable to the amount of work with modern machines anyways. Couple minutes of hand cranking, and otherwise, approximately the same. Owned a modern washing machine for years, and not sure if I've ever used almost any of the settings or features other than, "load clothing on default, push start". Probably sell well in a lot of developed world markets for people who just want to limit their electricity use, live away from the grid, have less reliance on complicated electronics, or minimize money use in an expensive society.
  - SoftTalker 10mo ago
    You should use the bedding setting for large quilts and blankets, and the towels setting for towels, it really does work better. Experiment with the other settings so you can see the difference in wash time, water levels, spin speed and then you know which one to choose based on what you want for that load. Oh and separate your laundry. Don't throw towels, blankets, and clothes in all at the same time.
    - noosphr 10mo ago
      How much free time do you have to do this? Wash. Is clean? Yes: put in drier. No: GOTO wash.
    - bgbntty2 10mo ago
      Why separate laundry? I've tried it in the past, but don't do it anymore. Same result. The stains that can be cleaned get cleaned. The stains that would persist, persist. The only difference is the temperature setting. As for separating colors - in my life I've had a piece of clothing stain other clothes 2 or 3 times. Once I put some white shirts and they came out pink because of another red shirt. Funny thing is, the pink was very uniform, so it looked as if the shirts were originally pink. If my washing machine breaks, I'll get a second hand one. If I get a brand new washing machine, it will have to have a manual mode where I can set the desired program manually. For example, what is "towel setting"? If I can't see and modify the setting (e.g., A temperature for B minutes at C RPM, then D temp for E min for F RPM, etc.), I wouldn't use it.
      - fc417fc802 10mo ago
        It depends. My clothing doesn't (typically) need to tumble for long whereas towels might and bedding needs to go for much longer. In general it's probably better for fabric to be washed for less time if possible. It wears out. Also if you pay close attention you'll notice that things don't come fully clean (old machines didn't either) just "clean enough". Throw some well used dog bedding in with your shirts and this fact might become more readily noticable. So it makes sense to wash like-use with like-use for that reason alone.
        tgsovlerkhgsel 10mo ago
        Less time != less wear. Some of the longest programs just let the laundry sit with occasional agitation, similar to how the machine in this article works, in the name of energy saving.
        fc417fc802 10mo ago
        True. However, my fantastically modern machine from this marvelous version of the future we're living in doesn't offer any programs that soak for a noticable length of time. My bedding gets set to a cycle that constantly agitates the drum for the better part of 2 hours which my shirts definitely won't benefit from being subjected to.
  - ornornor 10mo ago
    Check the user manual. The default program is usually not the most energy and water efficient one but rather the mandatory one for certifying the machine. Same thing for dishwashers, the “eco” program is often not the best especially if you have an “auto” one.
    - PeterStuer 10mo ago
      I try to explain this to people, but they are so convinced by the 'eco' branding/rethoric that even when you demonstrate they still disbelieve, or more acuratly do not want to believe.
      - dzhiurgis 10mo ago
        Eco modes save water and generally take a little longer, albeit same temperature (ergo a little bit more energy). I am missing something?
        ornornor 10mo ago
        Yes, check the power and water usage table in the manual: all the ones I’ve checked (in Europe), the eco program is not eco when compared to others (especially auto if it’s there) Eco is just the standard program they have to ship and must use for the energy efficiency rating.
        tgsovlerkhgsel 10mo ago
        Why would they not use the most efficient one for the energy efficiency rating?
        dmurray 10mo ago
        Because everyone would cheat and include a program that sprays cold water for a few seconds, using minimal energy but not actually getting your dishes clean.
        10mo ago
  - f6v 10mo ago
    You guys are delusional. Try serving even a small family with this, it's a nightmare. I can clearly see people romanticizing dull hard labour.
  - tgsovlerkhgsel 10mo ago
    A big difference is that this can't properly centrifuge your clothes, while a normal washing machine can. This also needs manually filling and emptying, while a normal washing machine handles all that, including multiple rinse cycles.
  - tehwebguy 10mo ago
    Yeah, I didn’t even get into how poorly it seems to actually wash the clothes. Been thinking lately that it would be cool to get a washboard that fits nicely in its tub that I can use to scrub the clothes by hands and then remove for the rinse cycles.
- syntaxing 10mo ago
  Get a speed queen. Famous for being reliable because it’s a “dumb” machine (in a good way).
  - frompdx 10mo ago
    They are also very heavy duty compared to a normal washer and dryer, even a basic one. I've had mine since 2017 and they just work.
  - adiabatichottub 10mo ago
    It's only $1700! And would also last 30+ years, like a 1980s Maytag
  - thatfrenchguy 10mo ago
    Destroys your clothes and is mega inefficient in exchange. You can buy better washers than LG washers that are modern.
    - jihadjihad 10mo ago
      Nah, maybe the TC-5 could be argued to be relatively inefficient and pretty aggressive on delicate stuff (and loud), but the TR-7 is both efficient and gentle on clothing while being quiet. Have had one for a while and love it. No machine is perfect but this feels pretty close.
      - bob1029 10mo ago
        The TC5 is fine by me. I've never had a washer that worked this well. The noise level is the last thing I'm worried about when a meaningful cycle completes within 30 minutes.
    - AngryData 10mo ago
      Does being "inefficient" really matter for a washing machine if you don't live in the desert? Its not like they go through 100+ of gallons of water or ridiculous amounts of electricity even in the worst possible case scenarios.
- prirun 10mo ago
  My Mom had a washer that did this. I told her to unplug it to soak overnight. That worked, but she hated that thing, sold it, and took my sister's older washer that didn't have any "we know better than you do" features.
  - firebot 10mo ago
    Many washers will pause if the lid is open.
    - temp8830 10mo ago
      Most washers outside of Asia are horizontal, not vertical, so there is no lid to open. And the ancient tech ones in North America that load from the top don't have any electronics and are already immune.
      - 20after4 10mo ago
        The top load washers in the US all have lid locks and safety switches with anti-tamper devices to prevent you from disabling the lock mechanism.
  - tehwebguy 10mo ago
    I do this if I really need to soak something but the cycle after I turn back it on is weird because it’s not “resuming”
- fc417fc802 10mo ago
  My favorite modern "efficiency" feature has to be the machine refusing to unlock the door for me after it's been "too long". Okay, fine. Reset cycle, add some random item, whoops there went a bunch of water and detergent. Not my problem I guess. Say goodbye to those EnergyStar figures.
- noosphr 10mo ago
  At this point with having to read the manual to open the damned door I'm seriously thinking about attaching a belt drive, motor, driver circuit and esp32 running an http with spin/stop commands.
  - bryanbuckley 10mo ago
    I was diagnosing my washer (drum balance issue; many annoying minutes unlocking the lid multiple times) earlier today and had the same thought.
teruakohatu 10mo ago
It is easy to understand the impact this will be in people’s lives. I think within no time it will be modded with motors, maybe salvaged from broken electrical appliances and it will come full circle.
- throwaway173738 10mo ago
  You’d need electricity for that and a lot of places don’t have it.
  - AlotOfReading 10mo ago
    You'd be surprised at the places that have electricity, like houses in middle of nowhere, central asia. One of the challenges with engineering technology for the global south is that poverty is wildly different for different people. I met a professor working on flatpack windmills to pump water/electricity. The major challenges he kept seeing in the the Andes weren't the sorts of longevity/efficiency/logistics issues we usually solve with standard engineering, but how the products interacted with local politics and society.
  - makeitdouble 10mo ago
    To add to AlotOfReading's point, many places have some electricity, just utterly unreliable. It might be down a few hours every day, or completely cut for days after storms or infra degradation, or the current fluctuate too much for delicate electronics. Many places could also get hold of a gasoline generator. These kind of variations could require more thinking on the design, but being able to use electricity when available and hand power when needed would be the best. Ideally the people on the ground thinking about their specific issues and having open ways to adapt the machine for it opens the door for many kind of evolutions.
  - teddy-smith 10mo ago
    Solar maybe
petermcneeley 10mo ago
Checks all the boxes but why no TEDx talk?
aljgz 10mo ago
Love seeing this. For many reasons, I expect to see a lot of new products and solutions going against the main trends of locking down the user, planned obsolence, rent seeking from buyers, and limiting their choices. Imagining a company shipping the home appliances equivalent to Frame.work laptops: open, reparable, hackable, and upgradable. I would happily connect them to my home wifi, program them the way I want, and have one hub that allows me to monitor health, upgrade firmware, control functionality.
christkv 10mo ago
Wait does it not need a rise as well to get the soap out of the clothes?
- ungreased0675 10mo ago
  I noticed that too. Does anyone know what happens if you don’t rinse the clothes?
- hn_throwaway_99 10mo ago
  I was glad to see this because I had the same exact question, but then I realized that given this machine seems to be designed for manually loading the water into it, a dedicated "rinse cycle" probably wouldn't help much because it's probably easier to just manually rinse the clothes after.
adiabatichottub 10mo ago
I love it. I used to work for a company targeting markets in the developing world. It's really easy to take for granted the supply chains that exist all around us. I always like to see the creative solutions people come up with when resources are constrained. PS: As an example, note the sheet-metal construction. In an industrialized country we would laser-cut all these parts. If you wanted to make this in an area with less infrastructure you might use a template and carbide gas torch to cut out the large shapes, then a hand punch to make the screw holes. More labor intensive, but still doable.
- PeterStuer 10mo ago
  In an "industrialized" country we encase the real drum in a glued tight unopenable plastic enclosure to prevent the drum seals from being service replaced when they fail so that what used to be a small low cost repair now results in a forced new machine purchase.
  - Spivak 10mo ago
    I have found that "low end" appliances avoid a lot of this nonsense since there's no money for extraneous parts and they've been using the exact same designs for decades.
    - 20after4 10mo ago
      Even on the low-end models, Whirlpool (and probably other brands as well) have managed to add at least one failure-prone and overly expensive feature: The lid safety switch which prevents you from disabling the lid lock. It has a complex design with lots of anti-tamper circuitry. It's highly prone to failure and very expensive to replace compared to the price of the whole machine.
- jayanmn 10mo ago
  I could not find if the team makes design open https://www.thewashingmachineproject.org/ https://www.thewashingmachineproject.org/ That alone will be revolutionary.
superultra 10mo ago
But can it really clean clothes if it doesn’t have 802.11ac with AI spot cleaning and a 750mv iOS app??? /s
- lostlogin 10mo ago
  No, but if it has access to your contacts it can.
NedF 10mo ago
[dead]
mystraline 10mo ago
Deleted cause I was wrong.
- throwaway173738 10mo ago
  Can you give one example of someone you know or have heard of who could benefit from one of these as opposed to a really cheap rental grade 120vac modern washing machine? You’d have to not have electricity to need one of these and rural electrification was a thing over 100 years ago here.
  - tbrownaw 10mo ago
    Maybe some of the prepper crowd?
- denkmoon 10mo ago
  TFA states units have been shipped to the US.
  - Brian_K_White 10mo ago
    I wouldn't be surprised if the US ones weren't mostly used by people with camp sites. Even the poorest people have elctricity. But affluent people have remote camps.
- tomcatfish 10mo ago
  The THIRD sentence in the article explains that they ship to the US. You are tone-policing your hallucinated version of the article! > Enter Navjot Sawhney, who founded the UK-based social enterprise The Washing Machine Project (TWMP) to tackle this, and has now shipped almost 500 of his hand-crank Divya machines to 13 countries, including Mexico, Ghana, Iraq *and the US.*
markbao 10mo ago
This is very cool. Great that it’s built out of metal for longevity and repairability. Wonder if they could make the radius of the rotation smaller since that seems like the most likely ergonomic improvement I could see from the demo.
xnx 10mo ago
Previously (2021): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28168460 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28168460
- Tarsul 10mo ago
  He started in 2018. In 2021 he had shipped 30 (to Iraq). Wanted to ship 7500 in the next 3 years. Fast foward to 2025: he has shipped 500 in 13 countries. Hopefully, with his partnerships and local production (in India) his ramp-up will fasten up. I wish him luck.
makeitdouble 10mo ago
> We went back to the drawing board and really listened to the people we were designing for, for the context in which they lived. That research changed everything,” I understand they had a very good idea to begin with, and more importantly their heart in the right place And then further made it better with more input. Reading the comments here the better solution for us is probably not to go back to "dumb" washing machines, but to regain control of how these machines are designed, for who and for what. I'm thinking about Linux, which can be stripped down as small and nimble as needed to run a single board micro controller, or be large as needed to have everything to run an enterprise service. Being able to do the same with a washing machine would absolutely change their usefulness and place in our society. I don't know how it could start, perhaps with an IKEA washing machine that actually needs assembly, for users to then tweak the parts, start comminities so we get at least in a KALLAX situation ? https://ikeahackers.net/2025/07/ikea-kallax-hacks-2.html https://ikeahackers.net/2025/07/ikea-kallax-hacks-2.html
- xbmcuser 10mo ago
  This is not targeted for people on hackernewz
ChrisMarshallNY 10mo ago
I really like the practicality and simplicity of this. Designing stuff for real humans to use, is really difficult, and really humbling. In my experience, defense contractors really have to take the user context into account. It can be life or death. I used to work for one, and seeing the stuff come back from the field, was a lesson in humility.
makeitdouble 10mo ago
Had the feeling someone must have made a similar design in Japan. And yes: https://youtu.be/iMOkxrdP6kY?si=HWf_Sb-zwk5Vi8ES https://youtu.be/iMOkxrdP6kY?si=HWf_Sb-zwk5Vi8ES (sold for about 10,000 yens https://item.rakuten.co.jp/thanko/000000003846/ https://item.rakuten.co.jp/thanko/000000003846/) The metal design in the article is still more flexible and durable. I also assumed the Japanese version would be targeted at disaster situations and/or remote mountain areas and be more repairable, but the cost saving part seems to be a major selling point.
- supportengineer 10mo ago
  I don't see an agitator, how does it get the clothes clean?
  - makeitdouble 10mo ago
    Gravity. The clothes falling down from the upper half is described on the slides, so I assume the rotation isn't fast enough for the clothes to stick to the walls, or it has an elliptical rotor to make sure there a speed difference ? (edited as I'm not sure how it exactly works)
  - dtgriscom 10mo ago
    Tumbling, just like a generic front-load washing machine.
    - supportengineer 10mo ago
      Oh, I would never buy one of those
- vanderZwan 10mo ago
  That video is three years old, although the item in question might be older of course. I remember reading about the Washing Machine Project a decade ago or so.
Animats 10mo ago
There are lots of little hand-crank washing machines on Alibaba and Amazon. Most are plastic and rather fragile looking. Many seem to use the mechanism of salad spinners. The Sears WonderWash seems to be popular.
cocoto 10mo ago
Sadly arm strength and endurance is way worse than legs, this should obviously work with pedals like a bicycle. I would even be ready to buy one to replace my daily commute when working from home.
- sa-code 10mo ago
  Fully agree, a set of pedals should be able to power a kitchen machine or other appliances too
deleted 10mo ago
[deleted]
nataliste 10mo ago
>It works like this: after loading the clothes, detergent and water, and letting it sit for 10-15 minutes, users can close the lid and turn the handle for two minutes, repeating this twice more after ten minutes of letting the clothes sit in between spins. And voila — the machine can then be drained using the tap at the front. I lived off-grid and did all of our laundry, a family of four (including a baby in cloth diapers), by hand, even in the winter (below -20F). You know what works as well? A wash tub and a stick. Or a bucket and plunger. Or a posser if you're really fancy. I used a 30 gallon garbage can and a hand-carved posser. In mild or hot climates you can just stomp on it. Same principle: Draw water, add cleanser, agitate for a couple of minutes, let it soak, return at some time in the future, agitate again. Remove laundry and let drip dry while you draw fresh water (mangles and spinners speed this up and are more effective, but not necessary). Squeeze wet laundry at lowest point where water has gathered. Repeat entire process with clean water, then lay it out in the sun prioritizing any sides with stains. The secret sauce of clean laundry isn't how you agitate the laundry. It's just time and chemistry. Water access, cleansing agents, and patience are fundamentally more important than providing "revolutionary" contraptions. It's the same difference between teaching people about no-knead bread and giving them hand-cranked stand-mixers. One solves the need for intensive manual labor and the other doesn't, but introduces a new point of failure. And even importing enzyme-containing detergent is unnecessary. Plant ash (a source of alkali) and aged urine (a source of ammonia) are all you need to create what's known as bucking lye which cleans just as effectively and uses byproducts that they themselves produce by default. Residual stains are removed via UV from sun drying. There's absolutely no need to complicate this.
- nchmy 10mo ago
  This is the sort of comment I was hoping to find. I have focused in this area - improving lives of the poorest as efficiently as possible - for a long time and my immediate thoughts about this washing machine was that it was overcomplicated and definitely far too expensive (for many reasons) to ever really make a difference. Though, that won't stop these folks from doing this and receiving donations for it into perpetuity. So much is possible if you just look at how nature, in one way or another, can do the work for you. No knead bread (or, better, periodic stretch and folds over the course of a few hours) is a perfect example. Or making a composting toilet/latrine by just adding sawdust, ash etc. Or simple and cheap rocket stoves that burn the smoke. Or cover crops and cultivating soil structure and microbes. Etc The key for what you shared (and, i suppose this machine) is how little agitation you actually need, and how there's plenty of ways to do it with no fancy equipment. Can you share more about your experience, or even share some links, about the amount of agitation needed, how "cleaning" actually works (you said time and chemistry - but how?), and how to make effective, low-cost detergents anywhere? Thanks!
hiddencost 10mo ago
500 machines in 7 years? Seems questionable.
giantg2 10mo ago
What's old is new again. It's surprising to see how surprised people get about this sort of thing - as if we skipped straight from hand-washing to computerized washing machines. One generation of living with technology and we forget how to live without it.
kjellsbells 10mo ago
Reminds me strongly of a program by Tim Hunkin from the 1980s: the Secret Life of the Washing Machine. Highly recommend. https://youtu.be/SgWh-5DsiQM?si=ILozBq9QPSEHd1W2 https://youtu.be/SgWh-5DsiQM?si=ILozBq9QPSEHd1W2
Forgeties79 10mo ago
what a great demo too. Feel like a lot of companies could learn from him!
flanked-evergl 10mo ago
Fairer future?
constantcrying 10mo ago
Maybe off-topic, but what is going on with this website? "Step forward the ‘fully biodegradable’ shoe that leaves no footprint" - Hilariously awful idea. Which sane person wants shoes which are designed to literally disintegrate? "The smartphone for children that blocks porn" - AI being used to surveil children phones for nudity. (???) "Solar project reimagines railway network as clean energy lifelines " Literally Solar roadways again. Which is a idea worthy of so much ridicule.
- rsyring 10mo ago
  > "The smartphone for children that blocks porn" - AI being used to surveil children phones for nudity. (???) The article mentions that all detection happens on the device, and the manufacturer doesn't collect any user data. I have no idea if that's true, but they are at least aware of the risks and saying they are addressing them.
mythrwy 10mo ago
When I lived in an apartment with no washer I got sick of using the laundrymat because it was expensive and kind of nasty. So I set up my own washing setup after some research. I got something called a "breathing washer" which looks kind of like a toilet plunger and a big tote which I put in the bathtub for use. These breathing washers work really well and in my opinion get your clothes much cleaner than agitating and spinning. Then I got something called a "spin dryer" that is basically a small centrifuge that spins a lot faster than a regular washing machine and leaves fabrics like light polyester nearly dry coming out. Finally I got an inflatable plugin dryer. This setup was more work than a regular washing machine but maybe not more work than bundling up clothes and taking to the laundrymat and sitting there for an hour or two. One thing I really liked about it was short time to process. I could have washed and dried clothes much faster than a conventional washer/dryer setup. I've been in a house for a long time now and admittedly having a washer and dryer is much nicer and less work, but that setup was acceptable and much better than laundromats for whatever it's worth if someone is in a similar situation.
burnt-resistor 10mo ago
Meanwhile, anti-repairable corporate washing machines: Washing Machine SCAM EXPOSED! The Truth About SEALED Drums: Naming & Shaming https://youtu.be/crzZEvFf_L4 https://youtu.be/crzZEvFf_L4 Multiple manufacturers (i.e., Bosch, Miele, Siemens, AEG, Zanussi, Beko, Hoover, Hotpoint, Indesit) no longer offering split drums and individual components, instead sealing drums with heat welding and bolts, and selling only very expensive assemblies that cost almost as much as a new appliance. Video is by an independent appliance repair shop owner in the UK who tears apart old and new appliances showing the difference in parts.
worik 10mo ago
I hate this. Good people in the UK spending their time dreaming up solutions to "problems" far away The people who live "far away" have agency and can solve their own problems, if given the chance. Westerners do not know better, are not better, and generally should mind their own business. It would be much be much better to work on local problems in their own societies
ffuxlpff 10mo ago
We live in times where off-grid means it doesn't send user statistics home and ads back. How relieving that it meant electricity!
barfoure 10mo ago
As a DIY fixerupper who has had a fair share of repairing all sorts of household appliances, I truly do like the simplicity of washing machines. It is good to be able to reduce its bare function down to something that can be manually operated. I anticipated a gearing system for these reasons which the article kindly mentions. I haven’t seen the insides, I would probably incorporate some sort of a heating element but given power requirements it probably would not be hand driven at that point. Maybe im wrong and they have one? I do enjoy the sturdy construction and repairability of this. I suppose it’s too on the nose but I think the bigger story here is just how big of a task it is to run, and maintain, electricity and current required for everyday life. It is a big barrier.
MagicMoonlight 10mo ago
Add a bicycle mechanism so that you can spin it by pedaling. Would be much more effective, and might let you scale it up. People could start a laundry service for their community.

245 points by ohjeez 10mo ago

Feel like replacing my piece of shit LG with this. It can only soak for a predetermined amount of time and if I try to pause it to soak longer it drains the water in 3 minutes. Plus, scrud!

araes 10mo ago
It sounds kind of sarcastic, yet that was actually the personal thought also. Really sounds like its comparable to the amount of work with modern machines anyways. Couple minutes of hand cranking, and otherwise, approximately the same. Owned a modern washing machine for years, and not sure if I've ever used almost any of the settings or features other than, "load clothing on default, push start". Probably sell well in a lot of developed world markets for people who just want to limit their electricity use, live away from the grid, have less reliance on complicated electronics, or minimize money use in an expensive society.
- SoftTalker 10mo ago
  You should use the bedding setting for large quilts and blankets, and the towels setting for towels, it really does work better. Experiment with the other settings so you can see the difference in wash time, water levels, spin speed and then you know which one to choose based on what you want for that load. Oh and separate your laundry. Don't throw towels, blankets, and clothes in all at the same time.
  - noosphr 10mo ago
    How much free time do you have to do this? Wash. Is clean? Yes: put in drier. No: GOTO wash.
  - bgbntty2 10mo ago
    Why separate laundry? I've tried it in the past, but don't do it anymore. Same result. The stains that can be cleaned get cleaned. The stains that would persist, persist. The only difference is the temperature setting. As for separating colors - in my life I've had a piece of clothing stain other clothes 2 or 3 times. Once I put some white shirts and they came out pink because of another red shirt. Funny thing is, the pink was very uniform, so it looked as if the shirts were originally pink. If my washing machine breaks, I'll get a second hand one. If I get a brand new washing machine, it will have to have a manual mode where I can set the desired program manually. For example, what is "towel setting"? If I can't see and modify the setting (e.g., A temperature for B minutes at C RPM, then D temp for E min for F RPM, etc.), I wouldn't use it.
    - fc417fc802 10mo ago
      It depends. My clothing doesn't (typically) need to tumble for long whereas towels might and bedding needs to go for much longer. In general it's probably better for fabric to be washed for less time if possible. It wears out. Also if you pay close attention you'll notice that things don't come fully clean (old machines didn't either) just "clean enough". Throw some well used dog bedding in with your shirts and this fact might become more readily noticable. So it makes sense to wash like-use with like-use for that reason alone.
      - tgsovlerkhgsel 10mo ago
        Less time != less wear. Some of the longest programs just let the laundry sit with occasional agitation, similar to how the machine in this article works, in the name of energy saving.
        fc417fc802 10mo ago
        True. However, my fantastically modern machine from this marvelous version of the future we're living in doesn't offer any programs that soak for a noticable length of time. My bedding gets set to a cycle that constantly agitates the drum for the better part of 2 hours which my shirts definitely won't benefit from being subjected to.
- ornornor 10mo ago
  Check the user manual. The default program is usually not the most energy and water efficient one but rather the mandatory one for certifying the machine. Same thing for dishwashers, the “eco” program is often not the best especially if you have an “auto” one.
  - PeterStuer 10mo ago
    I try to explain this to people, but they are so convinced by the 'eco' branding/rethoric that even when you demonstrate they still disbelieve, or more acuratly do not want to believe.
    - dzhiurgis 10mo ago
      Eco modes save water and generally take a little longer, albeit same temperature (ergo a little bit more energy). I am missing something?
      - ornornor 10mo ago
        Yes, check the power and water usage table in the manual: all the ones I’ve checked (in Europe), the eco program is not eco when compared to others (especially auto if it’s there) Eco is just the standard program they have to ship and must use for the energy efficiency rating.
        tgsovlerkhgsel 10mo ago
        Why would they not use the most efficient one for the energy efficiency rating?
        dmurray 10mo ago
        Because everyone would cheat and include a program that sprays cold water for a few seconds, using minimal energy but not actually getting your dishes clean.
        10mo ago
- f6v 10mo ago
  You guys are delusional. Try serving even a small family with this, it's a nightmare. I can clearly see people romanticizing dull hard labour.
- tgsovlerkhgsel 10mo ago
  A big difference is that this can't properly centrifuge your clothes, while a normal washing machine can. This also needs manually filling and emptying, while a normal washing machine handles all that, including multiple rinse cycles.
- tehwebguy 10mo ago
  Yeah, I didn’t even get into how poorly it seems to actually wash the clothes. Been thinking lately that it would be cool to get a washboard that fits nicely in its tub that I can use to scrub the clothes by hands and then remove for the rinse cycles.
syntaxing 10mo ago
Get a speed queen. Famous for being reliable because it’s a “dumb” machine (in a good way).
- frompdx 10mo ago
  They are also very heavy duty compared to a normal washer and dryer, even a basic one. I've had mine since 2017 and they just work.
- adiabatichottub 10mo ago
  It's only $1700! And would also last 30+ years, like a 1980s Maytag
- thatfrenchguy 10mo ago
  Destroys your clothes and is mega inefficient in exchange. You can buy better washers than LG washers that are modern.
  - jihadjihad 10mo ago
    Nah, maybe the TC-5 could be argued to be relatively inefficient and pretty aggressive on delicate stuff (and loud), but the TR-7 is both efficient and gentle on clothing while being quiet. Have had one for a while and love it. No machine is perfect but this feels pretty close.
    - bob1029 10mo ago
      The TC5 is fine by me. I've never had a washer that worked this well. The noise level is the last thing I'm worried about when a meaningful cycle completes within 30 minutes.
  - AngryData 10mo ago
    Does being "inefficient" really matter for a washing machine if you don't live in the desert? Its not like they go through 100+ of gallons of water or ridiculous amounts of electricity even in the worst possible case scenarios.
prirun 10mo ago
My Mom had a washer that did this. I told her to unplug it to soak overnight. That worked, but she hated that thing, sold it, and took my sister's older washer that didn't have any "we know better than you do" features.
- firebot 10mo ago
  Many washers will pause if the lid is open.
  - temp8830 10mo ago
    Most washers outside of Asia are horizontal, not vertical, so there is no lid to open. And the ancient tech ones in North America that load from the top don't have any electronics and are already immune.
    - 20after4 10mo ago
      The top load washers in the US all have lid locks and safety switches with anti-tamper devices to prevent you from disabling the lock mechanism.
- tehwebguy 10mo ago
  I do this if I really need to soak something but the cycle after I turn back it on is weird because it’s not “resuming”
fc417fc802 10mo ago
My favorite modern "efficiency" feature has to be the machine refusing to unlock the door for me after it's been "too long". Okay, fine. Reset cycle, add some random item, whoops there went a bunch of water and detergent. Not my problem I guess. Say goodbye to those EnergyStar figures.
noosphr 10mo ago
At this point with having to read the manual to open the damned door I'm seriously thinking about attaching a belt drive, motor, driver circuit and esp32 running an http with spin/stop commands.
- bryanbuckley 10mo ago
  I was diagnosing my washer (drum balance issue; many annoying minutes unlocking the lid multiple times) earlier today and had the same thought.

teruakohatu 10mo ago

It is easy to understand the impact this will be in people’s lives. I think within no time it will be modded with motors, maybe salvaged from broken electrical appliances and it will come full circle.

throwaway173738 10mo ago
You’d need electricity for that and a lot of places don’t have it.
- AlotOfReading 10mo ago
  You'd be surprised at the places that have electricity, like houses in middle of nowhere, central asia. One of the challenges with engineering technology for the global south is that poverty is wildly different for different people. I met a professor working on flatpack windmills to pump water/electricity. The major challenges he kept seeing in the the Andes weren't the sorts of longevity/efficiency/logistics issues we usually solve with standard engineering, but how the products interacted with local politics and society.
- makeitdouble 10mo ago
  To add to AlotOfReading's point, many places have some electricity, just utterly unreliable. It might be down a few hours every day, or completely cut for days after storms or infra degradation, or the current fluctuate too much for delicate electronics. Many places could also get hold of a gasoline generator. These kind of variations could require more thinking on the design, but being able to use electricity when available and hand power when needed would be the best. Ideally the people on the ground thinking about their specific issues and having open ways to adapt the machine for it opens the door for many kind of evolutions.
- teddy-smith 10mo ago
  Solar maybe

petermcneeley 10mo ago

Checks all the boxes but why no TEDx talk?

aljgz 10mo ago

Love seeing this. For many reasons, I expect to see a lot of new products and solutions going against the main trends of locking down the user, planned obsolence, rent seeking from buyers, and limiting their choices. Imagining a company shipping the home appliances equivalent to Frame.work laptops: open, reparable, hackable, and upgradable. I would happily connect them to my home wifi, program them the way I want, and have one hub that allows me to monitor health, upgrade firmware, control functionality.

christkv 10mo ago

Wait does it not need a rise as well to get the soap out of the clothes?

ungreased0675 10mo ago
I noticed that too. Does anyone know what happens if you don’t rinse the clothes?
hn_throwaway_99 10mo ago
I was glad to see this because I had the same exact question, but then I realized that given this machine seems to be designed for manually loading the water into it, a dedicated "rinse cycle" probably wouldn't help much because it's probably easier to just manually rinse the clothes after.

adiabatichottub 10mo ago

I love it. I used to work for a company targeting markets in the developing world. It's really easy to take for granted the supply chains that exist all around us. I always like to see the creative solutions people come up with when resources are constrained. PS: As an example, note the sheet-metal construction. In an industrialized country we would laser-cut all these parts. If you wanted to make this in an area with less infrastructure you might use a template and carbide gas torch to cut out the large shapes, then a hand punch to make the screw holes. More labor intensive, but still doable.

PeterStuer 10mo ago
In an "industrialized" country we encase the real drum in a glued tight unopenable plastic enclosure to prevent the drum seals from being service replaced when they fail so that what used to be a small low cost repair now results in a forced new machine purchase.
- Spivak 10mo ago
  I have found that "low end" appliances avoid a lot of this nonsense since there's no money for extraneous parts and they've been using the exact same designs for decades.
  - 20after4 10mo ago
    Even on the low-end models, Whirlpool (and probably other brands as well) have managed to add at least one failure-prone and overly expensive feature: The lid safety switch which prevents you from disabling the lid lock. It has a complex design with lots of anti-tamper circuitry. It's highly prone to failure and very expensive to replace compared to the price of the whole machine.
jayanmn 10mo ago
I could not find if the team makes design open https://www.thewashingmachineproject.org/ https://www.thewashingmachineproject.org/ That alone will be revolutionary.

superultra 10mo ago

But can it really clean clothes if it doesn’t have 802.11ac with AI spot cleaning and a 750mv iOS app??? /s

lostlogin 10mo ago
No, but if it has access to your contacts it can.

NedF 10mo ago

[dead]

mystraline 10mo ago

Deleted cause I was wrong.

throwaway173738 10mo ago
Can you give one example of someone you know or have heard of who could benefit from one of these as opposed to a really cheap rental grade 120vac modern washing machine? You’d have to not have electricity to need one of these and rural electrification was a thing over 100 years ago here.
- tbrownaw 10mo ago
  Maybe some of the prepper crowd?
denkmoon 10mo ago
TFA states units have been shipped to the US.
- Brian_K_White 10mo ago
  I wouldn't be surprised if the US ones weren't mostly used by people with camp sites. Even the poorest people have elctricity. But affluent people have remote camps.
tomcatfish 10mo ago
The THIRD sentence in the article explains that they ship to the US. You are tone-policing your hallucinated version of the article! > Enter Navjot Sawhney, who founded the UK-based social enterprise The Washing Machine Project (TWMP) to tackle this, and has now shipped almost 500 of his hand-crank Divya machines to 13 countries, including Mexico, Ghana, Iraq *and the US.*

markbao 10mo ago

This is very cool. Great that it’s built out of metal for longevity and repairability. Wonder if they could make the radius of the rotation smaller since that seems like the most likely ergonomic improvement I could see from the demo.

xnx 10mo ago

Previously (2021): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28168460 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28168460

Tarsul 10mo ago
He started in 2018. In 2021 he had shipped 30 (to Iraq). Wanted to ship 7500 in the next 3 years. Fast foward to 2025: he has shipped 500 in 13 countries. Hopefully, with his partnerships and local production (in India) his ramp-up will fasten up. I wish him luck.

makeitdouble 10mo ago

> We went back to the drawing board and really listened to the people we were designing for, for the context in which they lived. That research changed everything,” I understand they had a very good idea to begin with, and more importantly their heart in the right place And then further made it better with more input. Reading the comments here the better solution for us is probably not to go back to "dumb" washing machines, but to regain control of how these machines are designed, for who and for what. I'm thinking about Linux, which can be stripped down as small and nimble as needed to run a single board micro controller, or be large as needed to have everything to run an enterprise service. Being able to do the same with a washing machine would absolutely change their usefulness and place in our society. I don't know how it could start, perhaps with an IKEA washing machine that actually needs assembly, for users to then tweak the parts, start comminities so we get at least in a KALLAX situation ? https://ikeahackers.net/2025/07/ikea-kallax-hacks-2.html https://ikeahackers.net/2025/07/ikea-kallax-hacks-2.html

xbmcuser 10mo ago
This is not targeted for people on hackernewz

ChrisMarshallNY 10mo ago

I really like the practicality and simplicity of this. Designing stuff for real humans to use, is really difficult, and really humbling. In my experience, defense contractors really have to take the user context into account. It can be life or death. I used to work for one, and seeing the stuff come back from the field, was a lesson in humility.

makeitdouble 10mo ago

Had the feeling someone must have made a similar design in Japan. And yes: https://youtu.be/iMOkxrdP6kY?si=HWf_Sb-zwk5Vi8ES https://youtu.be/iMOkxrdP6kY?si=HWf_Sb-zwk5Vi8ES (sold for about 10,000 yens https://item.rakuten.co.jp/thanko/000000003846/ https://item.rakuten.co.jp/thanko/000000003846/) The metal design in the article is still more flexible and durable. I also assumed the Japanese version would be targeted at disaster situations and/or remote mountain areas and be more repairable, but the cost saving part seems to be a major selling point.

supportengineer 10mo ago
I don't see an agitator, how does it get the clothes clean?
- makeitdouble 10mo ago
  Gravity. The clothes falling down from the upper half is described on the slides, so I assume the rotation isn't fast enough for the clothes to stick to the walls, or it has an elliptical rotor to make sure there a speed difference ? (edited as I'm not sure how it exactly works)
- dtgriscom 10mo ago
  Tumbling, just like a generic front-load washing machine.
  - supportengineer 10mo ago
    Oh, I would never buy one of those
vanderZwan 10mo ago
That video is three years old, although the item in question might be older of course. I remember reading about the Washing Machine Project a decade ago or so.

Animats 10mo ago

There are lots of little hand-crank washing machines on Alibaba and Amazon. Most are plastic and rather fragile looking. Many seem to use the mechanism of salad spinners. The Sears WonderWash seems to be popular.

cocoto 10mo ago

Sadly arm strength and endurance is way worse than legs, this should obviously work with pedals like a bicycle. I would even be ready to buy one to replace my daily commute when working from home.

sa-code 10mo ago
Fully agree, a set of pedals should be able to power a kitchen machine or other appliances too

deleted 10mo ago

[deleted]

nataliste 10mo ago

>It works like this: after loading the clothes, detergent and water, and letting it sit for 10-15 minutes, users can close the lid and turn the handle for two minutes, repeating this twice more after ten minutes of letting the clothes sit in between spins. And voila — the machine can then be drained using the tap at the front. I lived off-grid and did all of our laundry, a family of four (including a baby in cloth diapers), by hand, even in the winter (below -20F). You know what works as well? A wash tub and a stick. Or a bucket and plunger. Or a posser if you're really fancy. I used a 30 gallon garbage can and a hand-carved posser. In mild or hot climates you can just stomp on it. Same principle: Draw water, add cleanser, agitate for a couple of minutes, let it soak, return at some time in the future, agitate again. Remove laundry and let drip dry while you draw fresh water (mangles and spinners speed this up and are more effective, but not necessary). Squeeze wet laundry at lowest point where water has gathered. Repeat entire process with clean water, then lay it out in the sun prioritizing any sides with stains. The secret sauce of clean laundry isn't how you agitate the laundry. It's just time and chemistry. Water access, cleansing agents, and patience are fundamentally more important than providing "revolutionary" contraptions. It's the same difference between teaching people about no-knead bread and giving them hand-cranked stand-mixers. One solves the need for intensive manual labor and the other doesn't, but introduces a new point of failure. And even importing enzyme-containing detergent is unnecessary. Plant ash (a source of alkali) and aged urine (a source of ammonia) are all you need to create what's known as bucking lye which cleans just as effectively and uses byproducts that they themselves produce by default. Residual stains are removed via UV from sun drying. There's absolutely no need to complicate this.

nchmy 10mo ago
This is the sort of comment I was hoping to find. I have focused in this area - improving lives of the poorest as efficiently as possible - for a long time and my immediate thoughts about this washing machine was that it was overcomplicated and definitely far too expensive (for many reasons) to ever really make a difference. Though, that won't stop these folks from doing this and receiving donations for it into perpetuity. So much is possible if you just look at how nature, in one way or another, can do the work for you. No knead bread (or, better, periodic stretch and folds over the course of a few hours) is a perfect example. Or making a composting toilet/latrine by just adding sawdust, ash etc. Or simple and cheap rocket stoves that burn the smoke. Or cover crops and cultivating soil structure and microbes. Etc The key for what you shared (and, i suppose this machine) is how little agitation you actually need, and how there's plenty of ways to do it with no fancy equipment. Can you share more about your experience, or even share some links, about the amount of agitation needed, how "cleaning" actually works (you said time and chemistry - but how?), and how to make effective, low-cost detergents anywhere? Thanks!

hiddencost 10mo ago

500 machines in 7 years? Seems questionable.

giantg2 10mo ago

What's old is new again. It's surprising to see how surprised people get about this sort of thing - as if we skipped straight from hand-washing to computerized washing machines. One generation of living with technology and we forget how to live without it.

kjellsbells 10mo ago

Reminds me strongly of a program by Tim Hunkin from the 1980s: the Secret Life of the Washing Machine. Highly recommend. https://youtu.be/SgWh-5DsiQM?si=ILozBq9QPSEHd1W2 https://youtu.be/SgWh-5DsiQM?si=ILozBq9QPSEHd1W2

Forgeties79 10mo ago

what a great demo too. Feel like a lot of companies could learn from him!

flanked-evergl 10mo ago

Fairer future?

constantcrying 10mo ago

Maybe off-topic, but what is going on with this website? "Step forward the ‘fully biodegradable’ shoe that leaves no footprint" - Hilariously awful idea. Which sane person wants shoes which are designed to literally disintegrate? "The smartphone for children that blocks porn" - AI being used to surveil children phones for nudity. (???) "Solar project reimagines railway network as clean energy lifelines " Literally Solar roadways again. Which is a idea worthy of so much ridicule.

rsyring 10mo ago
> "The smartphone for children that blocks porn" - AI being used to surveil children phones for nudity. (???) The article mentions that all detection happens on the device, and the manufacturer doesn't collect any user data. I have no idea if that's true, but they are at least aware of the risks and saying they are addressing them.

mythrwy 10mo ago

When I lived in an apartment with no washer I got sick of using the laundrymat because it was expensive and kind of nasty. So I set up my own washing setup after some research. I got something called a "breathing washer" which looks kind of like a toilet plunger and a big tote which I put in the bathtub for use. These breathing washers work really well and in my opinion get your clothes much cleaner than agitating and spinning. Then I got something called a "spin dryer" that is basically a small centrifuge that spins a lot faster than a regular washing machine and leaves fabrics like light polyester nearly dry coming out. Finally I got an inflatable plugin dryer. This setup was more work than a regular washing machine but maybe not more work than bundling up clothes and taking to the laundrymat and sitting there for an hour or two. One thing I really liked about it was short time to process. I could have washed and dried clothes much faster than a conventional washer/dryer setup. I've been in a house for a long time now and admittedly having a washer and dryer is much nicer and less work, but that setup was acceptable and much better than laundromats for whatever it's worth if someone is in a similar situation.

burnt-resistor 10mo ago

Meanwhile, anti-repairable corporate washing machines: Washing Machine SCAM EXPOSED! The Truth About SEALED Drums: Naming & Shaming https://youtu.be/crzZEvFf_L4 https://youtu.be/crzZEvFf_L4 Multiple manufacturers (i.e., Bosch, Miele, Siemens, AEG, Zanussi, Beko, Hoover, Hotpoint, Indesit) no longer offering split drums and individual components, instead sealing drums with heat welding and bolts, and selling only very expensive assemblies that cost almost as much as a new appliance. Video is by an independent appliance repair shop owner in the UK who tears apart old and new appliances showing the difference in parts.

worik 10mo ago

I hate this. Good people in the UK spending their time dreaming up solutions to "problems" far away The people who live "far away" have agency and can solve their own problems, if given the chance. Westerners do not know better, are not better, and generally should mind their own business. It would be much be much better to work on local problems in their own societies

ffuxlpff 10mo ago

We live in times where off-grid means it doesn't send user statistics home and ads back. How relieving that it meant electricity!

barfoure 10mo ago

As a DIY fixerupper who has had a fair share of repairing all sorts of household appliances, I truly do like the simplicity of washing machines. It is good to be able to reduce its bare function down to something that can be manually operated. I anticipated a gearing system for these reasons which the article kindly mentions. I haven’t seen the insides, I would probably incorporate some sort of a heating element but given power requirements it probably would not be hand driven at that point. Maybe im wrong and they have one? I do enjoy the sturdy construction and repairability of this. I suppose it’s too on the nose but I think the bigger story here is just how big of a task it is to run, and maintain, electricity and current required for everyday life. It is a big barrier.

MagicMoonlight 10mo ago

Add a bicycle mechanism so that you can spin it by pedaling. Would be much more effective, and might let you scale it up. People could start a laundry service for their community.