Xeros invented the (almost) waterless washing machine
It is very difficult to imagine using only a cup of water to wash clothes and actually getting them clean. Xeros, a product of Leeds Innovation Center, claims to have created just such a washing machine and says that it will get stains out as well.
The Xeros process, invented by Stephen Burkinshaw, uses one cup of water, detergent and 20 kg (or 44.092 lb) of plastic chips per load. The plastic chips apparently do most of the work by removing and absorbing dirt and even stains. Presumably all odor issues are also dealt with by this process. Since I have known work socks that could empty a house by smell alone when boots were removed, getting out odors would have to be a necessity.
Luckily, at 44 lbs (or 20 kg), the chips are reusable for up to 100 times, which in some households would be six months of clothes washing. There is no word on the cost of the chips or in what quantities the chips would be available. Having to lift out 44 lbs of chips every time I did laundry would certainly be tedious and might help build upper body strength. Surely, the chips only have to be removed when changed.
This process is supposed to use less energy, obviously less water, and fewer chemicals since various sprays and wash additives would not be used in this system. Since there is very little water used, the clothes come out almost dry, so using a clothes dryer would not be necessary. I presume that fabric softeners would not be used, and certainly dryer sheets would be out.
The Xeros process can also be used in dry cleaning rather than the chemicals that are used today. Since the plastic chips do most of the cleaning, whatever products are used will be minimized.
A Xeros washing machine is expected to be available in 2009. Since detergents, fabric softeners, stain removers, dryer sheets and other products are in such profusion, anticipate an anti-Xeros campaign from the makers of Tide, Cheer, Downey and Bounce, to name just a few.
Getting used to washing clothes with only a cup of water will be difficult for many people to accept. Some people will never accept that it works, but that’s just human nature.
Unfortunately, when the Xeros is expected to hit the market, my front-loading washing machine will still be going strong and someone else will have to tell me how well it works.
Related Posts:
June 12th, 2008
What happens to the plastic chips after they’ve been used up? Can they be recycled?
June 14th, 2008
I am pretty sure the reports of using a 20kg load of plastic chips per wash are probably false or misquoted and this figure is now widely used.
The Leeds University staff paper quotes that a handful of chips are used per wash:
http://reporter.leeds.ac.uk/534/sa.htm
Possibly the machines plastic chip hopper would hold 20kg, but not use them all in one wash.
A bag of cement weighs about 25kg, you would need a very robust machine to handle 20kg of plastic rotating in a drum.