Just a cup of water and a bit of detergent. That's all that needs to be added to a virtually waterless washing machine from British company Xeros that's poised to hit the North American market.
The dirty job is done by small nylon beads that pull stains off garments and lock them into the nylon's molecular structure. The beads don't even seem to suffocate easily--they can continue to absorb dirt over hundreds of washes.
Nathan Wrench, program manager at Cambridge Consultants, holds the nylon beads used in Xeros' washing process.
(Credit: Xeros)The technology builds on research out of the U.K.'s University of Leeds and has been applied in a concept washing machine with the help of Cambridge Consultants.
Now, after three years of testing, Xeros, a University of Leeds spinout (forgive the pun), has struck a deal with Kansas City-based GreenEarth Cleaning. It aims to start reselling Xeros washing machines throughout North America next year. (The concept device is being demonstrated Thursday at the Clean Show in New Orleans.)
But you won't be able to save water at home with the Xeros machines yet--the target market consists of commercial dry cleaning and laundry operations.
GreenEarth Cleaning will add the nylon bead technology to its proprietary dry cleaning method based on liquid silicone, or decamethylpentacyclosiloxane if you prefer the scientific name. Commercially, it's simply called D5.
Liquid silicone is a dry cleaning alternative to good old perchloroethylene, which is thought to produce toxic waste and is also classified as a probable human carcinogen.
Another recent alternative is washing with carbon dioxide under such high pressure that it becomes liquid--and no, it doesn't add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere as existing CO2 is used, but the downside is the high expense of the machines.
The upside with both CO2 washing and the British nylon beads is that garments are virtually dry immediately after being washed.
It's easy to think these almost-dry-cleaning processes would wear and tear the garments more than traditional laundry, but GreenEarth Cleaning insists there's no difference.
"The testing completed to date has indicated no appreciable difference in wear between garments processed in the Xeros technology versus the traditional laundry process," Tim Maxwell, president of GreenEarth Cleaning, told CNET News. "Extensive testing with silks, embroidered garments, and other delicate items have shown no ill effects."
When young we learn at an astonishing rate. Soon after we learn about Mother's Day, we learn about Father's Day. The next logical thought in the process is to ask when "Kid's Day" is. The answer I always got was short, simple, and true: "Every day is Kid's Day." The recent Earth Day makes me think of this answer, and the realization that truly every day is Earth Day.
Perfect for storing wet items.
(Credit: BreezeDry)Here's a concept I really like: a self-enclosed drying cabinet for clothes right out of the wash. The BreezeDry ambient drying cabinet is a built-in fixture designed to remove the need for an energy-hungry traditional clothes dryer. Pulling in air from the outside, the cabinet circulates the air to dry a full load of laundry. Completely enclosed, laundry can be safely stored away as it dries. The whole process only takes a couple of hours.
Lots of products are called "green" nowadays, but few are able to transform daily chores to the extent the BreezeDry accomplishes. Operating at a fraction of the energy usage of a conventional dryer (yes, it does still use electricity), the BreezeDry looks to change the way we think about the common task of doing laundry. With the recent trend of green appliances, it's nice to see one that takes the next step and embraces the approach that every day is a good day to consider the environment.
(Via Appliancist)
(Credit:
Brookstone)
Ever wonder how the laundry manages to get those perfect creases in your clothes? You could iron all day and never even come close to that ultra-starched look. The reason is your equipment, in all likelihood, is inferior (no offense). Or conversely, depending on the quality of your particular laundry, maybe you're sure you can do better.
Either way, you can test your pressing prowess with a "Digital Steam Laundry Press," which Brookstone says will drastically reduce the amount of time spent getting the wrinkles out of your Members Only jackets. It's not hard to see why: The machine's surface is more than seven times larger than that of standard household irons. It also features digital controls that regulate temperature and automatically shut the press off as programmed.
Now if only we could use it to make pirate waffles as well, we'd be in hog heaven.
(Credit:
CrunchGear)
Yes, gentle readers, it's apparently combo day here at Crave, as we've already spied a mouse phone and a TV bar. But this one is even better than George Foreman's "iGrill": an MP3 washing machine.
As CrunchGear observes, LG's newly patented appliance would most assuredly sound better than the loud drone of a laundry cycle, whether it's on spin or rinse. The best part of all? The prospect of the RIAA going after neighborhood Laundromats.
(Credit:
Crave UK)
Crave loves tech arguably as much as we do music, so we can be excused for nearly soiling ourselves when the iAxe 393 USB Guitar showed up. It is, as the name suggests, a guitar that connects to your PC via a USB cable. How crazy is that?!
Don't let its computer-ness fool you--the manual says it's a proper 22-fret maple neck rock stick with a solid body, chrome machine heads, three single-coil pickups, 5-way switching and a vintage vibrato bridge. We don't even know what half of that means, but it sounds like it'll let you shred some serious face.
It's pretty easy to get decent results with this thing. We hooked it up in just a few minutes and got to grips with the accompanying Guitar Combos and Audacity software, which let you apply effects and edit music respectively.
Once you've chosen whether you want a "vintage rock" or "britpop" sound, the next step is literally to lay down some phat chords. There's even a list of the coolest riffs in the accompanying chord starter guide, in case you're a little rusty.
We've fallen so much in love with this thing that we've decided to wear a permanent introspective frown, paint our nails black and set up our own MySpace page. If you wanna hear Rory Reid and the Cravettes mashing it up with the iAxe 393 hit this link right now.
Reckon you can do better? Head over to IWantOneOfThose.com, hand over 100 pounds and leave your band name in the comments section here.
(Source: Crave UK)
(Credit:
Techie Diva)
On our next trip to South Korea, one of the first things we want to see is the laundry rooms. When Samsung came out with its designer washing machine last October, we thought it was just an ill-advised attempt to create a new market. But then we spotted these other colorful models on Techie Diva from Korean rival LG.
These machines have brains as well as beauty, with a environmentally friendly steam-cleaning system controlled through an LCD. They're not exactly our taste, but we do appreciate that they're on display at Harrods. (Any excuse to do some shopping in Knightsbridge.) Besides, we're all for dressing up home appliances--as long as Swarovski doesn't get hold of them.
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