It could be a godsend for drought-stricken communities a washing machine that needs no water or powder yet cleans clothes in a jiffy.
Scientists in Singapore have invented the revolutionary appliance called the Airwash and it has already caught the eye of one major manufacturer.
The machine works by blasting dirty clothes with jets of air primed with negative ions, which have the effect of clumping dust together, deactivating bacteria and neutralising odours.
The result, the inventors claim, is clean, fresh-smelling clothes that come out of the machine completely dry meaning an end to clothes lines and perhaps even signalling the death knell for the tumble dryer.
And since no water is involved, fabrics unsuitable for conventional machines such as leather and suede can be washed at home instead of having to be dry cleaned.
Negative ions are molecules that have lost an electric charge. Odourless, tasteless and invisible, they are created when molecules in the atmosphere break apart due to fast-moving air and sunlight. In nature, they are found in invigorating environments such as pine forests and where breaking waves pound the seashore.
The Airwash is inspired by the way clothes used to be beaten against river rocks near waterfalls, which are another of nature’s negative-ion generators. A prototype has been built by Gabriel Tan and Wendy Chua of the National University of Singapore and Electrolux is watching closely.
The average householder spends nine months in a lifetime doing the washing and the Airwash designers believe any machine that makes the chore easier will be welcomed.
Mr Tan said: “But as well as being boring, laundry uses up scarce water supplies and pollutes with chemical detergents.”
From The Herald Sun
