The washing machine that needs just one cup of water

Poppycat

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1025043/Spin-dry-The-washing-machine-needs-just-cup-water.html

A washing machine that uses only a cup of water to carry out a full wash, leaving clothes virtually dry, has been developed by British inventors.

Researchers say the technology, which uses less than 2 per cent of the water and energy of a conventional machine, could save billions of litres of water each year.

mrs_pepperpot_3

that is brilliant, i hope to get one one day. thanks for that !

taketwo

How can a cup of water dissolve the dirt from all the clothes? It wouldn't even reach most of them.
20kilos of plastic is a huge amount, so does this mean that the machines would have to be bigger than normal, if so where would they fit in the kitchen? Not to mention what is the production cost of all that plastic.

Call me an old fashioned fuddy duddy if you like but it seems too good to be true.....

Poppycat

During the washing cycle, the water is heated to help dissolve the dirt, which is then absorbed by the plastic chips.

thescouselander

I cant see how this would work. Just one bath towel could absorb a cup of water leaving none left to do the cleaning.

rjm2k1

lol, 20kilos of plastic chips? That's not a cartridge, it's a suitcase! Only thing a washing machine needs to save water is a pipe to fill up your loo cistern with the water it's used.

geordie_joe

thescouselander wrote: »

I cant see how this would work. Just one bath towel could absorb a cup of water leaving none left to do the cleaning.

Maybe thats it, you only put one item in them machine at a time.

Can't see it myself, one cup of water isn't enough. If you don't believe me you can fill your washing machine and chuck in a cup of water and see how much of the clothes get wet. You can heat the water if you like.

Then again, if they call something big enough to hold 20 kilos of plastic chips a cartridge, then maybe what they are calling a cup is what we call a bath!

Even if it does work, there's no chance I'm lugging 20 kilos of plastic chips back from tescos.

moonrakerz

An average washing machine takes 6kg of clothes, this new one puts 20 kg of plastic chips in with the washing.

1. You will need a much bigger motor to drive the machine. Using a lot more electricity.
2. Turning 26kg instead of 6kg will require a machine built to much finer tolerances to keep it stable. More expensive. Probably less reliable
3. Just what sort of damage are all these chips going to to do to your "delicates".
4. How are all these chips going to be removed from the washing.
5. The chips can be used "up to 100 times" - Hmmmm - just like "up to 8 mbs" !

Not April 1st is it ?

Gingernutmeg

The chip thing confused me too ... I can't see how they'd all come out of your clothes after the wash, surely you'd end up with a houseful of chips from when you'd shaken the washing out?

geordie_joe

Gingernutmeg wrote: »

The chip thing confused me too ... I can't see how they'd all come out of your clothes after the wash, surely you'd end up with a houseful of chips from when you'd shaken the washing out?

The diagram has a grill at the bottom of the drum to remove the chips. I can't see that working as they will get tangled in the clothes.

I have three balls in my washer and the darn things go all over the kitchen when I remove the washing. They get trapped in sleeves, trouser legs etc. too!

A_fiend_for_life

Some more from the site but it is a bit slim on how it works:

http://www.xerosltd.com/environmental_benefits.htm

The use of Xeros technology offers potential reductions in:

water usage;
energy consumption;
chemical use;
drying time;
processing times and costs

Not much given away on a search of the profs research either.

Thought: if the chips can be used around a 100 times why not use less of the babies? Sounds like it would need to be a smaller machine and a scaled down wash weight for 20 kgs.

What does a 20kg babies rattle sound like?

Hope it works though...but it sounds good for vendor lock in.