Save money with “waterless” washing machine
Xeros Ltd, a Leeds-based company has developed a washing machine that uses 90% less water than a normal machine and could be available by the end of 2011.
It replaces water with tiny plastic beads that suck up stains and it is claimed it will cut back household energy bills, too.
The Xeros process uses 3mm-long nylon beads that can get into all the crevices and folds of clothing and can also be re-used hundreds of times. The beads flood the machine’s drum once the clothes are wet and the humidity is at the right level. After the washing cycle is complete, the beads drain away in the same way as water in a conventional machine.
Bill Westwater, chief executive of Xeros, said: “The net saving in water, detergent and electricity and including the cost of the beads, we calculate, is about a 30% cost saving for the user.” He stated the machine has been tested on a range of fabrics stained with everything from mud, red wine and curry stains to ink from ballpoint pens.
According to reports, the carbon emissions saved would be the equivalent of taking 1.4 m cars off the roads. It will also allow many of your delicates to be “dry” cleaned at home.
Xeros has already received research and development funding from Yorkshire Forward and has just returned from a government-sponsored “Clean and Cool” trade mission to the United States, aimed at securing investment from venture capitalists in Silicon Valley in California.