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Traditional washing machines suck up a lot of water. An old-school top-loader can chug down 40 gallons of water for a full load, newer models still run through use 27 gallons per load, and even Energy Star washers can use up to 14 gallons per wash.
But there's a new washing machine that cleans clothes with 80 percent less water than most washers. It uses less detergent. And in the end, the clothes come out cleaner. It does this through the use of recyclable plastic beads.
...
The washing machine utilizes a cold water cycle and detergent mixture to activate the beads, which are charged to statically latch on to dirt as it works against the fibers, opening them up. At the end of the cycle, the beads are weighted to drop to the bottom of the washer, where the release their grime. The beads are good for about 500 to 1000 cycles, then are 100 percent recyclable. (Benjamin says they mostly become dashboards in new cars.)
Sounds good on the face of it. On the other hand, there has been recent press about pollution from plastic beads.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by bradley13 on Saturday August 08 2015, @07:20PM
Note the wording: "even Energy Star washers can use up to 14 gallons per wash"
We have a very efficient front-loader. The standard wash program has no visible standing water at all. Probably there is some underneath the clothes drum, but none around the clothes. Looking up charts for similar machines, it uses around 20 liters (5 gallons) for this program. So there's no water for the beads to displace
The program for delicate fabrics does use a lot more water. I'll bet that you can't use those beads on delicate fabrics either. I looked, but the web site doesn't say. It's mostly aimed at commercial usage.
The commercial washers where this is used are almost certainly the hotel/hospital machines, where you are basically boiling your laundry at 95C. That takes a lot of water (and energy to heat it), and it makes sense to displace some of it. That's not exactly a normal household program. Even here, I question the claim that you can wash at lower temperatures, because the sterilization effect is a reasonably important part of those high-temperature cycles.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by darkfeline on Saturday August 08 2015, @09:44PM
> I'll bet that you can't use those beads on delicate fabrics either.
I don't think so. The description says the main mechanism of the beads is static attraction of dust, not heat or physical abrasion, and most delicate fabrics aren't sensitive to static. In fact, it might be better for delicate fabric since you might be able to use less detergent as well. (It does in fact use less, re-reading the summary.)
Methinks you're just biased toward your current washing machine and closing your mind from potential innovation.
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