'Virtually Waterless' Washing Machine Cleans Clothes with Polymer Beads

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Cleaning company startup Xeros Ltd. and Cambridge Consultants have developed a washing machine that cuts water consumption by as much as 90 percent and launders clothes using reusable nylon polymer beads.

Creators of the machine say it can clean clothes using 30 percent less energy and just a fraction of the detergent and water that are needed in conventional machines. The wash cycles are quicker than those in traditional machines, and clothes emerge slightly damp -- rather than wet -- which cuts drying time.

A proof-of-concept model of the machine was on display at the recent international trade show for the laundering and dry cleaning industry, Clean Show 2009, which was held in New Orleans.

At the expo, Xeros and GreenEarth Cleaning LLC announced that they had reached an agreement for GreenEarth to have exclusive rights to distribute the Xeros technology to retail dry cleaners in North America, when the product is ready for the commercial market.

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The front-loading machine works this way:

After clothes are placed inside, water is released, dampening the garments, loosening stains and creating water vapor that will activate the polarizing properties of the polymer beads, which are then added to the wash. Tumbling with the laundry, the beads attract and absorb dirt and stains, which are diffused into the bead.

At the end of the cycle, the beads drop through openings in an inner drum, where the clothes are, into an outer drum. The drum-within-a-drum construction acts like sifter, depositing the beads into a collection bin at the bottom of the machine.

Nathan Wrench of Cambridge Consultants holds a pan of washing beads.

The use of polymer beads as a cleaning agent was pioneered by Stephen Burkinshaw, an internationally recognized professor of textile chemistry, at the University of Leeds.

Burkinshaw founded Xeros, further developed the concept with a team of scientists, and enlisted Cambridge Consultants to prove the efficacy of the cleaning technology when scaled to a commercial product -- and to figure out a way to get the beads out of the wash at the end of the cycle. The consultancy firm accomplished those tasks and helped develop an initial demonstrator model.

Xeros and Cambridge Consultants continue to work on the prototype and plan to have a commercially viable machine in production by the end of 2010. They view hotels, care homes and businesses that clean clothes on a commercial scale as their first target market. They want to eventually move into the domestic market by licensing the technology to makers of household washing machines.

The firms say that projected energy savings for the machine climbs to 40 percent when factoring in shorter drying times for clothes. The companies also say that if all the domestic washers in the U.S. were replaced with Xeros machines, 1.2 billion tonnes of water would be saved a year -- about enough water for 17 million swimming pools. In terms of reducing carbon footprint, the conversion would have the effect of taking about 5 million cars off U.S. roads.

"We are truly excited about the potential this technology could have on reducing the environmental impact of washing," Nathan Wrench, the program manager at Cambridge Consultants, said in a statement.

GreenEarth Cleaning, Xeros' partner for the North American rollout, licenses its patented silicone-based dry cleaning technology, which is used by more than 1,400 dry cleaners in 17 countries. The cleaning process uses liquid silicone rather than petroleum-based solvents. GreenEarth said it entered the partnership with Xeros to give dry cleaners an option of using either or both eco-friendly technologies to clean clothes.

Images courtesy of Xeros, University of Leeds and Cambridge Consultants.

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