Washer Uses Plastic Pellets And Just One Cup Water To Clean Clothes

So what is one going to do with this 45-pounds of waste plastic after it is no longer usable? Is the soiled plastic still recyclable? That is nearly half a pound of plastic per wash...

So, using the numbers you provide (1 cup water, 98% savings, 100 uses for 45 lbs of plastic), the device exchanges using an additional 50 cups of water for using half a pound of disposable plastic per load. Before I get excited, tell me: does it take more than 50 cups of water to make half a pound of plastic?

Is it correct that you need to add 45lbs of plastic pellets to each wash?! My washing machine - as are most - is limited to 6 Kg (13lbs) of washing. Surely there is not space in the drum to hold that volume of plastic anyway.

4.5lbs I could believe, but even then you have to pick hundreds of dirty pellets out from your clothes when the washing cycle is complete.

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sorry my twisted prose did not properly convey that the pellets drop down into a special tray at the end. You do not have to pick them from your clean clothes!

Any fool could see that the pellets will get into pockets and other crevices in the clothes. What a pain.

Unfortunately, I do not think you would be able to completely get rid of any plastic pellets that enter pockets, hems, etc. This could be a hazard for families with small children.

After the 100 washes, what happens to the plastic pellets? Are they recyclable? If not, a whole new problem (although not so new given how much plastic we use in the modern age) is created.

After the 100 washes, what happens to the plastic pellets? Are they recyclable? If not, a whole new problem (although not so new given how much plastic we use in the modern age) is created.

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As the company has just formed and gotten seed money, they don't have all these types of questions answered but they are planning to have some type of service arrangement for the pellets, and perhaps produce the pellets from a more renewable resource than plastic.

This is so bad for your clothes.

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the company, Xeros, said in trials that the process is very gentle on your clothes. Guess they'll have to prove it.

Interesting. I've grown up with the "swishing your clothes about in soapy water" school of laundering, but I know an earlier age used scrub boards and the like to clean clothes. This seems like an interesting incorporation of that technology.

I'm gathering this is a new machine, not a new use of current machines.

I suppose depending on the mechanical requirements for the pellets, they might be able to use some sort of compostable bioplastic. It would obviously cost more, but the energy savings in not having to dry your clothes (or even own a dryer in the first place!) are pretty substantial.

Plastic pellets in pockets would be sort of a pain, however.

100 washes? That's it? How much water do you think it takes to make 45 pounds of plastic? I'll bet that it barely saves anything, if it really saves water at all.

Probably the pellets do not need to enter the drum with the clothes. They are only needed to absorb the dirt from the water. They may be stored in a chamber which is communicating with the drum but separated by a filter that let only the water passes.

Sometimes you should bear more faith in engineers...

I doubt any of this will work.

1 cup of water is not enough to get even one towel wet. The plastic might act as a surfactant and reduce the water's surface tension making it spread further, but this is what detergents already do, and still 1 cup of water wont get very far.

If their special plastic works as promised, better to use it to clean the water after the machine has used it.

I agree with most the above comments.

What happens with the pellets and how many clothes were they testing this thing with to have enough with a cup of water? A napkin? Well, you wouldn't have pellets in a napkin's pocket...

Regarding pockets, I don't think it's that tough to just remove them from pockets when taking clothes out of the machine, just as you check your pockets to make sure they're empty before washing.

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Xeros said they have tested the technology in a major dry cleaner's and found it easy on clothes and effective. I think it was all types of clothes, not just napkins!

I am sure the researchers are intelligent enough to have already taken all of these things into consideration.

Stains are one thing, but are you going to trust plastic pellets to remove bacteria and odors? What about a load of diapers? And are you going to reuse diaper scented pellets to wash your nice work clothes or your sheets?

Sounds like someone needed an excuse for a grant.

Stains are one thing, but are you going to trust plastic pellets to remove bacteria and odors? What about a load of diapers? And are you going to reuse diaper scented pellets to wash your nice work clothes or your sheets?

Sounds like someone needed an excuse for a grant.