As consumers become more concerned about the earth's resources and the costs of energy sources, companies are working on new ways to manage our laundry. Xeros, a company based in Leeds in the United Kingdom, has developed a prototype washing machine that uses ninety percent less water than ordinary models and eliminates energy-intensive spin cycles and dryer blasts.
How? The machine uses reusable plastic beads to replace all but one tenth of the usual water and about one third of the usual detergent. The beads are made of nylon. The polarized molecules of nylon attract soil and in the humidity created by a little water, the polymer chains separate slightly to absorb grime and lock it into the beads’ cores. The machine works by having the nylon beads sit in the outer of two nested drums. When both drums rotate, the absorbent beads fall through the mesh of the inner drum to tumble with the laundry, where they dislodge and trap dirt. After the wash cycle finishes, the outer drum stops moving and the beads fall back through the mesh into the outer drum, where they await the next load.
Xeros plans to put the machines in commercial laundries next year, where they will use eight gallons of water instead of 80 for each 45-pound load. Models for use at home are several years down the road.
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