Today's high-efficiency washing machines use a lot less water than their predecessors, but they still consume between 10 and 24 gallons of water per load.

It's a lot of water just for cleaning clothes, so Xeros came up with revolutionary washing machines to reduce our laundry water usage. Instead, the machines will use plastic beads.

The Xeros washing machine was developed by Stephen Burkinshaw at the University of Leeds. It leverages the mechanical force of specially designed polymer beads, rather than water, to loosen and lift soil stains from fabrics.



As the Xeros website explains:

In any textile cleaning process the combination of mechanical action on the cloth, chemistry from detergents and temperature to activate this, all act together over the wash cycle. The higher the action, the more detergent and the higher the temperature used, generally the better the cleaning. Large amounts of water are required too, to allow the suspension of the soil and its removal, and then again during rinsing.

Xeros takes these elements required for good cleaning, and completely reinvents them. The polymer beads provide a gentle, uniform mechanical action on the cloth, aiding the removal of stain and soil. Their hydrophobic nature allows better removal of oily and greasy stains than with water based systems, and their polar surface chemistry attracts and retains all types of stain as it is transported away from the cloth surface. Some polymers even have the ability to absorb stains into their molecular structure.

As a result, great cleaning can be achieved at lower temperatures, and with less detergent than has previously been possible. Water acts as a lubricant in the Xeros process rather than as the main wash medium, and hence much less water is required. Rinse water too is reduced, as there is less detergent to be rinsed away.

So instead of wasting gallons of water for every load, Xeros only requires a small cup full of water and detergent. Furthermore, the beads can be reused over and over for up to six months (about 100 loads), before being recycled. As a consumer, you'll save up to 47% in electricity costs and 72% in water usage.

Xeros machines are already being used by a small number of professional cleaners, athletic clubs, and Hyatt hotels. They're expected to hit the wider consumer market over the next few years.