Washing Machine
Electrolux SHINE washing machine concept is as pretty (and hangable) as a picture
Washing machines aren’t exactly the kind of appliances you want to put on show in your home - which is one of the reasons they’re generally located in the laundry away from discerning eyes. But with around 74 percent of the world’s population expected to live in an urban environment by 2050 according to the UN, many people will be living in dwellings without a dedicated laundry and will be forced to house their washing machines in other rooms. With that in mind Electrolux has come up with a couple of sleek washing machine designs that can be integrated into a bathroom. Read More
What really annoys me about doing the laundry is having to sort through all the colors and fabrics. Especially when - despite my care - I accidentally include something red with all my whites and I’m left with oodles of pink sports socks and tees! A clever design concept from Yali Dai could solve all my laundering problems. The Individual Washer is an upright washing machine that can sort and wash all your clothes together – regardless of color, material or washing temperature requirements. Hooray, that means no more extra sorting, no more color bleeding and no excess water usage! Read More
If you have to wash for a large family or find that you’re constantly in charge of the whole team’s soccer uniforms – or if you’ve ever tried to wash king-size bedding - then you should be interested in what LG has to offer. And while it mightn’t be as sexy as 108-inch flat screen TV or the latest 12-megapixel smart phone, an 11kg washing machine that still fits inside a standard 24-inch cabinet should delight consumers who are burdened by laundry tasks. Read More
Every year home appliance giant Electrolux throws down a design gauntlet to students from all over the world and challenges them come up with some novel ideas for household gadgets of the future. The company has just announced this year's eight Design Lab finalists and extended an invitation to the public to get involved to choose a favorite. What sort of gadgetry do young designers think will be available to us over the next 90 years? Read More
A washing machine that cuts water usage by 90% is due to hit American shores next year. The Xeros washing machine, which takes its name from the Greek word for “dry”, cleans clothes using reusable nylon polymer beads with an inherent polarity that attracts stains. Read More
Laundry POD: from salad spinner to washing machine
It’s a great example of thinking outside of the box: as industrial design firm RKS were redesigning a salad spinner they discovered women were buying them to wash their delicates, so they modified the technology and created a portable, hand-powered laundry machine. The Laundry POD is stylish, easy to use and eco-friendly, saving energy and water, and is perfect for delicate items, “in between” and small loads, camping and traveling. Read More
For the uninitiated, Twitter is a "microblogging" service that invites you to share what you're doing with the world in 140 characters or less - and it's currently taking the world by storm, with everyone from Scoble to Shaq on board. Its charm is that its usefulness is entirely open to interpretation - while many just don't get it (including Google's CEO), some use it purely for self-promotion, others to connect with their peers, others to tap breaking news long before mainstream media covers it, and then there's the subset of users that like to build or hack devices to use its API. Read on to meet six devices (of varying usefulness) that use Twitter to communicate with their human overlords. Read More
Hot water use in washing machines in a big component of household energy use. One solution is to simply wash in cold water, but a new new front loader from Electrolux caters for another option by facilitating the use of water heated by solar energy so you can wash in hot water without turning on the heating element. Read More
March 17, 2008 Top loaders have generally been considered the water wasters of the washing machine world, but the new Water Aid Top Load Washer from Electrolux addresses this issue by delivering water savings of up to up to 7,800 liters (over 2000 gallons) per year using sensors that determine the load size and only supplying the exact amount of water needed to wash and rinse. Read More
February 14, 2008 In another innovation that promises to aid us in reducing our carbon footprint, Hydromatic's new energy saving technology targets one of the biggest energy guzzling appliances found in the home - the clothes dryer. Launched at the 2008 International Builders’ Show in Orlando, the Dryer Miser system uses a specially-engineered fluid in the heat exchange process to reduce energy consumption by up to 50% and cut clothes-drying time by up to 41%. Read More
