UK student's WashDryIron does just that

While the brains at Whirlpool, Samsung, GE, and the like have been toiling for years to improve upon the staid washer/dryer combo ("now with nanofilters!"), it took a UK college student to design a new laundry solution that actually succeeds in saving the owner significant time/labor. Oliver Blackwell of Devon came up with the creative-but-awfully-named WashDryIron, which performs all three titular functions in one machine without the need for operator intervention, for his final project at the University of Plymouth. Rather than tossing your clothes into the machine a la traditional washers, each item is attached to a hanger in one of several independently-controllable compartments, where they are washed and air-dried right where they hang. This method supposedly eliminates color runs, shrinking, and wrinkles, and also allows different fabric types to be washed at the same time. Blackwell will be showing off a prototype at next month's Ideal Home Show, where he hopes to impress some of those same manufacturers who have thus far failed to come up with something this innovative.

[Via Techdirt]

[Gaspode @ Feb 15th 2006 7:29AM]

Wel, its a nice concept, but you can only clean 16 Items at once, it looks like it will take up way more space than a regular washer and I'm concerned about the water / energy efficency of this machine.

I really doubt that I would get one..

[James @ Feb 15th 2006 7:54AM]

Give that boy a grant!

[Gridlock @ Feb 15th 2006 8:12AM]

"Wel, its a nice concept, but you can only clean 16 Items at once, it looks like it will take up way more space than a regular washer and I'm concerned about the water / energy efficency of this machine."

Sounds perfect for the US market - overly large, inefficient and not really very necessary*.


*provided you're married.

[Scott_D @ Feb 15th 2006 8:59AM]

looks perfect for apartments. Also no agitator by the looks of it, so then less noise hopefully.

[John Stracke @ Feb 15th 2006 9:07AM]

However, depending on how long it takes, it could be a great idea for, say, conference centers. "Spill your soup at lunch? Don't go buy a new shirt for the afternoon; just bring it to us and we'll wash it right away!"

[Ultim8fury @ Feb 15th 2006 9:14AM]

awesome. Sign me up for one.

[Lonnie @ Feb 15th 2006 9:26AM]

Regardless of how few items it washes now or how much room it takes up, it's a great idea and should be developed further. I predict that we'll all have it's decendants in our home in the recent future.

[Imran @ Feb 15th 2006 9:32AM]

How much?
Where from?
Does it come in different colours?
Does it do underwear, duvets, pillow cases, and bedsheets?
Does it come with extended warranty?
Does it have special plumbing/ventillation requirements?

Where are the details?

Divorce your wives...
Dump your girlfriends...
Disown your mothers....

This is the "killer app" of the home.

[dpinder @ Feb 15th 2006 9:44AM]

Well, for those of us we do in fact wash, dry and iron our OWN clothes...

this is awesome! I want one!

[KC @ Feb 15th 2006 10:36AM]

But you still have to hang you clothes on a hanger....

If this was really the ultimate lazy man's accessory you could just throw the whole laundry basket in and the machine would sort and hang the clothes first!

Good try though, maybe Generation 2 of this will be perfect....

[Brady Simmons @ Feb 15th 2006 11:03AM]

Since when do college kids care about washing clothes?

[Pete @ Feb 15th 2006 11:42AM]

But can it wash your socks?

[Chasqui @ Feb 15th 2006 11:53AM]

Its the ironing! Washing and drying clothes - I think thst's been pretty much automated. This thing hits right where the most maunal labor time is spent - the ironing. Sign me up for one ASAP. I think it will pay for itself in shirt-laundering bills alone!

[consumer_q @ Feb 15th 2006 12:08PM]

Having a t-shirt, sweater, or sweatshirt washed on a hanger probably results in stretched out collars from the water weight. I am not fond of stretched out collars.

[Tulio @ Feb 15th 2006 12:24PM]

This is the first generation....

It is taller than most washer and dryers and not as wide if you throw in an ironing board. 1 Appliance instead of 4. Perfect for small appartments (Japan)

My guess is that the large players will try and recruit the kid and market this new product.

Well worth it is you are a business man that spends thousands yearly on cleaning at the laundromat.

It seems you would still need a regular washer and dryer for socks, and other small items.

[Tulio @ Feb 15th 2006 12:25PM]

Stretched out collars are the worst.

[blore40 @ Feb 15th 2006 12:42PM]

Give me a model that pairs up socks.

[Nestor C. @ Feb 15th 2006 1:04PM]

I agree with Chasqui, ironing is by far one of the most time consuming and boring (and hot) home tasks. I'd be happy to get just the ironing function :P

[iTodd @ Feb 15th 2006 1:10PM]

Agreed- the killer is the no ironing. Could he split just that part out of the appliance and sell it?

I have things i've washed and dried - yet send it out to dry cleaning out of pure laziness.

[Aaron @ Feb 15th 2006 1:32PM]

It is very ignorant to think that the industries who manufacture washers and dryers have not thought of this already. They have I'm sure already produced concepts in their research labs.
I am hesitant to judge this product from the little information I have from reading a short article in a blog. However, I do congradulate Oliver Blackwell for successful proof that his idea works. If this is ready for mass-production, is a new question.

[Evan Adams @ Feb 15th 2006 3:55PM]

Matag allready has such a product. I saw it at Disney's Inovations exibit at Disney Land and it has been feratured on HGTV.

[Matthew Brady @ Feb 15th 2006 6:12PM]

I dont believe that the companies in these industries didnt already think of this either. The only reason that there are separate washers and dryers is so that the companies can sell you two equally expensive components instead of one all-in-one solution that would cut their profit in half.

[juxt @ Feb 15th 2006 6:42PM]

Why would it matter how many things you can wash at once? With a system like this you aren't piling clothes in a basket to take care of at one time. You could come home from work, hang your shirt and pants in this machine and walk away, a little later you take em out and hang them in the closet until the next time you want to wear them.

You can't treat this like your old washer/dryer combo and expect to be impressed, it's about a new way of doing laundry.

[xman @ Feb 15th 2006 10:05PM]

i'm sure that it will save you time especailly if it next to your clothes. So you can just taking cloth out of basket, and just hang and done, instead of "checking the item in your pocket and seperate the color, set the time to wash and come back to chang to dry machine and iron and hang all the cloth again"

[Jamaicanbwoydre @ Feb 16th 2006 9:33AM]

I'd call it The Washington, no, no?

[chris @ Feb 27th 2006 5:37AM]

This is great. No need to buy loads of clothing items because most of your clothes are piling up in the dirty laundry as you only want to wash/dry/iron in big quantaties because you dread doing this work daily. Now you only wear you favourite clothes and have them cleaned almost immediately. If it does what it promises for the price mentioned, it's a bargain.

[karen pemberton @ Mar 16th 2006 11:06AM]

I think it is a great idea for singles/couples: instead of putting dirty clothes in the bin at night, you hang them in the washer, and run it overnight. Bingo, next morning, your uniform/shirts/party frock is clean and shiny and ready to go again. Any chance that it could be subsidised for key workers eg. nurses, coppers, fire officers? Won't be practical for families though, and ecologically it could be a nightmare unless it is ultra-energy and waterefficient!

[John @ Oct 1st 2006 9:59PM]

We can get the ladies to mow the lawn for now ,till we find another machine.
Since men found out how to press buttons they have been becoming near extinct.
P.s Does it pick garments up from the floor every couple of weeks ?