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flatbed laundry

A laundry bin that washes, dries and irons clothes as you put them in
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(+3, -1)
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Being a geek I seldom do laundry. When I do laundry, I use the dryer (because it's always raining) and don't have time to iron. I'm getting tired of turning up for meetings looking like Wurzel Gummidge, but I don't seem to want to spend the time washing, drying and ironing. My political beliefs and desire for privacy preclude hiring a laundry service.

The solution - a flatbed washing machine that washes and dries one piece of clothing at a time, using drums / rollers like a laser printer. It would sit under my laundry bin(the "input"), take one item at a time, wash and dry it, and pop it into the "output" laundry bin. So I could just dump used clothes in the input laundry bin and pick new clothes out of the output bin. There might be a way to automate ironing as well (interesting design challenge). Would this be more or less resource-efficient ? Cheaper than a standard machine ?

A similar machine would do dishes and sit next to the kitchen sink - put a plate in (like a CD into a drive), it cleans it and gives it back - Ive seen a similar single-glass-washing system in use at pubs. Both machines would be useful for small houses.

bumhat, Sep 09 2002

(?) Disposable Clothes http://www.halfbake...sposable_20Clothing
... avoid laundry all together [PeterSilly, Sep 09 2002, last modified Oct 17 2004]

[link]






       Surely you change your underwear every day, in which case you'll need to do a smalls wash once a week or so anyway. Why not just put your only t-shirt in with that lot? Or do you not change your underwear very often either?   

       I bet you'd want to control the washer from your computer as well wouldn't you, you geek.
sild, Sep 09 2002
  

       Every couple days or so, I don't generally think about it. Is that evil ?   

       I just like the idea of not having to think about doing laundry, ever. And for simplicity it should be totally standalone rather than computer controlled.
bumhat, Sep 09 2002
  

       It is far less resource efficient, even using cold water.
pfperry, Sep 09 2002
  

       sild: Are you going out of your way to make enemies ? Just asking .....   

       Top idea, Bumhat. I'll buy one. The point is that you can make do with far fewer clothes.   

       If you fed the clotes in as you want to bed, they would be clean and dry the next morning. No more worries about what to wear. Wonderful.
8th of 7, Sep 09 2002
  

       No! I was trying for affectionate piss-taking there. [bumhat] called himself a geek to start off with, and I thought that with a name like bumhat the guy must be pretty thick-skinned anyway :-) What else have I said that makes you ask that?
sild, Sep 09 2002
  

       bumhat, I've just checked out autopilot.co.uk. Very interesting indeed. Are you based in London? Do you have an email address?
General Washington, Sep 09 2002
  

       yeah, anyone@autopilot.co.uk. Btw no offence was taken sild !
bumhat, Sep 09 2002
  

       You don't want to put your clothes in a laser printer!
NickTheGreat, Sep 09 2002
  

       Hmmmm, laundry, this is an alltogether interesting thing to consider. You wonder if it is doable for a single article of clothing, but I wonder if it is efficient to have an entire load transported, washed, sorted, folded, retransported, and put away all automatically. You know, just take off and place in the transporter bin, and once a week you magically get it back. Hmmmm, I'm brewing an idea here.
quantum_flux, Mar 27 2008
  

       [+] maybe I could wash my clothes and dishes in the same machine?
jaksplat, Mar 27 2008
  

       just put a dishrack and clothesrack in the shower.
FlyingToaster, Mar 27 2008
  
      
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