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I love it. I used to work for a company targeting markets in the developing world. It's really easy to take for granted the supply chains that exist all around us. I always like to see the creative solutions people come up with when resources are constrained.
PS: As an example, note the sheet-metal construction. In an industrialized country we would laser-cut all these parts. If you wanted to make this in an area with less infrastructure you might use a template and carbide gas torch to cut out the large shapes, then a hand punch to make the screw holes. More labor intensive, but still doable.
In an "industrialized" country we encase the real drum in a glued tight unopenable plastic enclosure to prevent the drum seals from being service replaced when they fail so that what used to be a small low cost repair now results in a forced new machine purchase.
I could not find if the team makes design open
https://www.thewashingmachineproject.org/
That alone will be revolutionary.
> to make this in an area with less infrastructure you might use a template and carbide gas torch to cut
Metal work seems very expensive in some places. In a 2025 paper [1], a cooking pot looks like several aluminium rings welded together, about 50 cm tall and 70 cm in diameter, is 416 USD in Ghana, which is one of the destinations of this hand-crank washing machine.
1. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266711312...
I am interested in unit cost for mass production. It needs to be significantly cheaper than an old style top-loading washing machine to be affordable. The design of old style washing machine is mature and priced at around $100 for 8kg model. I suspect it can be stripped down further, remove water pump, remove program controlled inlet valve et al. to reduce the cost to below $50. Granted, washing machine like that needs electricity, but solar panel may be cheap enough.
One more thing, the water is not always easy to get in poor places. It is often much easier to carry laundry to a well, creak, or river than transport water to home. The path to the water sources may be a narrow trail often going up and down hills, so even with wheels on the machine, it is impractical to drag the machine to the water.
>It works like this: after loading the clothes, detergent and water, and letting it sit for 10-15 minutes, users can close the lid and turn the handle for two minutes, repeating this twice more after ten minutes of letting the clothes sit in between spins. And voila — the machine can then be drained using the tap at the front.
I lived off-grid and did all of our laundry, a family of four (including a baby in cloth diapers), by hand, even in the winter (below -20F).
You know what works as well? A wash tub and a stick. Or a bucket and plunger. Or a posser if you're really fancy. I used a 30 gallon garbage can and a hand-carved posser. In mild or hot climates you can just stomp on it.
Same principle: Draw water, add cleanser, agitate for a couple of minutes, let it soak, return at some time in the future, agitate again. Remove laundry and let drip dry while you draw fresh water (mangles and spinners speed this up and are more effective, but not necessary). Squeeze wet laundry at lowest point where water has gathered. Repeat entire process with clean water, then lay it out in the sun prioritizing any sides with stains.
The secret sauce of clean laundry isn't how you agitate the laundry. It's just time and chemistry.
Water access, cleansing agents, and patience are fundamentally more important than providing "revolutionary" contraptions. It's the same difference between teaching people about no-knead bread and giving them hand-cranked stand-mixers. One solves the need for intensive manual labor and the other doesn't, but introduces a new point of failure.
And even importing enzyme-containing detergent is unnecessary. Plant ash (a source of alkali) and aged urine (a source of ammonia) are all you need to create what's known as bucking lye which cleans just as effectively and uses byproducts that they themselves produce by default. Residual stains are removed via UV from sun drying.
There's absolutely no need to complicate this.
This is the sort of comment I was hoping to find. I have focused in this area - improving lives of the poorest as efficiently as possible - for a long time and my immediate thoughts about this washing machine was that it was overcomplicated and definitely far too expensive (for many reasons) to ever really make a difference. Though, that won't stop these folks from doing this and receiving donations for it into perpetuity.
So much is possible if you just look at how nature, in one way or another, can do the work for you. No knead bread (or, better, periodic stretch and folds over the course of a few hours) is a perfect example. Or making a composting toilet/latrine by just adding sawdust, ash etc. Or simple and cheap rocket stoves that burn the smoke. Or cover crops and cultivating soil structure and microbes. Etc
The key for what you shared (and, i suppose this machine) is how little agitation you actually need, and how there's plenty of ways to do it with no fancy equipment. Can you share more about your experience, or even share some links, about the amount of agitation needed, how "cleaning" actually works (you said time and chemistry - but how?), and how to make effective, low-cost detergents anywhere?
Thanks!
> We went back to the drawing board and really listened to the people we were designing for, for the context in which they lived. That research changed everything,”
I understand they had a very good idea to begin with, and more importantly their heart in the right place And then further made it better with more input.
Reading the comments here the better solution for us is probably not to go back to "dumb" washing machines, but to regain control of how these machines are designed, for who and for what.
I'm thinking about Linux, which can be stripped down as small and nimble as needed to run a single board micro controller, or be large as needed to have everything to run an enterprise service. Being able to do the same with a washing machine would absolutely change their usefulness and place in our society.
I don't know how it could start, perhaps with an IKEA washing machine that actually needs assembly, for users to then tweak the parts, start comminities so we get at least in a KALLAX situation ?
This is not targeted for people on hackernewz
Had the feeling someone must have made a similar design in Japan. And yes:
https://youtu.be/iMOkxrdP6kY?si=HWf_Sb-zwk5Vi8ES
(sold for about 10,000 yens https://item.rakuten.co.jp/thanko/000000003846/)
The metal design in the article is still more flexible and durable. I also assumed the Japanese version would be targeted at disaster situations and/or remote mountain areas and be more repairable, but the cost saving part seems to be a major selling point.
That video is three years old, although the item in question might be older of course. I remember reading about the Washing Machine Project a decade ago or so.
I don't see an agitator, how does it get the clothes clean?
Feel like replacing my piece of shit LG with this. It can only soak for a predetermined amount of time and if I try to pause it to soak longer it drains the water in 3 minutes. Plus, scrud!
My Mom had a washer that did this. I told her to unplug it to soak overnight. That worked, but she hated that thing, sold it, and took my sister's older washer that didn't have any "we know better than you do" features.
It sounds kind of sarcastic, yet that was actually the personal thought also. Really sounds like its comparable to the amount of work with modern machines anyways. Couple minutes of hand cranking, and otherwise, approximately the same. Owned a modern washing machine for years, and not sure if I've ever used almost any of the settings or features other than, "load clothing on default, push start".
Probably sell well in a lot of developed world markets for people who just want to limit their electricity use, live away from the grid, have less reliance on complicated electronics, or minimize money use in an expensive society.
Get a speed queen. Famous for being reliable because it’s a “dumb” machine (in a good way).
My favorite modern "efficiency" feature has to be the machine refusing to unlock the door for me after it's been "too long". Okay, fine. Reset cycle, add some random item, whoops there went a bunch of water and detergent. Not my problem I guess. Say goodbye to those EnergyStar figures.
At this point with having to read the manual to open the damned door I'm seriously thinking about attaching a belt drive, motor, driver circuit and esp32 running an http with spin/stop commands.
Reminds me strongly of a program by Tim Hunkin from the 1980s: the Secret Life of the Washing Machine. Highly recommend.
Maybe off-topic, but what is going on with this website?
"Step forward the ‘fully biodegradable’ shoe that leaves no footprint" - Hilariously awful idea. Which sane person wants shoes which are designed to literally disintegrate?
"The smartphone for children that blocks porn" - AI being used to surveil children phones for nudity. (???)
"Solar project reimagines railway network as clean energy lifelines " Literally Solar roadways again. Which is a idea worthy of so much ridicule.
> "The smartphone for children that blocks porn" - AI being used to surveil children phones for nudity. (???)
The article mentions that all detection happens on the device, and the manufacturer doesn't collect any user data. I have no idea if that's true, but they are at least aware of the risks and saying they are addressing them.
What's old is new again. It's surprising to see how surprised people get about this sort of thing - as if we skipped straight from hand-washing to computerized washing machines. One generation of living with technology and we forget how to live without it.
Wait does it not need a rise as well to get the soap out of the clothes?
I was glad to see this because I had the same exact question, but then I realized that given this machine seems to be designed for manually loading the water into it, a dedicated "rinse cycle" probably wouldn't help much because it's probably easier to just manually rinse the clothes after.
I noticed that too. Does anyone know what happens if you don’t rinse the clothes?
Love seeing this.
For many reasons, I expect to see a lot of new products and solutions going against the main trends of locking down the user, planned obsolence, rent seeking from buyers, and limiting their choices.
Imagining a company shipping the home appliances equivalent to Frame.work laptops: open, reparable, hackable, and upgradable. I would happily connect them to my home wifi, program them the way I want, and have one hub that allows me to monitor health, upgrade firmware, control functionality.
When I lived in an apartment with no washer I got sick of using the laundrymat because it was expensive and kind of nasty. So I set up my own washing setup after some research.
I got something called a "breathing washer" which looks kind of like a toilet plunger and a big tote which I put in the bathtub for use. These breathing washers work really well and in my opinion get your clothes much cleaner than agitating and spinning.
Then I got something called a "spin dryer" that is basically a small centrifuge that spins a lot faster than a regular washing machine and leaves fabrics like light polyester nearly dry coming out.
Finally I got an inflatable plugin dryer.
This setup was more work than a regular washing machine but maybe not more work than bundling up clothes and taking to the laundrymat and sitting there for an hour or two. One thing I really liked about it was short time to process. I could have washed and dried clothes much faster than a conventional washer/dryer setup.
I've been in a house for a long time now and admittedly having a washer and dryer is much nicer and less work, but that setup was acceptable and much better than laundromats for whatever it's worth if someone is in a similar situation.
Meanwhile, anti-repairable corporate washing machines:
Washing Machine SCAM EXPOSED! The Truth About SEALED Drums: Naming & Shaming
Multiple manufacturers (i.e., Bosch, Miele, Siemens, AEG, Zanussi, Beko, Hoover, Hotpoint, Indesit) no longer offering split drums and individual components, instead sealing drums with heat welding and bolts, and selling only very expensive assemblies that cost almost as much as a new appliance.
Video is by an independent appliance repair shop owner in the UK who tears apart old and new appliances showing the difference in parts.
Add a bicycle mechanism so that you can spin it by pedaling. Would be much more effective, and might let you scale it up. People could start a laundry service for their community.
Sadly arm strength and endurance is way worse than legs, this should obviously work with pedals like a bicycle. I would even be ready to buy one to replace my daily commute when working from home.
Fully agree, a set of pedals should be able to power a kitchen machine or other appliances too
It is easy to understand the impact this will be in people’s lives.
I think within no time it will be modded with motors, maybe salvaged from broken electrical appliances and it will come full circle.
You’d need electricity for that and a lot of places don’t have it.
Previously (2021): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28168460
He started in 2018. In 2021 he had shipped 30 (to Iraq). Wanted to ship 7500 in the next 3 years.
Fast foward to 2025: he has shipped 500 in 13 countries.
Hopefully, with his partnerships and local production (in India) his ramp-up will fasten up. I wish him luck.
I really like the practicality and simplicity of this.
Designing stuff for real humans to use, is really difficult, and really humbling.
In my experience, defense contractors really have to take the user context into account. It can be life or death. I used to work for one, and seeing the stuff come back from the field, was a lesson in humility.
This is very cool. Great that it’s built out of metal for longevity and repairability. Wonder if they could make the radius of the rotation smaller since that seems like the most likely ergonomic improvement I could see from the demo.
There are lots of little hand-crank washing machines on Alibaba and Amazon. Most are plastic and rather fragile looking. Many seem to use the mechanism of salad spinners. The Sears WonderWash seems to be popular.
We live in times where off-grid means it doesn't send user statistics home and ads back. How relieving that it meant electricity!
500 machines in 7 years? Seems questionable.
Fairer future?
Checks all the boxes but why no TEDx talk?
I hate this.
Good people in the UK spending their time dreaming up solutions to "problems" far away
The people who live "far away" have agency and can solve their own problems, if given the chance.
Westerners do not know better, are not better, and generally should mind their own business. It would be much be much better to work on local problems in their own societies
what a great demo too. Feel like a lot of companies could learn from him!
Deleted cause I was wrong.
As a DIY fixerupper who has had a fair share of repairing all sorts of household appliances, I truly do like the simplicity of washing machines. It is good to be able to reduce its bare function down to something that can be manually operated. I anticipated a gearing system for these reasons which the article kindly mentions.
I haven’t seen the insides, I would probably incorporate some sort of a heating element but given power requirements it probably would not be hand driven at that point. Maybe im wrong and they have one? I do enjoy the sturdy construction and repairability of this.
I suppose it’s too on the nose but I think the bigger story here is just how big of a task it is to run, and maintain, electricity and current required for everyday life. It is a big barrier.
But can it really clean clothes if it doesn’t have 802.11ac with AI spot cleaning and a 750mv iOS app??? /s