Sub-£30 Washing Machine Brightens Laundry Days for Low-Income Families

Abstract

Engineering Students at the University of Bristol are refining a hand-spun washing machine that could change the lives of millions of people around the world. The $35 (£28) product from the Washing Machine Project has been designed to save around 20 hours of hand-washing per week. The Bristol firm is led by University of Bristol alumnus Navjot Sawhney, a former Dyson engineer, who dreamt up the idea during a sabbatical in India. Some six billion people around the world live without a washing machine. For many, the problem is a lack of funds, while others may not have consistent access - or any access - to electricity. Sawhney saw the need for hand-spun washing machines while making cooking stoves for a social enterprise in Pondicherry, south-east India, in 2016. Staying in a small village close to the city, he struck up a friendship with a local woman called Divya. During their long chats he noticed how much of her time was spent on the exhausting work of hand-washing clothes, and promised her he'd come up with a solution. Six years later, his Divya 1.5 machine is ready to be rolled out across the world. Having developed and manufactured an initial pilot batch, the team now has 3,000 units on order. Sawhney has mobilised a team of eight University of Bristol engineering design students to help bring the machine up to the best possible spec. Each student is working on one aspect of the washing machine, from improving the manufacturing process to making its materials more sustainable.