Thursday, December 15, 2011

Clothes That Clean Themselves Just Around the Corner


I've just got some time back, and I'm ready to spend it.

Not sure about you, but I do a lot of my own washing. Yes, I put clothes in a washer and sometimes in a dryer, but I'm the one who puts the soap in, waits for the clothes to get clean, and has to wear other clothes while I'm waiting. (The laws of civility require me to wash my clothes.)

Now, however, comes word that engineers in China have developed a fabric that cleans itself, so you don't have to. I can see the advertising slogans proliferate from that one simple sentence.

How does it happen? Well, they used titanium oxide, a dye that would be familiar to people who read the labels on tile sprays and other household cleaning products. With a special mixture of TiO2 and Chinese ingenuity, the fabric can, once exposed to sunlight, remove dirt, food stains, lipstick and makeup, and even T-shirt designs that you've thought better of since you bought the shirt — OK, so maybe that last one is a bit far-fetched.

But this self-cleaning shirt is not. It works, and it removes odor, too. Yes, this magic concoction takes away the smell as well, so you don't have to. We so live in a magical world right now. 

This latest release builds on similar announcements in 2004 and in 2008. What's different now? The deodorizing factor, for one thing. The increased visibility, for another. 

Not long from now, you'll be able to take your clothes outside and say to them, "Clean up your act" — and they will.

No word yet on how long the self-cleaning process will take. Maybe it's a bit more time than we think. Still, it can't be as long as it takes for one week's worth of washing to finish. That takes hours.

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