SYNTHETIC fibres tend to make low quality clothing. But one of the properties that makes nylon a poor choice of fabric for a shirt, namely its ability to attract and retain dirt and stains, is being exploited by a company that has developed a new laundry system. Its machine uses no more than a cup of water to wash each load of fabrics and uses much less energy than conventional devices.

    The system developed by Xeros, a spin-off from the University of Leeds, in England, uses thousands of tiny nylon beads each measuring a few millimetres across. These are placed inside the smaller of two concentric drums along with the dirty laundry, a squirt of detergent and a little water. As the drums rotate, the water wets the clothes and the detergent gets to work loosening the dirt. Then the nylon beads mop it up.

    The crystalline structure of the beads endows the surface of each with an electrical charge that attracts dirt. When the beads are heated in humid conditions to the temperature at which they switch from a crystalline to an amorphous structure, the dirt is drawn into the core of the bead, where it remains locked in place.

    The inner drum, containing the clothes and the beads, has a small slot in it. At the end of the washing cycle, the outer drum is halted and the beads fall through the slot; some 99.95% of them are collected.

    Because so little water is used and the warm beads help dry the laundry, less tumble drying is needed. An environmental consultancy commissioned by Xeros to test its system reckoned that its carbon footprint was 40% smaller than the most efficient existing systems for washing and drying laundry.

    The first machines to be built by Xeros will be aimed at commercial cleaners and designed to take loads of up to 20 kilograms. Customers will still be able to use the same stain treatments, bleaches and fragrances that they use with traditional laundry systems. Nylon may be nasty to wear, but it scrubs up well inside a washing machine.

    人造纤维通常用来制作低质量衣物。尼龙很容易沾染污渍，这是它不适合用来制作衬杉的原因之一。不过，这项特质却在一家公司开发的新型洗衣系统中发挥了效用。这种洗衣机每次洗涤用水不超过一杯，耗用的能源也比常规设备少很多。

    该系统由一家附属于英国利兹大学名叫Xeros的公司负责开发，系统内含数以千计的直径只有几毫米的小尼龙珠。将这些尼龙珠、脏衣服、少许洗涤剂和水，一起放进小型的双层同轴滚筒后。滚筒转动时，水浸湿衣物，洗涤剂让污渍松脱，然后尼龙珠就会吸附污渍。

    尼龙珠的晶体结构会让表面生成静电并吸附污垢。当珠子在潮湿的环境中被加热到一定温度时，会从晶体结构转换为非结晶结构。此时污垢会被吸入，并被锁定在尼龙珠的内核中。

    洗涤用时约30分钟。洗涤周期的末了，外层滚筒会停止转动。在放置衣物和尼龙珠的内滚筒上有一小沟槽，在它继续旋转的同时，99.95%的尼龙珠会透过内滚筒中的小沟槽排出，掉进外滚筒。从机器中拿出衣物时，卡在衣物皱折的尼龙珠会掉进洗衣机门下的收集器里。拿出衣物后，还可以用吸尘器移除卡在口袋等处的尼龙珠。

    由于洗涤过程中使用的水量是如此少，同时升温的尼龙珠也有烘干效果。因此，衣服不太需要烘干。Xeros委托一家环境顾问公司进行测试，结果显示，这套系统的碳排放量比当前最有效率的洗衣烘干系统还要少40%、用水量少90%,尼龙珠可以重覆使用数百次再回收。

    Xeros推出的第一台机器将定位为容量达到20公斤的商业洗衣机。用户依旧可以使用传统洗衣机的去污剂、漂白剂和芳香剂。尼龙也许因为容易变污不适合穿着，但在洗衣机里的表现却非常亮眼。