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gentlewasher by MONONO — Wash your favorite clothes in just 5 minutes
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@coen_vermeer I figured out the bug :P There are two separate links on your website, the play button links to a video that cannot play, while the "watch how it works" button works. I didn't expect they would be two buttons, but do look into that, all the best.
Nice! I've actually been looking for something for baby clothes that constantly get dirty but what's the difference, besides the design, between this and a standard handcrank washer like https://www.amazon.com/Laundry-A...?
@rouzbeh84 Thanks Rouzbeh! Besides design, main (objective) difference would be size, material, capacity and drum functionality: I can recall WonderWash (I bought one years ago for prototyping) working with a pressure lid, where gentlewasher has the honeycomb drum profiles to increase the mixing effect while protecting garments.
I can tell from personal experience that both products are suitable for baby clothes, depends on personal preference which product suits your needs best.
Cheers,
Coen
So many uses for this! Small loads in-house, tiny houses, developing countries etc Could also be useful for people wanting to wash their baby's cloth nappies separately. Great work!
I'm surprised one turn of the handle = 1 rotation of the washer. Wouldn't it make more sense to use gears so that one turn of the handle = 2 or more rotations of the washer?
Hi @stephenmarklevi We examined that thoroughly; most of our prototypes went in deciding the best dimensions of the drum because it impacts the core of the product. Turns out that the rotational speed on which the clothes make their "perfect drop" is around 40/45 rotations per minute, which is a very natural movement for the arm. Gears would incline the user to spin the drum too fast, causing clothes to "stick" to the outside of the drum due to the centrifugal force: as soon as that happens, the wash effect reduces considerably.
@bryan_o85 that's ok, would still be interested to hear your thoughts on the story! Thanks
@kangland Because that would take an energy source. That would defeat the purpose of this.
Hi hunters, excited to be here!
Besides valuable technical feedback on the product, I would like to take this opportunity to engage in talks about our strategy and vision, let’s say the higher level of feedback.
While in college, I watched a video of the legendary Hans Rosling (http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_ro...). In the video, Mr Rosling was explaining the energy challenges of the 21st century. To understand the future demand for energy, he looks back at the 20th century, and uses the washing machine as a metaphor. Because the washing machine freed up hours of time everyday, his grandmother would have time to read books.
This inspired me to jump on a plane to India, just one month after graduating. There I met my co-founder Kathak, and this is how we started working on a product that would wash clothes fast and in a sustainable way. We went through 3 years of blood, sweat, investor’s dollars and tears, and last October we launched our product successfully in India, and sold the first batch. More details on the product and its usage can be found on www.gentlewasher.com. Now our next step is expanding internationally, starting with US and Canada. We purposely waited for the summer to arrive, because of the use cases of the product.
Just a couple of days ago, gentlewasher went live on Indiegogo Marketplace, the part of Indiegogo for products that are ready to ship. You can pre-order gentlewasher here (https://www.indiegogo.com/produc...), and the first 50 units ship within one week.
gentlewasher is great for anyone with delicate clothes, in-between loads, and people in out-of-the-house scenario’s, for example camping, RV, and boat.
In the near future, we see gentlewasher as a product platform which can be used by masses in countries across the world where people don't have access to a washing machine, for example due to electricity or water connection reasons. I think the beauty of the washing machine was that it helped (mainly) women in the 20th century save lots of time everyday, and was therefore a big driver of women empowerment. We envision gentlewasher having a similar impact in the future.
Everyone who buys gentlewasher today, will be contributing to that vision.
Thanks for taking the time to read this long story, and looking forward to your thoughts!
Cheers,
Coen
@coen_vermeer great story, and great product. It's great to see people solving "real" problems, and not just things that make us entitled tech brats lives easier.
Not sure if I'm off base, but I could see this potentially being useful to the US homeless population. Just being able to get some dignity back in having clean clothes. Maybe an ultra portable version?
Hi Noah, thanks, appreciate you mentioning that! Absolutely not off base, it's a great suggestion. Making it ultra portable or reducing capacity could open up different user cases and various new applications.
Thanks again,
Cheers Coen
@coen_vermeer Hi! I really like your vision, I think that a lot of people in developing countries could benefit from gentlewasher. Wish you all the luck!
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