LG Is Developing a Waterless Washing Machine That Uses Carbon Dioxide Instead of Water

lg waterless washing machine

Traditional washing machines need a lot of water and detergent to clean a batch of dirty clothes. It usually leads to wastage of clean water and adds more pressure to the already-degrading environment. Citing this concern, LG has taken up the responsibility of developing a completely waterless washing machine for the commercial markets.

LG Waterless Washing Machine Details

According to recent reports, LG has started the development process of the waterless washing machine. The South Korean giant started working on the project through a regulatory sandbox program after the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy approved the trial of the technology. The technology involves using carbon dioxide as a replacement for water in washing machines.

LG has apparently found a way to turn environmental carbon dioxide from its natural gas form into a liquid state by a refrigeration and compression process. After turning the gas into a liquid state, the LG waterless washing machine would be able to wash dirty clothes using no water or detergent at all.

As for taking out the pollutants from the dirty clothes, the washing machine will use the viscosity and the surface tension of the liquified carbon dioxide. After the washing process, the appliance will be able to convert the liquid CO2 into its original gas form and reuse it for the next wash.

Hence, there will be no discharge of any kind of gas or detergent-mixed water with the waterless washing machine from LG. This would save a lot of water that is currently being used in households to wash clothes.

As for the availability of the LG waterless washing machine, the company will set up the first unit at its research lab after the development process. It will operate the machine for two years to test its capabilities before making it commercially available in the market.

[Editor’s Note] Featured Image: This image is merely a representation of an LG washing machine. The waterless washing machine is currently in the early stages of development and no prototype images were available at the time of writing this article.

Comments 68
  • Anozie Anthony says:

    Don’t worry about it’s sustainability. It will work suitably and sustainably for the world. Don’t worry…encouraging lg will be fine

  • Stan says:

    I read about co2 wash machines a few years ago ,probably the company went bankrupt

  • Anushree vijay says:

    Really useful innovation

  • M S Gupta Gupta says:

    Mungeri lal ke haseen sapne. Release of co2 will only add to climate change scenario, as co2 is said to be the main cause the climate change on Earth.

    • Clives says:

      Mungeri, read properly the CO2 will be reused in the next cycle

    • Salil Mathur says:

      Ary, it will absorb from the atmosphere and release back in the atmosphere. Where is the harm? Moreover they are saying the machine will keep it stored for the next cycle.

      • Divyang says:

        Ambani ke ghar lagegi ye mashine, apni aukaat nahi😂

  • Abhijit says:

    Awesome

  • Nisarg Patil says:

    Those who are suggesting other ways they should work on instead of this. They can only work on something attainable not something impossible that you rant out of your mouth and tell them to make it happen.

  • Shyam says:

    Using carbon dioxide: Good thoughts but product may become expensive and changing one’s mind set regarding water less washing would take time to sink in.

    if any washing machine company could come up with a solution to recycle the soap/ rinsing water at an affordable cost, it would reduce water usage by 1/3rd, which would be a major drive in preserving water consumption. Hopefully some one comes up in this concept too..

    • Chris says:

      Mindsets would change overnight if it means perfectly clean clothes. No more mould growth in the washing machine. No more drying time. No more detergent entering the municipal water supplies. The savings on consumables. The freedom to place the machine anywhere in the home. If this is effective, this is a breakthrough. How the contaminants are extracted from the CO2 for reuse is the key aspect of interest.

  • Lucy allison says:

    I would love to test drive one of these washers .

  • Kamal says:

    These companies should instead develop a technology for household that would purify the used water from washing machine & other sources in house & reuse it to save water

    • Dias says:

      The tech is already available, but is very expensive, astronauts already use that kind of tech.

    • Chris says:

      Why? We already have one of those, it’s called a local water treatment works that does this on a mass scale amplifying efficiency by orders of magnitude. But that misses the point. This technology means there is no water which comes with a huge a number of benefits.

  • Riya says:

    Refrigeration again contributes to the greenhouse effect. And what about the power consumption this washing machine will require? The idea sounds good, but is it sustainable in a true sense?

    • Chris says:

      I’m not sure what refrigeration has got to do with this discussion. I think you’re mixing purposes. Also refrigeration has nothing to do with the climate perse, there are many ways to refrigerate.

  • Chirjeev Datta says:

    CO2 can be taken from boiler any smoke cheap sources easy to fetch.

  • Arun Kumar V says:

    They could have some technology to do the same with water without detergents and recycle the same water for washing purpose

  • Satish Salvi says:

    Instead use some organic liquid and filter the dirt and reuse it

    • Chris says:

      Omg they comments saying this are bazaar. So rather than save on consumables and therefore waste and costs, your advocating filters which need to be replaced and thrown in the waste dump every month, well done you just contributed no improvement whatsoever to a process we’ve already have only treatment works so the same thing on mass scale watch results in massive efficiency improvements over every single person having their own filters. While the personal filter scenario introduces an entirely new problem that never existed before. CO2 washing is incredible and I really hope they pull it off because it means changes across the industry but like cars that run on water I doubt that this will hit the ground because so many industries stand to lose out with technology like this because the mound of consumables is reduced so therefore for the value of the sector collapses since people don’t have to buy additional products anymore. It is brilliant for the environment and it’s brilliant for the consumer but business will not allow it because they are the ones who lose out. So I wouldn’t hold your breath at this amazing technology anyway because it’s too good to be true.

  • Jayesh Desai says:

    Great idea! If the proof of concept stage is passed then it’s question of time for overcoming challenge in making our commercially viable. Those who developed this deserve Noble price.

  • Umair Siddiqui says:

    Lg gives the best technology in washing machines and this technology help to reduce water wastage and eco friendly also this is verygood idea to next level washing experience

  • BM says:

    Do you know the cost of liquid CO2? They sell it for soda machines. Not only they will charge a fortune for the “cutting edge” “state of the art” “pioneer” and what not 😂🤣😂🤣 machine on top one has to get this ere liquid CO2 from somewhere (of course it is not as easily available as Surf Ariel Henko bla bla). I guess will be just a advertisement object.

    • Shilpa says:

      They own to use environmental CO2 and then reuse it

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