Sometimes serendipity wins the day, as was the case when RKS designers made a fascinating discovery while redesigning a simple salad spinner as part of the new Zyliss kitchen product line. It was found that some resourceful women were re-purposing the manual kitchen appliance to wash and spin-dry their delicates.

This unexpected insight inspired the design team to see if the concept could be developed further, if the innovative technology of the new manual salad spinner could leap into another category entirely—that of clothes washing.

The challenge was to provide a method for conveniently washing small loads of clothing, especially when a very limited water supply was available. The design would need to fulfill the functions of full-sized, water-guzzling washing machines—soaking, agitating, rinsing and spin-drying, all in one compact unit, completely hand-powered.

Adapting technology from the Zyliss project and incorporating the additional laundering functions needed, the team engineered and designed a highly portable unit—christened the Laundry Pod—that performed as required.

This breakthrough design heralded many implications. The Laundry Pod could find itself in the typical household, to augment the higher-capacity electric machines needed for large loads. Consumers would have the means to save electric and natural gas energy as well as dozens of gallons of water per load. The Pod could travel with campers and travelers for convenience and monetary savings.

And based upon insights gleaned from RKS’ worldwide research into water conservation needs and initiatives in arid or less-developed countries, the device could optimize water usage with minimal waste, as well as simplify and ease the laborious process of washing garments by hand. This alone bodes well for a small—but welcomed—uptick in the quality of life for millions of people around the world.

RKS is passionate about and invested in the initiative to provide solutions to conservation of our planet’s resources, especially water. These concerns affect everyone, everywhere, and in particular, impact the lives of those in third-world countries with less infrastructure and resources.

Savings, convenience, and conservation are the hallmarks of these efforts, and the Laundry Pod concept embodies this vision.

Awards:

IDEA — Bronze (2010)

Intl. Design Awards — 2nd Place (2011)

Core 77 — Category Winner (2011)

Spark Award — Spark! (2009)

ID Magazine Annual — Honorable Mention (2011)

Related Links:

Dexigner.com — Laundry POD: RKS Inspires a New Way to See Green

Gizmag.com — From Salad Spinner to Washing Machine