Dirty Laundry, Clean Thyself!

March 4, 2008 -- Soap is so 20th century.

Scientists in Indiana, Wisconsin and Australia have developed nanotechnology-based coatings that clean themselves and could be used in everything from silk shirts to windshields. Besides the added convenience, the new materials could reduce the use of environmentally destructive cleaners while killing potentially deadly bacteria.

The three teams of scientists took different approaches to self-cleaning materials.

Clothes "with self-cleaning properties will become a standard feature of future textiles," said Walid Daoud, a scientist at the University of Monash in Australia, who coated silk and wool with anatase titanium dioxide, a common pigment already used in products.

The scientist then stained both nanotech treated fabrics and non-treated fabrics with red wine and exposed them to simulated sunlight.

After 20 hours, the stains on the nanotech-treated fabrics were almost completely gone, while the stains on conventional fabrics looked virtually the same. Sunlight reacts with the coating to break apart organic molecules like dyes, turning them into carbon dioxide and water at room temperature, noted study co-author Wing Sze.

While the researchers themselves don't wear nanotech treated fabrics, "we are currently collaborating with a famous textile company for doing mill-trials," said Sze. "We believe it won't be long before the product appears on the market."

The non-toxic fabrics retain the feel and look of wool and silk.

The team from the University of Wisconsin made another self-cleaning material, but one that would go on the outside of houses, car windshields, and other objects.