This Wall-Mounted Washing Machine Concept is pretty interesting, if a little impractical. It seems too small to do a lot of good — though, say you needed a shirt and pants washed for a date, and this would get it done real fast. Where’s the wall-mounted dryer, though? I guess you could use this tiny dryer. And I like how simple the design is. But I have a feeling this might be in the “concept” stage for a while before anything similar gets made.

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If you live in Tokyo, New York City, Boston or San Francisco, heck even Los Angeles it probably means some sort of walk to the laundry machine, be it in building or to the local laundry mat.  To address this problem – oh and it’s a massive one, I assure you of that – Electrolux has developed a conceptual washing machine called the SHINE.  It’s small enough to fit underneath a bathroom cabinet or be mounted on the wall, yes the wall.   To convey cycle process, and add a bit more aesthetical bliss, the light ring on the door gradually illuminates in a clockwise manner until completion. 

Yes, the SHINE is still a concept, but it’s really neat and since there is a built-in demand in cities all over the world it’s not a question of if it will be developed but when.

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So we’ve seen a few ways to save on water when it comes to washing clothes, but none quite so efficient as the Xeros machine. Instead of using gallons of water, the Xeros machine depends on polymer beads that when combined with a small amount of H2O, enough to get the beads damp, they attract dirt away from the clothing. The beads are good for hundreds of washes and according to its inventor, Stephen Burkinshaw, the machine uses 90% less water than a traditional washing machine and 40% less energy once you account for the reduction in drying time since the clothes are just slightly damp and not wet.

Toss one of these in every US household and the carbon emission reduction is the equivalent of taking 5 million cars off the road, while water conserved is 1.2 billion gallons.  You’ve still gotta use detergent, but I don’t think any conservation would make me pass up that downy fresh smell.  The Xeros machines are set to go into production sometime in 2010, but there is no word on when they’ll be commercially available.

[via Fastcompany]

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