When it comes to revolutionary inventions of the 20th century, electric washing machines are right up there with automobiles and personal computers. With the press of a button, a load of laundry that had once taken in excess of four hours to clean was reduced to a 40-minute automated process. Some economists have even credited the time-saving appliance with precipitating the rise of women in the workforce during the 1950s, as homemakers were suddenly freed up to take up other pursuits.

But for all its neccesary convenience, the conventional washing machine has remained, to this day, a resource-intensive technology that requires as much as 55 gallons of water per load and electricity to heat the water. Nor is it even the most efficient method for removing stains. “Machine washing is like trying to clean your clothes by giving it a bath,” explains Jonathon Benjamin, a longtime industry executive and head of Xeros Cleaning’s North American operations. “Not all the dirt gets washed away as some of it just gets moved around in all that water.”