Most leading washing machine manufacturers are committed to continuous innovation. Every time a new product hits the market, there seems to be an array of new features and improvement in performance and energy efficiency.

For many leading manufacturers these improvements are driven by a desire to make our daily lives easier and recent notable innovations include the Zanussi JetSystem washing machine, which saves water, time and energy, and the Siemens i-Dos washing machine that automatically decides how much liquid detergent and softener your wash needs – down to the last milliliter!

In a recent article one humansinvent.com (a technology website operated in partnership with leading electrical manufacturer Sharp) demonstrates how washing machine innovation can also help to improve living standards for people in the developing world. The article refers to an award winning manually operated washing machine and tumble dryer designed by two students.

The GiraDora washer is the first human-powered combined washer and spin dryer designed specifically for people at the base of the pyramid and research for the project was conducted in the shanty town of Cerro Verde in Peru. The project addresses several needs including the amount of time spent hand washing the clothes as well as a number of associated health risks, including tenosynovitis from wringing clothes, respiratory problems from moldy clothes and lower back pain from squatting.

The student inventors have received awards and accolades from Dwell, Core 77, Dell Social Innovation Challenge and the International Design Excellence Awards. After securing funding the machine is currently in its second round of testing in Peru and Chile.

Read the original article and learn more about the GiraDora here.

Tags: Siemens, washing Machine, Zanussi