I was doing my laundry this morning and then something hit me... I looked around but it was probably a bug or something. I started to put the detergent in and said to myself, I'm too lazy. I then noticed the pressure washer behind me had an innovation that could solve some of my problems. No, i wasn't going to pre-wash my clothes with a pressure washer, but a different innovation. The pressure washer has a tube for detergent/soap for pressure washing. Why not for laundry...

There are some problems: some soaps don't come in liquid form, the concentration levels of soaps are different, and people use different soaps for different loads of laundry (whites, darks, knits, etc.)

Solutions? here!: Some soaps don't come in liquid form? don't you use non-liquid soaps. that's you solution for this one. any other solution for this problem would make a bubbly mess.

Some soaps have a different level of cencentration? Somewhat, but not by too much. There can be selectors to fine-tune for the difference in concentration.

Using a variety of detergents? Use more tubes, and have a button selector to select you detergents, but there are washing machines that are so smart you just touch a button and it takes care of the other matters (except for detergent, which this idea is for) that you could tell the washing machine what you are washing and it would choose the detergent for you. There's nothing wrong with more tubes!

In summary, this idea is for a in-washing- machine soap dispensing device. It is built into the machine and can detect you settings such as load size, laundry type, water settings, and use this information to dispense detergent and the other stuff, the softening stuff, in the correct proportions, at the right times. It has tubes that are inserted into your different detergent containers.

Advantages: no detergent mess, no measuring. Another minute added to your life everytime you do laundry.
-- twitch, Apr 30 2007

Patent? http://www.patentge...patent/5267676.html
[AbsintheWithoutLeave, May 01 2007]

Brilliant! Can we use the same reservoir of detergent for the dishwasher too?
-- Galbinus_Caeli, Apr 30 2007


Which benighted part of the planet are you from that washing machines don't have detergent dispensers?
-- coprocephalous, Apr 30 2007


Hawaii. The Hawaiian part of the planet.
-- twitch, May 01 2007


Who refills the tubes when they run out?

Stop looking at me with those puppy-dog eyes. It's YOUR laundry.
-- Canuck, May 01 2007


Refill tubes? What? The tubes are the small, no larger than 1/2 inch diameter tubes that are inserted into containers of liquid detergent for automatic dispensing.

Puppy dog eyes? Have you ever seen a cooked dog head that's been sliced down the center pre-cooking? They have to cook the head to make sure the dog doesn't have rabies before they eat it.
-- twitch, May 01 2007


I remember in college they sold little blocks of detergent that came in plastic wrap. You could simply unwrap them and drop them in. They dissolved in the water. They were pre-messured, and besides, whoever heard of putting too much detergent in anyway?

They were like those 7 day fish food pyramids... Anyway they stopped selling them, so there must have been something wrong with them. Or maybe they're only available on/near college campuses.
-- ColonelMuffins, May 01 2007


It's a solution for liquid soap, so you don't have to make a mess of it. The washing machine would do the measuring and displensing. It has tubes so you don't have to have a specialized container, you can use whatever liquid detergent you want.
-- twitch, May 01 2007


Baked by Tim on Home Improvement.

Powdered detergents are mixed with water anyway, so why not add water to the distribution tubes to make a liquid solution?
-- Aq_Bi, May 01 2007


I am not saying to use powdered detergents.. I didn't get it from tim.
-- twitch, May 02 2007



random, halfbakery