Take an ordinary semi truck or other suitably large vehicle. Place washing and drying machines in the trailer, coupled with a second motor/beefed up alternator to run them.

Using logistics software like the types employed by fedex,UPS the vehicle creates a route such that it motors back to your location right when your clothing is done. "If you clothes aren't delivered clean in 2 hours, your drying was free"

you can upgrade to the "San Francisco" eco friendly model which uses an inbuilt drying racks on the roof to air dry clothes

For the fast paced modern urban dweller who needs clean clothes but is doesn't want to parade their dirty undies all over town.

the higher overhead will more than be paid for by the extremely timely service and convenience of laundry delivered right to the door.

This would work with dry cleaning as well.
-- metarinka, May 14 2010

Like this Public_20Dishwashers_20II
but with laundry [Voice, May 20 2010]

Like this http://www.ted.com/...s_of_invention.html
but with bicycles. Scroll ahead to 12:00 [2 fries shy of a happy meal, May 20 2010]

Where is Tide's Loads of Hope? http://nashvillecit...load-victim-s-minds
This has already been done. [MikeD, May 20 2010]

It may be that once the gas and time of driving to the laundromat are taken into account, this is more environmentally friendly than the regular kind. Or it may not, as the machines have to be run off diesel fuel. Or it may still be, if they're specially designed and directly coupled to the engine. [+] in any case for creativity.
-- gisho, May 14 2010


I can't like this idea any more. What I mean is, if this idea were a pastry, I'd discontinue it's existence. My point is there is no option upon the positive opinions of this idea. Damn it. How to put it......... It is a good idea. +

It requires an unprecedented dedication to new technologies. Washers and driers on gyroscopic balance plates, massive parallel quantum computing to handle the optimum driving route (this may be the most difficult part), awesome drying racks on top of cars that don't even exist yet and could be a new idea on their own, possibly... the list goes on.

I'm ready to take anybody head on that this idea is muy bueno.
-- daseva, May 14 2010


I'm not familiar with that annotation 21, great minds think alike?

the more I think about it, you could use the a simple gear or pulley from the wheels to spin the impeller on the washing machines to save energy. That is called win-win in my book.

and now that you mention it gisho, it might be more efficient if you talk about 20 cars driving to the laundromat instead of the laundromat roving to 20 houses.
-- metarinka, May 14 2010


Dishes would be considerably more difficult to transport. In fact, 21, if you want to know how I really feel? The dishes idea SUCKED and this one RULES. You are smart for not posting it. However, I have a stange fetish for hearing anyone explain how a dishwasher could work in the back of a semi. Do not ask, please.

Connecting your washers to the drivetrain is far too complicated? That's my uneducated opinion. Better to seperate them. One is semi-constant load, the other is variable.
-- daseva, May 14 2010


Mail-order? - that's a bit old-school isn't it? There should be a web-only version which allows you to wash and dry your clothes online.
-- hippo, May 20 2010


// and dry your clothes online. //

Lots of folk already dry their clothes on a line ...
-- 8th of 7, May 20 2010


Where does your water come from? Or do you carry it around in a great big tank on top of the van? How much water would it take to perform cleaning services on a commercially viable basis?
-- zen_tom, May 20 2010


Baked. Link.

How have you all not seen this on the tide commercials?
-- MikeD, May 20 2010


// How much water would it take //

It would be possible to recycle the same, relatively small, amount of water indefinitely, if you had sufficient energy for the distillation process.
-- 8th of 7, May 20 2010



random, halfbakery