Foot-Powered Washer/Dryer Makes Doing Laundry Much Easier
What’s the Latest Development?
Alex Cabunoc and Ji A You, two soon-to-be graduates of the Art Center College of Design’s Design Matters program, have created what they believe is a workable and affordable solution to the challenge of doing laundry in parts of the world with limited access to water and electricity. The current prototype of the $40 GiraDora is a portable combination washer and dryer that a user can sit on and operate with their feet. Inside, the mechanism is similar to that of a salad spinner. The design helps avoid the physical pain associated with traditional methods of hand laundry, and reduces the likelihood of clothes becoming moldy before they are fully dried.
What’s the Big Idea?
Cabunoc and Ji came up with the concept in 2011 after spending two weeks in a slum outside of Lima, Peru working with a host family to determine specific community needs. Today, Ji says that residents there and in a Santiago, Chile slum are satisfied with the GiraDora’s cleaning capability, but with the help of a $19,500 grant, she and Cabunoc plan to improve it even further for future implementation in both countries.
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