Cleaning dirty duds without any suds

Ultrasonic waves, not detergent, handle the grubby job

TOKYO - Housewives may be sceptical but Japanese scientists have developed a washing machine that can clean clothes without detergent.

Sanyo, the Japanese electrical giant, boasts the washing machine will give 'clean duds without the suds'. The environmentally-friendly washing machine is due to go on sale here in August and will sell for about 700 (S$1770), according to a report in London's Sunday Times.

Explaining how the device works, the manufacturer says electrodes inside the tub generate an ultrasonic wave through the water which creates bubbles of oxygen and hypochlorous acid to attack dirt.

Sanyo claims it can wash most clothing as clean as any powder, without causing pollution.

The machine will be targeted at professionals and middle-class families rather than blue-collar workers.

'It will be fine for shirts and underwear.

'But the meanest stains on overalls may still need a detergent,' the Sunday Times quoted the company as saying.

But detergent makers remain unconcerned by the latest development, the newspaper reported.

'Detergents are here to stay. We have been innovative ourselves in introducing small tablets and liquid capsules in place of the traditional soap powder,' said a spokesman of Unilever, makers of for Persil.