If you're the eternal slob and spend your weekends doing the laundry, well have some news for you. Scientists have developed a coating that enables fabric to clean itself breaking down dirt and stains when exposed to sunlight. Suitable for use on cotton, silk, wool and other natural fibers, the self-cleaning coating could be used to create sheets, duvet covers and pillow cases which never need to be washed. Its ability to dissolve hard-to-remove food stains could also herald the end of the early-morning dash to the dry cleaners with a wine-stained silk tie or a coffee-splattered woolen skirt. Their design revolves around coating fabrics in a thin layer of titanium dioxide nano-particles - each of which is 2,500 times smaller than the width of a human hair. Exposure to sunlight triggers a reaction in the tiny particles, causing them to react with the oxygen in the air and breaking down dirt. Similar technology is already used to create self-cleaning windows. Similarly, stained ties and skirts could be as good as new after a few hours under the sun, removing the need for dry cleaning. In a study, published in American Chemical Society journal Chemistry of Materials, red-wine stains on pieces of wool started to fade within a few minutes of exposure to light and had all but vanished within a day. The researchers, from Monash University in Australia and Hong Kong Polytechnic University, say the process is kinder to fabrics than the chemicals used in dry cleaning, If that's not enough, the coating does not alter the texture or feel of fabrics.

It is thought it will take around five years to refine the technology for use in self-cleaning clothes and linen. Andy Garland, of the Institute of Nanotechnology in Stirling, said the technology had the potential to have such an impact on our laundry habits that many washing powder manufacturers are developing self-cleaning sprays in a bid to grab a slice of the action. So it doesn't surprise me that a controversy has sprung up about the environmental and health concerns over the use of such tiny nano-particles in our clothes. Maybe it's a self preservation act from the detergent manufacturers.
Source (German)