Classifications

• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • D06F—LAUNDERING, DRYING, IRONING, PRESSING OR FOLDING TEXTILE ARTICLES
  • D06F1/00—Washing receptacles
  • D06F1/02—Wash-tubs; Supports therefor
  • D06F1/04—Wash-tubs; Supports therefor the tub walls or bottom having corrugations

Definitions

• a substrate washing system comprising:
• the inner membrane comprises a lower surface which directly contacts the wash substrates submerged in the wash liquor and an upper surface which contacts air within the receptacle.
• the inner membrane is not underneath/submerged in the wash liquor. When located on top of the wash liquor it prevents the formation of water vapour, and thereby formation of water droplets (condensing) on the transparent cover. This ensures less water is reflected and more sunlight can penetrate the basin, resulting in higher temperatures.
• the method comprises closing the receptacle with the lid (especially prior to soaking).
• the method comprises closing the receptacle by placing the lid to overlie the receptacle aperture.
• the method comprises closing the receptacle and engaging a seal to inhibit or prevent moisture loss.
• Soaking whilst the device is positioned in sunlight allows the temperature of the wash liquor to be maintained at an elevated level throughout the soaking.
• a particular advantage of solar soaking is that fatty stains characterised by higher melting points to be deterged more easily and soak times can thus be dramatically reduced relative to other known manual soaking mechanisms.
• the method includes the step of adding minimised quantifies of water such that substrates e.g. fabrics are wetted only rather than submerged, thereby reducing the amount of wash liquor in the device.
• minimised quantifies of water such that substrates e.g. fabrics are wetted only rather than submerged, thereby reducing the amount of wash liquor in the device.
• This is enabled by the lid portion closing the receptacle and so ensuring a humid environment preventing the fabrics from drying whilst still undergoing the wash process such as stain removal or fragrance treatment or any other wash process.
• the reduced water usage saves water and speeds up heating of the wash load, and in combination with the high washing composition concentration improve the cleaning performance.
• the reduced water also reduces the workload by reducing the weight of the device and the weight of the fabrics which feel heavier if they have to be retrieved from a large quantity of water.
• the method may include the step of agitating the wash liquor to create a foamy wash liquor and/or agitating the washing liquor and the substrate.
• the method steps may not necessarily be restricted to alphabetical order however preferably the step placing the device in the sunlight precedes soaking step and step of scrubbing/rubbing etc.
• lysophospholipase (or phospholipase B) which can hydrolyze the remaining fatty acyl group in lysophospholipid are included as are Phospholipase C and phospholipase D (phosphodiesterases)which release diacyl glycerol or phosphatidic acid respectively.
• Preferred peroxidases/oxidases include peroxidases from Coprinus, e.g. from C.
• fabric conditioners including clays, foam boosters, suds suppressors (anti-foams), anti-corrosion agents, soil-suspending agents, anti-soil re-deposition agents, anti- microbials, tarnish inhibitors, or combinations of one or more thereof, provided that these ingredients are compatible with the enzymes.
• Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a device according to the invention
• Figure 2 shows a side view of the device of figure 1
• Figures 3a - 3c show a further embodiment of the invention with a tilting base
• the receptacle 5 and lid 7 are made from a rigid plastic material (thermoformed) allowing a relatively lightweight structure for carrying to the water source be it a river, communal water supply point.
• Lid 7 is installed and removed by sliding relative to the receptacle Device 1 further includes a flexible, water-impermeable inner membrane 15. This reduces the time to heat up the contents of the receptacle 5 and overlies the substrate in the wash liquor 17.
• the membrane overlies the substrate and the wash liquor.
• the inner membrane 15 is opaque, black plastic foil for use with dark/coloured fabrics 9 to protect from solar fading. However, other colours or even transparent membranes can be used for e.g. lighter substrates to allow access to direct sunlight for solar bleaching.
• Example 1 shows below how heat-up times are accelerated using the inner membranes.
• an inner membrane of multiple layers configured such that compartments are provided between adjacent layers.
• Such compartments can be used to separate wash items to prevent colour transfer or for individual treatment such as with different wash liquors. For example, items requiring less direct sunlight can be placed in a compartment and shielded.
• FIG. 1 the receptacle 1 can be seen to be shallow (low depth) tray structure.
• the transverse cross sectional area is 6084cm 2 (defined by equal side lengths 78cm 2 x 78cm 2 ).
• the shallow tray structure allows optimal solar radiation capture and fast heating of an optimum soaking water volume of 3-20 litres.
• the base is slightly smaller due to a downward tapering of the walls when viewed from any side - see figure 2.
• the soak period may be in the range 5 minutes to 24 hours.
• step - carry out the step of scrubbing or rubbing of the substrate, rinsing the substrate, etc., any combination thereof e.g. using the scrubbing portion 19.
• this step follows the or each step of soaking. In such steps the lid is removed.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Textile Engineering (AREA)
• Detergent Compositions (AREA)
• Cleaning By Liquid Or Steam (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=54238260

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

Family Cites Families (27)

• 2016
  • 2016-04-14 WO PCT/EP2016/058170 patent/WO2017050441A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2016-09-19 EP EP16775111.4A patent/EP3353342A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2016-09-19 CN CN201680054183.2A patent/CN108026683A/zh active Pending
  • 2016-09-19 WO PCT/EP2016/072117 patent/WO2017050675A1/en active Search and Examination
  • 2016-09-23 AR ARP160102900A patent/AR106119A1/es unknown
• 2018
  • 2018-02-16 ZA ZA2018/01096A patent/ZA201801096B/en unknown
  • 2018-03-23 ZA ZA2018/01954A patent/ZA201801954B/en unknown

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