The Technology Strategy Board has awarded a £250,000 grant to Xeros for research and development to accelerate the development of a domestic laundry machine capable of reducing water consumption by up to 80 per cent and slashing energy use by half. The grant, the highest that can be awarded through the Board’s Smart scheme, will be match funded by shareholder funds following a successful private equity funding round in 2011.

Xeros has established a process that delivers superior cleaning performance yet uses significantly less water, energy and detergent than conventional washing systems. The process uses small nylon polymer beads to ‘attract’ stains. Within the Xeros washing system, the gentle flow of the beads acts just like water. They tumble with the washload and transport stains off garments to be locked into the nylon’s molecular structure.

Building on its proven success in the commercial laundry market, Xeros will use the grant to design a washing system of comparable size, appearance and cost to conventional front loading machines that are used in millions of homes across the country.  When compared to these machines, independent analysis by

URS has estimated that a Xeros domestic system would slash energy use by half and reduce water consumption by up to 80 per cent. It would also cut CO2 emissions per wash by 25 per cent.

Savings to UK consumers of £2bn+ per annum

Domestic washing machines consume approximately 50 litres of water per wash. On average, washer/dryer systems account for 13 per cent of household energy use. If all UK households were fitted with machines powered by Xeros technology, the potential savings to UK consumers would total more than £2 billion per annum. It would also represent a net reduction of 4.2 million tonnes of CO2 per annum.

The domestic Xeros washing machine will be approximately one fifth of the size of the commercial technology that continues to be used by Jeeves of Belgravia and Watford Launderers & Cleaners as part of a long term trial.

Bill Westwater, Chief Executive of Xeros, said:

“We are delighted that the Technology Strategy Board has awarded a significant grant to Xeros. Together with our own shareholder funding it will enable Xeros to accelerate our plans for the domestic market place. This has long been part of our business plan. If the application of our technology in this market matches the proven viability of our large size machines in the commercial laundry, we are one step closer to our ultimate goal, namely to convert the world of aqueous washing to Xeros bead cleaning.”

Located at the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, Xeros Limited is a relatively new company that has commercialised a globally relevant technology which originally came out of pioneering work at the Textile Design department of the University of Leeds.

Xeros has raised over £6 million in funding from private investment and government R&D grants to commercialise the technology.

Stephen Browning, Head of the Smart programme at the Technology Strategy Board, commented:

"The Smart scheme is designed to support research and development by SMEs that has the potential to offer economic growth and lead to the introduction of successful new products and processes.  We are therefore very pleased to support Xeros through this grant as it will enable them to make the investment in staff, technology and materials needed to accelerate the development of their innovative product."