Designing a human-powered washing machine for Gujarat's lower middle class

Designing a human-powered washing machine for Gujarat's lower middle class

Vastert, P.M.

Van Ninaber van Eyben, B. (mentor)
Diehl, J.C. (mentor)

Industrial Design Engineering

Industrial Design

2015-01-30

Worldwide, roughly five billion people do not have the funds for purchasing an electric washing machine or the means (piped water and an electricity connection) to operate one. As a result, mostly housewives are left washing their clothes by hand. This is a labour-intensive and time-consuming task, commonly taking place on a daily basis. Not only is this a large-scale waste of time and resources, the used cleaning methods are a common cause for physical problems and often harmful to garments as well. Since household chores in lower social classes are so time-consuming, housewives face much resistance in their progression to becoming more self-empowered and emancipated. From a combination of these factors, the idea of developing a fitting solution to the current laundry situation in the form of a human-powered washing machine has sprung. In order to design this product so that it fits the targeted context, extensive research was performed in the Indian state of Gujarat. Countless household and laundry situations were observed and numerous interviews were conducted. This graduation project has resulted in the design of a bucket-like, hand-operated washing machine. Primitive rather than sophisticated, the working principle of this product is kept as simple as possible to optimize the endurance and to keep its price low.

human power
washing machine
BoP
MoP
India
Gujarat
laundry
design

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Student theses

master thesis

(c) 2015 Vastert, P.M.