As consumers around the world look for ways to reduce their environmental impact, it is important to consider how their actions in the home can contribute to sustainable behaviours. This article shares the results of pioneering user-centred research into laundry behaviours in Brazil, India and the UK using in-context interviews, observation and household tours. It offers seven guidelines for creating household products that encourage sustainable behaviours during the use phase.

Introducing Dry Wash

In Brazil, Dry Wash has gained popularity due to: changes in domestic habits (outsourcing cleaning and food services), increased women’s space in the labor market, and the advancement of middle-class households with maids who are paid by the hour. In addition, the Brazilian Keratin Treatment is increasingly popular – a hair straightening process that uses no chemicals and is compatible with bleached hair – but requires a lot of heat. This is the perfect opportunity for laundry and dry cleaners to step in.

Designed specifically for Brazil, this coin-op laundry allows you to drop your clothes in the machine and leave them with a clerk. The clerks wash your clothes, press them, and fold and bag them for you. And the best part: this service saves your clothes a lot of water.

The adapted commercial top-loading machines used at DryWash consume 72% less water and energy than front-loading household washing machines. This represents a considerable water saving, not just for the environment but also for Brazilian households that pay for their household water supply.