Chore no more: Self-cleaning fabrics could be just a few years away claim researchers - an exciting prospect for those of us who hate doing the laundry.

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SYDNEY: With the ability to combat even red wine stains, a new nanocoating for fabrics offers the promise of wools and silks able to automatically cleanse themselves.

Due to their delicate nature, the process of washing and drying these natural fibres can be potentially damaging. However, by working at the nanoscale, chemists have now bonded tiny particles to the fibres that actively fight stains and grime.

Clean and green

"The ultimate consequence in developing these self-cleaning fabrics is that we can really limit our use of things like chemicals, energy and water," said organic chemist Walid Dauod of Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. "And of course people will save on dry cleaning bills as well."

Daoud and his co-workers, based at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, detail the new technology in an upcoming issue of the journal Chemistry of Materials.

To create the fabrics, the group made use of nanocrystals of the compound anatase titanium dioxide, which is capable of photocatalytic degradation: this is using light to break down dirt and stains, as well as potentially harmful micro-organisms.

First the crystals were permanently (and invisibly) bonded to wool fibres; a process that does not change the texture or movement of the fabric in any way, Daoud noted. The wool was then stained with red wine and subsequently exposed to simulated sunlight for 20 hours. At the end of the test, the harsh stain on the coated fabric had all but disappeared, the researchers write.

But for those fundamentally opposed to leaving their clothes untouched by soap and water, the nanoparticles were also noted to confer strengthening properties to the fabric. This means that the otherwise-sensitive natural fibres would be better able to withstand exposure to the heat, pressure and harsh detergents used in conventional laundering.

Going commercial

The next stage in the commercial development of the fabrics is an industrial evaluation, said Daoud. This involves testing whether existing textile manufacturing equipment can be used feasibly and economically in their production.

His team are hopeful the self-cleaning materials will be on the market as soon as two years from now, but other researchers warn that, though the work is interesting in concept, it is still very early days.

"I found the paper interesting as an initial scientific study," said Keith Millington from government research agency the CSIRO's Textile and Fibre Technology unit in Geelong, Australia. "But there are a whole lot of challenges that need to be overcome to prove the viability of any self-cleaning treatment."

Millington also raised concerns about the processes used to achieve the final product. Though the study reports the use of no toxic reagents, he said that the dimethylformamide used in the process is a potentially carcinogenic health hazard.