Have you ever had to pack a bag and travel? Maybe instead, you’ve had the unfortunate experience of ruining clothing in the wash.
Either way, there is a seemingly awesome little device to aid you on your travel and washing endeavors. The gadget uses ultrasonic technology and is named Dolfi as a tribute to dolphins, where the inspiration towards dolphin research and welfare.
Dolfi is a hand-sized device that cleans your clothes with the power of ultrasonic technology. The idea of this device came from Lena Solis, a German entrepreneur, who encountered troubles while trying to do laundry during extensive travel. The application of ultrasonic cleaning is not as far-fetched as it may seem; it’s actually been successfully utilized for many years in industrial and medical applications. This, however, is the first consumer-based take on the technology.
Not only is Dolfi portable (about the size of your hand or smart phone), it can be used on gentle fabrics—so no more destroying delicates in the machine. With Dolphi, “hand wash only” no longer applies.
All you need to make it work is a power source and a sink (or bucket, or anything that can contain water). To wash, you add detergent and clothing to your water-filled sink, switch on the Dolfi, drop it in the water, and let it do the rest. In about 30-40 minutes you will have nice clean clothes, just rinse and dry and you are all set.
The way it works is by emitting powerful ultrasonic waves that travel through water, creating high pressure bubbles. These bubbles implode, creating mini jets of water that push the detergent through the fabric to remove dirt and stains. It even uses about 80 times LESS energy than a conventional washing machine!
However, don’t go and throw out your washing machine yet. While Dolphi is effective at cleaning, it only does the washing part; it will not be effective for large loads of laundry you might do in a machine. Dolphi is meant to complement your machine for delicates, or when you’re traveling and need to do a small load of laundry.
The makers of Dolphi are planning on shipping the first units to the very first backers this month, and then finishing fulfilling pre-orders in the first quarter. Dolfi comes in a couple of options: the device for $109; or the device set, complete with inflatable hanger, clever fixtures, sink stopper, and the device (intended to cater to your travel needs). I think this sounds pretty cool and it could be a big hit. Check it out for yourself on their website here.
