Design of automatic textile airing program: An approach to sustainable laundering

Laundering includes exposing textile materials to a combined effects of water, heat, agitation and detergent. Depending on the laundry temperature the water and the energy consumption may vary. The energy which is required to heat the water and operate the machine, together with the chemicals and water discharged down the drain cause majority of environmental impacts along the life cycle of a textile product. Manufacturers are engaged in optimizing the type and design of laundering programs to minimize the consumption of the resources. This paper focuses on the design of an automatic refreshing program to reduce water&energy consumption and environmental impact of textile products during the use period of the life cycle thus achieving a more sustainable laundering. The mechanical parameters (time, tumbling speed, airflow) were examined to find out the optimum airing program which achieves removing significant amount of the odour from textile surfaces and causes the least linting for different fabric structures.