Could the next laundry revolution leave water behind?

Imagine opening a machine to find your favourite clothes clean and dry, without first soaking them in water. It is an appealing idea for anyone who has watched a washing cycle give way to another long wait for drying.

A YouTube video from Theorix and collaborators, titled “South Korea’s New Invention Could Washing Machine Forever” prompted this first edition of The Edit. Behind the headline is a technology worth understanding: using liquid carbon dioxide as a cleaning fluid.

How can CO₂ clean clothes?

Under suitable pressure and temperature, carbon dioxide can become a liquid. Specialist equipment uses it as a solvent to clean textiles. Tersus describes a system that recovers and purifies CO₂ for reuse, drawing on gas recovered from other industrial processes. This requires purpose-built equipment; it is not a setting that can be added to an ordinary washing machine. Tersus technology.

The attraction extends beyond the wash itself. Czero, which helped develop Tersus equipment, explains that garments leave its cleaning cycle dry, removing the need for a separate dryer in that process. Czero’s engineering account.

The savings have evidence behind them

A 2021 California Energy Commission report describes a Tersus demonstration at Port Hueneme Naval Base. It reported 15% utility savings and a saving of 117.5 US gallons of water per 150 pounds of laundry—approximately 445 litres per 68 kg—compared with the conventional process evaluated there. Read the project report.

Those are results from a particular professional installation. They are not a forecast for a British household’s bills. They do, however, give this idea more substance than a futuristic video alone.

For a home appliance, the real breakthrough would be making the whole system practical: cleaning, cost, reliability and everyday convenience.

What still needs to be answered?

A convincing domestic machine would need to prove itself on everyday stains and mixed loads, fit comfortably into a home, and have an affordable purchase price and dependable servicing. High-pressure equipment adds engineering demands. Reusing CO₂ also does not, by itself, establish that a process has zero emissions: a fair environmental comparison would need to include energy, gas losses and the wider system.

These are the questions we would ask before recommending one. A water-saving concept becomes a useful household product only when the complete ownership experience works.

Can you buy one in the UK?

Professional CO₂ textile cleaning already exists: Tersus operates in commercial textile care. That is different from a compact domestic appliance available at a UK retailer.

As of 21 September 2026, we have not verified a UK retail listing, price or launch date for an LG domestic CO₂ washing machine. LG’s UK washing-machine range does not establish that availability. The video should not be treated as an official UK launch announcement.

Editorial feature, not a hands-on product test. No CO₂ appliance is offered for sale through this article.

Explore The Edit →