Levente Szabó from Hungary has won the Electrolux Design lab 2007 competition with E-wash, a compact washing washing machine that uses soap nuts instead of detergent.

The theme of the competition was sustainable household appliances and solutions for the year 2020.
Students had to come up with environmentally-sound, commercially viable products and solutions that would enable consumers to live in greater harmony with the environment. In India and Nepal, people have used the soap nut (sapindus mucorossi) for centuries to get their clothes clean. Szabó says that a kilogram of soap nuts would last the typical person a year, and soap nuts are good for people with allergies and gentle on clothes.

Innovative solutions at Electrolux Design Lab awards 2007.

“Return Pot” a plastic decomposer designed by Juan Ying-Hao from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan, USA.

“Pebble” a solar food cooker designed by Laura Pandelle from École Boulle, France.

“Circompo” an automatic food composter designed by Thanat Tengamnuay from Thailand.

“Go Fresh” an energy-saving fridge with individual, honeycomb-shaped compartments designed by He Cheng Fei from Jiangnan University, China.