NASA Is Building a Laundry Gun for Space — But Can We Use It at Home?

Everyone wants a way to make laundry easier. Apparently, so do astronauts. Unfortunately for them, that chore is even more difficult to figure out in space.

Researchers at The University of Alabama in Huntsville are developing a plasma-powered “laundry gun.” The name sounds like a household gadget, but the current prototype is designed to sanitize fabric without water or traditional cleaning chemicals, which could help space crews.

Learn what a laundry gun does, how it works, and whether it could ever be used on Earth.

What Is a Laundry Gun?

A laundry gun is an experimental handheld device that directs cold plasma at fabric to reduce bacteria. Researchers at The University of Alabama in Huntsville, led by mechanical and aerospace engineering professor Gabe Xu, are developing the technology with NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.

The device sanitizes soft materials such as clothing, bedding, upholstery, and spacesuits, but it doesn’t work like a conventional washing machine.

“It could also be used to sterilize space suits and tools before they leave the habitat and step foot on Mars,” Xu said in the university’s release. “To be clear, though, this won’t remove coffee or grass stains (though we haven’t tried that). So, it won’t make your clothes less dirty, just remove bacteria.”

The prototype uses helium, air, and water vapor to make plasma. That plasma creates compounds that can kill bacteria on fabric, so the material can be sanitized without a wash cycle or standard disinfectant treatment.

The researchers are also working on a bigger handheld model that can cover more fabric at once. Part of that work involves dealing with ozone created during the treatment process.

Why Is NASA Interested in New Ways to Do Laundry?

There’s no regular washing machine aboard the International Space Station. Astronauts wear their clothes and eventually dispose of them along with other waste rather than washing them for reuse.

That system becomes harder to rely on during longer trips away from Earth. NASA has explored different ways astronauts might wash or sanitize clothing on future missions, including new washing equipment and detergents designed for use in space.

Water availability presents one of the biggest complications. “From a scientific standpoint, the major challenges for off-planet laundering include the strict requirements for compatibility with the air purification systems, the limited amount of water available per each wash treatment, and the requirement that the laundry wash water be purified back to drinkable water,” Mark Sivik, identified by NASA as a research fellow at P&G, said in a 2021 NASA article.

The laundry gun takes a different approach by targeting bacteria on fabric rather than duplicating a household washing machine in space.

Could a Laundry Gun Be Used at Home?

The current laundry gun isn’t a consumer appliance, and the UAH project remains in the research and engineering stage. It also wouldn’t replace ordinary washing, which removes sweat, oils, stains, and debris in addition to addressing bacteria.

Researchers are considering uses for plasma technology well beyond clothing sanitation, although those applications remain experimental.

“With just electricity, air, water and perhaps other gases, the plasma could help tackle sanitization, space crops, water purification, air revitalization, waste processing and even regolith treatment [lunar or Martian soil],” Xu said in the university’s release. “Of course, those applications are also in the early stages and focused efforts will be needed to bring this technology to flight.”

UAH hasn’t announced plans for a household version of the laundry gun. Other space-laundry research could eventually have uses on Earth, though. NASA has previously reported that P&G planned to apply cleaning methods tested in space toward more sustainable, low-resource laundry solutions on Earth.

For now, the laundry gun remains a specialized sanitation tool rather than a replacement for a household washer and dryer.

Sources

• The University of Alabama in Huntsville, “UAH research advances ‘plasma gun’ technology that could transform space laundry and sanitation for future missions”
• NASA, “NASA Glenn Interns Take Space Washing Machine Designs for a Spin”
• NASA, “Experiments Riding 24th SpaceX Cargo Mission to Space Station Study Bioprinting, Crystallization, Laundry”

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