00:00In overcrowded hospitals and temporary shelters in Gaza, even basic daily routines can become
00:06a challenge.
00:07I am a design engineer here at the Washing Machine Project and we've been doing a pilot
00:12build of 20 machines, 20 of our hand-powered W1.65 washing machines, building a pilot to
00:20send out to Gaza.
00:21We've already got four out there that have been going really well, to be potentially
00:26able to send out more, to be able to help people in the hospitals and the community centres
00:32access clean laundry.
00:34According to the Bristol-based charity, families and medical staff are often hand-washing clothes
00:38and bedding in shared spaces without reliable electricity, privacy or safety.
00:44The organisation has developed a manual flat-pack washing machine.
00:48It does not require electricity and the charity says it can save up to 50% of water and 75
00:53%
00:54of the time, compared with hand-washing clothes.
00:57We started with 20 and we built them here in the Bristol workshop with our team and volunteers.
01:03It's quite a simple process, so the machines as they are, as they're boxed up, are almost
01:08exactly as you see here, but they don't have the legs or the handle attached, so we send
01:12the tools that users need to attach those.
01:15It's a pretty straightforward process of just tightening a few bolts up and they're good to go.
01:21So people can start putting their washing in and getting their clothes clean.
01:26Four of the machines were sent to hospitals in Gaza in January 2025.
01:30A further 20 have recently been manufactured at the project's factory in Easton as part
01:35of a wider plan to build 1,000 by the end of the year.
01:39We had a great team of some of our engineers and some of our people from other departments
01:45getting hands-on and we built all of these 20 in three days.
01:49So we know that in places like Gaza, water supply, electrical supply is so, so interrupted.
01:55And it's really important that, obviously, even if there are electrical machines already
01:59there, they're not going to be reliably functional.
02:02And particularly for hospitals where hygiene is so important and for dignity of people who
02:07have lost their homes, being able to keep their clothes clean, keep blankets and everything
02:13else clean in that situation is a real blessing.
02:17The project says it's working with trusted humanitarian NGO partners already delivering
02:22aid on the ground in Gaza to transport and distribute the machines.
02:26It describes its work as strictly humanitarian.
02:29So next steps after that, once these have been sent, will be to look towards our larger
02:36production facilities in the US to be able to make more at a larger scale and then be
02:41able to ship them, hopefully as they're needed.
02:44The machine was first developed in 2018.
02:47Since then, the charity says thousands have been distributed worldwide, reaching 46,840 people,
02:55as of August 2025.
Comments