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A Bathroom That Cleans Itself
FiReaNGeL writes "Researchers at the University of New South Wales are developing new coatings they hope will be used for self-cleaning surfaces in hospitals and the home. It's made of a special nanoparticle coating that absorbs ultraviolet light below a certain wavelength and gives the particles an oxidizing quality stronger than any commercial bleach. Say goodbye to tedious bathroom cleaning!"
So, this stuff will be floating into the air? Sounds pleasant.
Business partnerships, anyone?
What is this "bathroom cleaning" you speak of? I'm intrigued and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
... for the mothers of most slashdotters.
This seems much better than my idea of putting a big drain in the floor and using giant sprinklers hanging from the ceilings to clean my house; sort of like living in a giant dishwasher. Probably easier on the electronic devices too.
I Am My Own Worst Enemy
Will it sweep up stray hairs after I have shaved my shoulders before a hot date?
It's the stuff people see that bothers them the most, in my experience :)
"Better to be vulgar than non-existent" -Bev Henson
I never exactly said "hello" to tedious bathroom cleaning, as the watermelon-sized bacteria in there can attest to.
As much as a counter that sanitizes itself (which is what this product does) is perfect for hospital and other biologically hazardous places - I'd so much rather have table that used concentrated bursts of plasma to eliminate ALL on it's surface. Or perhaps someone can invent an oatmeal that doesn't dry rock hard on the bowl when I'm doing dishes.
Say goodbye to Maria!
----
http://www.peopletellall.com
So does this clean your hands when you touch the surface?
Sigs are overrated.
They should just install 3 sea shells in each bathroom. That will make a cleaner society for us all.
People (at least the ones I know) do not clean their bathroom for health reasons. They do it because it's it's visually discusting. Now matter how healthy this new substance is, it will NOT get rid of the yellow stains on and around the toilet.
Life is not for the lazy.
While planning my house, I was inspired by seeing a truck stop employee using a hose to clean the shop's bathroom. When I designed the house, I allowed the bathroom to be almost completely sealed, and had the walls poured in with concrete. The floor had a drain, and the roof had a high pressure rotating soap/water cycle sprinkler system. I'll follow up with some pictures in a minute.
I'm not sure if I want to have that. I think "germs" and my cells aren't all that different in their ability to resist being killed. In fact, I think some germs can outlast my cells so intuitively, I don't think this idea is very safe. Maybe the right solution isn't to kill every thing but learn to live with bacterias, etc. Plus, it's not so much the micro-organisms that worry me but just rather bits of dust and hair that start to collect in some areas that bothers me and this idea doesn't really provide a solution to that.
On the other hand, I've always wanted a titanium (not titanium oxide) clad bathroom that I can just torch or something to clean it the same way my oven does. When I first read the title, I thought someone figured out a smart and economical way of doing this.
EvilCON - Made Famous by
This is all very dubious. If I've got the green apple splatters, I think I'm still gonna want to weigh in with the scrubbing bubbles after I'm done.
Hopefully Levi's will pick up from here :)..
It's already been done better.
"The titanium dioxide contains 'superhydrophilicity' which makes it so liquid droplets do not form on the surface. It makes the liquid run off and washes as it drips off."
Riiiight, so now those little droplets of piss will form puddles.
The best way is prevention; blacklights. If the only lighting in your bathroom is blacklights everyone will see every tiny mismatch in the surface of your bathroom, and no will walk in again. Of course you know where the real light switch is and can see how it looks in "reality."
Is there anything better than clicking through Microsoft ads on Slashdot?
Nano-nano!
Good, inexpensive web hosting
They've been using titanium dioxide (TiO2) and UV light to clean hospitals in Japan for a few years now (probably more like a decade now). I'm sure these researchers may have found a new formulation, but the idea is not novel. The Japanese embedded the TiO2 in wall and floor tiles and watched it kill bacteria and other airborne organics when light was shown on it. The side products (if bigger than carbon dioxide or water) can then be easily wiped off.
This could be huge. Not really for homes, where people will really want things to look really clean, but in public settings. Roadside rest stops, restaurants, and, most importantly, colleges can reduce the spread of bacteria this way. Yes they have cleaning staff, but this can run more frequently.
How much UV radiation do I get in my bathroom to activate this with?
Are they expecting me to hang UV Elvis Felt Paintings and install UV lamps?
I predict the bathrooms needing this the worst will be the ones getting the least UV radiation.
I for one welcome our new oxide-resistant super-germ overlords.
It will be stuck to the tiles and sinks. It will have an effect similar to oxidizing the biological stuff (germs, viruses, fungi) that contact it. The harmess gunk that remains will easily wash off.
Prediction for end of Universe #42: Fencepost error in Quantum_bogosort.cpp
Actually, the ones I'm thinking of are in A Long Line of Cells. Read 'em both. Read 'em all. You'll be happy you did.
KFG
My cousin goes to UNSW and last time he stayed with us, I can see why they'd be developing this type of technology.
"I'm going to f***ing bury that guy, I have done it before, and I will do it again. I'm going to f***ing kill Google"
The main problem with a product like this is that it won't help those who need it most... mainly broke college students who don't clean up after themselves, because they won't be able to afford it.
I have never been in a dirty rich persons home (at least the bathroom).
Someone mod parent up
No, not this time.
It's perfect for MSN's iLoo..
If Nalgene water bottles are outlawed, only outlaws will have Nalgene water bottles.
I believe the bathroom would clean YOU.
I demand that this be put through the most rigorous testing known to man. I propose that this technology be installed in a Fraternity's bathroom.
When I was in France, they had little bathroom stalls on the sidewalks, cylindrical in shape. You put your money in, the door opens, you do your stuff, and then you leave. But as soon as that door closes the second time, it rinses itself down completely and drains right into the ground. They were obviously the cleanest public restrooms I have ever seen.
those toilets that shoot water at your ass to clean it - I'll stick with toilet paper thank you...
"The toiletbowl light needs to be changed".
Seriously, this is more like desinfection than cleaning. The sheer amount of organic material people leave in toilets is not chemically destroyable. Toilet brushes won't become a thing of the past.
The Army needs to invest in stuff like this. But don't put it in Basic Combat Training barracks, those scrubs need to keep busy, and the Drill Sergeants need to have one more reason to smoke the life out of them :D
What else can happen when an unstoppable force collides with an immovable object?
how many people and janitors might lose their job over this in the coming years.
... this mess?
As a janitor, I can tell you that this will not eliminate the need for cleaning staff. The most important thing we do is replace supplies. The next biggest thing we do is fix unusual problems before they get to be a serious problem (lady flushes sanitary product, someone shits all over sink, etc.). As far as sinks and counters go, we polish mirrors, and then get hair and soap off of sinks. The most important thing is to have the bathroom look good. This might help with getting black gunk and algae out of toilets or sanitizing fixtures, but the important things will still require janitors. People never seem to realize the amount of critical thinking required. You can't replace cleaning staff with untrained or stupid people or machines unless you want problems. We notice things that a machine wouldn't notice and clean or fix. Paying attention to small things can really save your ass sometimes. For instance, if the tone drops on the vacuum cleaner, you have a slipping belt. If you ignore it, you get melted rubber all over the floor. An untrained person doesn't notice this, and has to pay to replace burned carpet. A machine has similar problems. You can't simply automate cleanup crews.
gives the particles an oxidizing quality stronger than any commercial bleach
So I guess no more walking barefoot in the bathroom anymore, given that prolonged contact with skin is something you're not supposed to do with bleach, and this stuff is worse.
It sounds like one of those things like Teflon where it sounds like a great idea at first, but in 5 or 10 years, they find out that it'll kill you if you're exposed to it for too long or something.
TFA has a caption that says "bathroom", but the photo is clearly a toilet rather than a bath tub.
Self cleaning or not, I'm not sure that's a very sanitary mistake to make!
The self-lubricating engine!
The self-destructing warp engine!
The self-freshening refrigerator!
The self-brushing dog!
The self-fucking penis!
Why, the possibilities are endless!
Sure, this kills bacteria but it's not going to remove pubes, skid marks in the bowl, soap splashes on the counter top, etc. Until they make rooms that you can seal up and run through a wash cycle there will be no such thing as true self-cleaning.
well, this is certainly a lot more practical than those public bathrooms that spray water and drain after each use.
my Bathroom Monkey.
The shareholder is always right.
As far as /.ers are concerned, they should have invented something to clean the keyboard first. You'd expect we clean the bathroom before we even clean the keyboard?
Ha! He doesn't know how to use the 3 Sea Shells!
I need ten of these. Where can I get them?
My Sysadmin Blog
Old news. These were around for a few billion years. They are called "rivers".
I always thought of designing a bathroom like one big toilet bowl: you just flush the whole room and there is a big drain in the middle.
Table-ized A.I.
After a recent remodel of the restroom facilities campus-wide, university administrators are noticing an decrease in the ability of the male dormitory tenants to properly aim ^H^H^H^H use the facilities. Administrators are currently investigating the cause.
There are only 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.
I remember reading that it was being mooted to use the same stuff to remove organic (as in chemistry) pollutants from the air. It's photocatalytically active, can form very thin films, and has interesting optical properties, hence its use as a pigment in paints.
Joe Blow is one of the first to move into a new super metroplex. Apartments, retail outlets, movie theatres, gymnasiums, self cleaning-bathrooms. You name it; it's all right next door.
Joe heads over to the gym and works up an appetite, so he heads over to Taco Bell (such convenience), and then over to catch a movie.
[Later that night]
Taco Bell is not sitting well with Joe, and Joe heads for the self-cleaning bathroom to live up to his name. No need for the toilet paper protectant here: "This shit is self-cleaning!" thinks Joe. He sits down whistling and prepares to do his business, when suddenly--the lights go out.
The whistling stops and then Joe calls out, "Hey, that's not funny. Turn the lights back on!"
[Cue the Super Ultraviolet Cleaning Rays of Reactive Oxidative Death.]
And then the screaming starts and Joe burns. Sure he could stand up and run out, but this is a Hollywood production. Bad luck for Joe.
There are times throughout the day when I must 'hit the can'.
A strange light inside the restroom, seems to make my skin turn tan.
Now I'm feeling ill from restroom visit number four.
If I do not get out of here, I'll faint upon the floor.
Ooohhhhhh, SuperHydroPhiliciticexpialidocious.
Just the very sound of it, makes me feel quite atrocious.
The chemicals inside this stuff, just burns my lungs ferocious.
SuperHydroPhiliciticexpialidocious.
There's test results that say that female parts will grow precocious.
SuperHydroPhiliciticexpialidocious.
Skin cancer from the lights will make your final days atrocious.
SuperHydroPhiliciticexpialidocious!!!!
--
Give me a C, a bouncy C.
Like a surface that disinfects itself with electrostatic charges that disrupt bacterial membranes. I think this is already in use in hospitals, and I know it's in use, even at my dentist's office.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
You could always just diff the dupes!
actually this liquid formula is already created. It is currently used in cars and building to reduce smell caused by bactaria or microorganism. http://www.arc-flash.com.tw/
...that can't be killed with the bathroom surfaces?
/. recently run a piece on how your keyboard is filthier than your toilet seat?
Besides, didn't
... are slashdotters that are self-cleaning.
"You'll get nothing, and you'll like it!"
There's a lady in California who lives in a "self cleaning house" much as you describe. Sprinklers in the cieling, drains in the floor, blowers in the walls.
She and her inventor husband built it, I believe in the 50s. It was the sort of thing that appeared in Popular Mechanics and newsreels.
The lady, now very old, still gives demonstrations by appointment. There was an article about her and the house in the paper a few years back. It all seemed kind of sad.
I don't think cieling sprinkler type washing is really practical. You'd need to have plastic upholstery, and store away all the books and such. Anyway, it takes more than running water to really get stuff clean. Just hosing down your car just removes loose dust.
THAT SAID . . . I think nano-coatings in conjunction with sprinklers specifically in a bathroom might just work. You'd need a really tight and well-sealed bathroom, like one of those molded one-piece things used in mobile homes.
Just because you can make this sort of bathroom is good, but I don't think I would want one in my home. I think it would probably weaken my immune system if I used a sterile environment like that. However, public bathrooms; it would be great.
Say goodbye to tedious bathroom cleaning!
And say hello to more auto-immune diseases?
i thought hydrophobic meant uh... dislike of water and hydrophilic meant like of water. doesn't this mean that something that's got 'superhydrophilicity' powers is going to really like water? like, your carnuba wax car wax makes water bead because it's, well, waxy. am i missing something?
To me it seems that it would have this problem:
When you clean a surface with bleach and water you mechanically mix any contaminants with the solution, and the water dissolves the contaminants as well. With these surfaces I'd imgaine they'd only oxidize whatever is in IMMEDIATE contact with the surface. So, they might work for walls or ceilings that come into contact with microscopic aerosols, but I can't see how they'd work with anything else.
So, now toilets are not needed anymore and I can shit on the floor? On a sidenote, what is my girlfriend going to do now that the bathroom cleans itself?
... because this is the best answer I have ever seen to the question "So what do you do that cannot more profitably automated or outsourced to $COUNTRY_WITH_LOWER_STANDARD_OF_LIVING?" and it was posted by a janitor.
Help poke pirates in the eyepatch, arr.
If this gets into the mainstream, how will it affect the titanium market? People might start wanting it on all the surfaces in their home - benches, showers, baby bottles, paint, toys, computer keyboards etc.
And will there be any long-term effects from touching treated surfaces?
This sig is covered under the GPL.
We have bathrooms that clean themselves, robots that clean our floor for us.
In the future, slashdotters will have autonomous beings that will clean everything else.
Of course, these are already available to the general public. I believe they are called 'girlfriends'.
Seems to me I first heard of titanium-catalyst coatings something like five or six years ago. Any organic material on a tile coated with this compound, would oxidize and break up its polymers, leaving you with gaseous CO2, water vapor and nitrogen. Really fast in the presence of sunlight, and not quite so fast under artificial light.
Isn't this the same stuff?
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
Didn't someone say the same thing about Teflon coating? Only difference here is oxidation process through UV light. That's hardly "self-cleaning." More like watching paint dry... at least, according to the rate of my visit to the toilet that is...
"Don't let fools fool you. They are the clever ones."
The pitch here is they'll embed titanium dioxide in the material of bathroom surfaces, someone will switch on the UV, the TiO2 will absorb UV and get activated into the Avenging Oxidizer which will destroy all life in its path. Its path is very short so it will "kill germs on surfaces".
In that case, what does titanium dioxide do when it's a sunscreeen ingredient? It absorbs UV, other things being equal it would oxidize to destruction any organic molecules it could get its hands on, and it's smeared over my skin.
Also, why do you need the TiO2 to kill bacteria if you've already got a short-wavelength UV light?
This product probably does not work anywhere where SPF10 sunscreen works. Here Down Under (SPF 30 land) it will work a treat.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
urnials are already self-cleaning!
send royalty payments to...
>>the shortest sentence in the English language is "I am". The longest sentence is "I do".
>Grammar nazi says the shortest sentence is "Go." Taking all the fun out of marital relations jokes, I know.
"No."
Me, living in "o" down under (as opposed to "el" down under), can guarantee you that SPF30 being enough would be a blessing. My mom, who had a small skin cancer, can only go outside (everyday I mean) with SPF60... The stuff is so stingy that she mixes it with Nivea Cream just so she can endure passing it on her face.
It's better to be the foot on the boot than the face on the pavement. ~~ tkx Kadin2048
If I spray this coating on myself I never have to use the bathroom anymore!
The application of this technology that was working for me was one of the fluorescent twisty bulbs coated with the material. In that case they beat inverse square by having the material directly on the surface of the bulb.
Unfortunately the bulb burned out after only two weeks. I haven't figured out yet if that was a result of the manufacturing of the bulb, or it commenting on the amount of work I was asking it to do in cleaning my indoor environment...
So if being on the surface of the bulb makes it work, I wonder just how much UV you need to have it punch through inverse square and work on a floor or sink or toilet seat? Would one need to hang a sign that read: "Caution: Self cleaning bathroom. Enhanced indoor UV levels present. Please limit exposure to less than 15 minutes to prevent elevated risks of sunburn, skin cancer, dizziness, shortness of breath, de-hydration, breast cancer, colon cancer, painful rectal bleeding..."
A self cleaning bathroom can save you a lot of work... If you don't mind your hands and feet being bleached when you walk in and your butt having a white ring around it when you sit on the toilet.
This may not have the aesthic appeal that you might think it would...
Okay, lemmie get this straight. This stuff stays there all the time, is activated by UV --blacklights, possibly, which are common in nightclubs/discotheques, and is highly oxidizing. So, are we also to assume there won't be any trouble with... oh say, lawsuits when people accidently back into a wall or pass out on the floor only to find they're clothes have been bleached? How about hair?
someone to invent a selfcleaning ass to go with this.
To err is human. To forgive is not company policy.
piss all over the seat is still piss all over the seat. Pubic hair clustered on the floor and stuck to various porcelain fixtures is still pretty gross. And all those people whose aim is _so_poor_ that they get feces _outside_ of the toilet... wtf?
The fact is, public restrooms are pretty gross to begin with, and ones without a regular cleaning staff are absolutely unuseable. Self cleaning restroom without an actual cleaning staff will make no difference.
I know none of you guys clean your bathrooms at home, because as I guy I can vouch for our basic laziness and general disgusting behavior. If any of you has a wife, girlfriend, domestic partner, or yes, your mom, for some of you, who does clean the bathroom, you had damned well better appreciate her.
More music, fewer hits
Ok let me get this straight. It will kill the germs but what about all the other crap? Still have to get in their and scrub all the poop off the toilet don't you??
Surely this would be better used for keyboards?
Cillit Bang?
Awesome, now if they could apply the same science to keyboards, you wouldn't need all those tissues whilst you're surfin' the net.
I think this marks the first time I have seen a Martin Short quote in a sig. Whatever happened to Lawrence Orbach?
The House Between - Original Sci-Fi Series
Is make many of those much easier to clean/wipe off.
This is why many buildings are now being coated with TiO2-based paints - While incredibly strong and nasty cleaning agents used to be needed to wash gunk off the buildings, normal old rain is now sufficient to completely wash those buildings.
Likewise, stuff you used to need ammonia/rubbing-alcohol-based cleaning products for will most often only require plain old water to clean.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
I'm not worried, I don't drink out of the toilet.
Ah, so you always place the lid down before flushing? The water particles sprayed out of the commode when flushed can travel several feet. Try putting blue food coloring in the commode and flushing it, and seeing how much area gets covered. Water glasses, toothbrushes...
This sig has absolutely no significance and serves only to take up screen space and waste the time of the reader.
"MONKEY HATE CLEAN!"
n/t
My parents and I took a grand tour of europe in the summer of 1992. Being from the United States, we rented a car in Paris, and drove down the highway of the Sun down to Barcalona Spain to catch the olympics. On the way, we spent one night at a Grand Prix Inn.
Grand Prix Inn seem to be the french equivelent of a Motel 6, only it look like it was built out of Lego. All the building were plastic, and modular. Like most french hotels, the rooms did not have bathrooms, and the bathrooms were located just off the lobby area.
One of the first things you noticed about these bathrooms were the lights over the door as you went in. There was a red light and a green light. You could only enter the bathroom when the light was green. After using the bathroom, as soon as you closed the door upon exit, the light would turn red and you could hear the bathroom starting to clean itself. It took about 5 minutes, and then the light would turn green again, and the bathroom door would unlock.
The bathrooms themselves were quite small, and each one had only a shower, toilet, and a sink. The entire bathroom appearted to have been made from one large plastic casting, as the only seams you could find in the entire room was the door.
Imagine if you grew up in with one of these all your life, then you have to take a piss in a dirty public WC or something, that could kill you.
On my recent trip to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, I saw many metallic structure. It turned out to be a self cleaning public toilet. You go in and do your biological duty. After you leave, the public toilet cleans itself.
Here is the manufacturer.
http://www.rba.com.au/exeloo/galaxy.html
Since they'll need to install a bulb in the pot anyway...
1. We'll finally get a built-in night-light making it easier to aim in the dark.
2. I can't wait to see the mods.
--- Dan
That's probably a different technology entirely. This stuff works by being a contact-based oxidizing catalyst. If it's on the buld, then it's not exactly going to do anything to various things growing on fixtures.
Another question: is this related to the titanium (di?)oxide that was talked about a while ago to keep windows clean by virtue of the UV in sunlight?
± 29 dB
Awesome, I can finally get rid of my bathroom monkey.
http://www.youaredumb.net/archive/2005/10/31
O~ Him that studies revenge keeps his own wounds green. -- Francis Bacon
I've tried getting married... but I'm a /.'er so I can't get a date much less a wife.
Libertas in infinitum
I don't need no ultraviolet! I swear I saw something to the effect of a self cleaning bathroom on Tool Time, once.
- Adam
The Computations of AdamR
http://www.adamreyher.com
Even if your bathroom turns it white, dirt, bacteria, germs, etc, are still pretty undesirable.