You’ve got it all wrong! This chair didn’t escape from the last show Maison et Objetbut also features prominently in the showroom of a famous manufacturer of washing machines and household appliances, Whirlpool. The Beko Group brand has named it Wash Less. In French, “laver moins”. What’s behind this paradoxical name for a manufacturer whose aim is to sell washing machines? 20 Minutes has put its feet up and reveals its hidden functions.
A more sustainable approach
Do you know Fabio Novembre ? This artist belongs to the generation of fashionable Italian designers who, with each of his creations, infuses a little grain of madness (as with his armchairs, for example). Him & Her in 2008). It is to Novembre’s fertile imagination that Whirlpool has chosen to entrust a strange mission: the Wash Less Project.
For the manufacturer of household appliances, and washing machines in particular, the idea here is to “engage consumers in a more sustainable approach to laundry care”. In short: to encourage them to wash their clothes only when really necessary, by reserving them on a dedicated chair. And it all started with an observation.
3.2 items of clothing per chair
On a daily basis, many of us pile up clothes on a chair or stool in the bedroom or bathroom that have already been worn, that we don’t consider to be really dirty, and that we intend to put back on. In fact, according to a Whirlpool survey*, there are 3.2 such items per seat. 55% of these are T-shirts, but also jeans (66%) and sweatshirts (44%).
Hence the intriguing yet beautiful Wash Less chair, whose outgrowths are inspired by deer antlers. Manufactured by Natuzzi (a major player in Italian home furnishings), its seat is covered with fabric Ecoplena patented self-cleaning material made from recycled plastics that neutralizes bacteria. Including Covid-19, which has a life expectancy of just two hours. Wash Less’s sculptural structure is made of varnished, flocked steel. You can sit on it (it’s very comfortable, by the way), but you can also use it as a valet and hang up clothes waiting to be returned.
A design object as a symbol
“This chair confronts the user with his or her uses, while 55% of people actually keep linen already worn on a piece of furniture. We wanted to make it a symbol”, explains Anthony Bosc, Marketing Director for the Beko Group in Europe. It’s a laudable idea, indeed, with a designer whose boldness stands out like a manifesto.
According to Whirlpool, 55% of us keep clothes we’ve already worn on a piece of furniture (62% in the bedroom), and 65% plan to put them off. “This famous chair, which is cleared of clothes every two days on average, is accepted, but not shared,” smiles Anthony Bosc. Another amusing fact: for 51% of French people, the chair is emptied of clothes when there are visitors at home…
So, are we ready to trade in our old chair where we pile up the laundry we want to put off for Whirlpool’s Wash Less chair?
For the price of two washing machines
Because this incentive to adopt new behaviors for a greener home obviously comes at a price: 1,499 euros! The equivalent of two beautiful Whirlpool washing machines! But also the equivalent of a chair from designer. Don’t look for it at Darty or Boulanger in the Laundry Care aisle, it’s only available at the website Whirlpool website.
Whirlpool, and one wonders whether this operation might not be akin to a greenwashing. Manufacturer’s response to 20 Minutes We can’t carry out this type of operation without being involved ourselves. Our first responsibility is the design of our equipment. But 90% of the impact of our products comes from their use. Not a subliminal message: let’s all do our bit!
24% of French people would put their worn clothes directly into the dirty laundry bin, without asking themselves whether these clothes can be postponed. This phenomenon is particularly noticeable among teenagers, according to Whirlpool. In Europe, each family does 220 loads of laundry a year. The equivalent of 10,120 liters of water.
* Ipsos poll of 1,500 people.