Research in nanotechnology has developed so much that it might be possible now to just have a little bit of sunshine or even a light bulb to get your clothes spick and span, totally clean in only a few minutes.

Scientists from the RMIT University in Melbourne and Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia have been remarkably instrumental in researching and developing a pioneering nanotechnology technique that encompasses the ability to create textiles that can miraculously clean itself within a matter of a few 60 seconds.

The technique behind these self-cleaning textiles is this: Copper and silver-based nanostructures have the amazing ability to absorb light. When these nanostructures are infused into the fabric and exposed to light, they subsequently break down the organic matter such as stains from food products that are present on the cloth, making it clean.

Rajesh Ramanathan, a scientist of Indian origin is one of the lead researchers at the Ian Potter NanoBioSensing Facility and 

NanoBiotechnology Research Lab at RMIT, and is spear heading this state-of-the-art research which might unleash a textile revolution into the world. 

The immensely talented and creative team of scientists figured out that by treating fabric with certain solutions, these nanostructures grew steadfastly onto the textile within short span of time which read to about half an hour maximum. Soon as they are exposed to light, energy is released and the varied organic compounds present on the fabric degrade and disappear. When the tiny metallic constructs are exposed to light from any source, they create "hot electrons" that in turn release energy bursts that dissolve organic matter. It was observed that the textile cleaned itself, resultingwith clothes that had absolutely no stain, within just 6 minutes.

"Basically what we do is take a simple cotton textile, we have a few different new methodologies to grow nanostructures directly on them, and then once these structures are formed we can just shine light on them," explained Ramanathan.

The idea and technique by itself isn't absolutely new. This practice had been adopted previously but only at a small-scale level that incurred huge amounts of time and money.

With the advent of research and technology, the approach is now cost-effective and time-saving, and has the potential to be instituted on a larger scale.

If the technology is brought to a level where the textiles can be produced at an industry rate, the money will be cheap and the demand for it, high. If all goes well, washing machines might soon be replaced with these innovative self-cleaning cloth materials, probably sending detergent companies into a loss as well.

Ramanathan further added that up until now the tests have been successfully carried out only on stains and a few difficult organic compounds, and that there is still a long way to go.Furthermore, the industry and regulatory authority requirements on this matter are yet to be looked into and ascertained.

The benefits of self-cleaning textiles are plenty, obviously. Cleaning up clothes will be absolutely easy and hassle-free, saving cost, time and electricity in the process, and leaving behind spotlessly clean clothes. With the accumulation of day-to-day grime and pollutants on clothes that deteriorate quality and shelf life, the nano-

enhanced fabric is an apt solution to tackle this. The fact that even a small light bulb can clean the fabric in much less time than any other cloth cleaning process will also be a boon to homemakers. Pollution of water sources and nature due to usage of detergents and other chemicals, will also be reduced significantly. 

With the accumulation of day-to-day grime and pollutants on clothes that deteriorate quality and shelf life, the nano-enhanced fabric is an apt solution to tackle this. The fact that even a small light bulb can clean the fabric in much less time than any other cloth cleaning process will also be a boon to homemakers. Pollution of water sources and nature due to usage of detergents and other chemicals, will also be reduced significantly. 

Ramanathan is quite optimistic about this innovation and stated that this progressive approach is a strong foundation toward the development of futuristic, self-cleaning clothes. The team's research and findings on nanoparticles is published in the journal Advanced Materials Interfaces.Although this is a great innovation of the century, these clothes won’t be available to the crowds yet, as the stains have only been limited to a few, and the team is now working on understanding whether other stains can be removes as well, such as tomato sauce and wine.