I remember a myth that some garage inventor had developed a sonic clothes washer that required no water and no detergent. The the vibrations seperated the soil/dirt from the clothes fiber.
The conspiracy theory was that the detergent and chemical companies suppressed his invention and ruined his reputation.
I was just wondering if it is even possible for ultra sonic vibrations could even loosen dirt/soil witout damaging the fabic.

I know that sonic washers are used to clean jewelry and rapidograph[TM] pens.

I have also heard that sonic clothes washers are used in Japan, but also require a detergent solution of some sort for optimum effectiveness.

I also seem to recall there are hidden cost-to-benefit stats here that make it priced out of home use.

It's still an interesting idea for a myth (in my NSHO).

For what it's worth, a lot of great ideas get drowned out in the open market for lots of reasons. Doesn't actually need a conspiracy in many cases. Um, try the Amiga Computer (what apple wanted to be 10+ years before we were ready for it). They died a premature death because the parent company was more interested in selling their other models, and was pathetic at marketing.

Think AC power, and Tesla vs. Edison. While that could be thought of as a conspiracy enacted by one man, (;-D) even here, Edison alone could not have squashed Tesla. It took chance and bad luck on his part to complete Tesla's failure.

The list goes on an on... so many great ideas get squashed more by happenstance and Murphy than by malice.

busted.I think it might get dirt and other solids but not liquids,especaly if there dried in.

You can buy those washing machines in Germany for 10 years now! But they are not a standard or will become the standard in the near future!

You can't use soap or you ruin the machine.
Without soap, they can only remove "standard dirt". Glue, blood, gum, ink, paint, ... can't be removed well. So you either need to visit the washing saloon or own two machines.

If you need good hygiene, you need to make the soap-less machine boil which consumes a lot of energy compared to a conventional machine running at low temperature using bleach.

Using it in combination with a dryer gives you basic hygiene but the tough-stain problem remains. Also you can't use any fabric softener!

When I move into a bigger flat in my house, I will buy such a soap-less machine and keep my old one in the cellar where it already is.