Pollution-busting laundry additive gets set to clean up

An additive created in a unique collaboration between the University of Sheffield and the London College of Fashion which can be washed into clothes so wearers purify the air as they move, could be available within just two years.

Plans are in place to commercialise the revolutionary liquid laundry additive called 'CatClo', which contains microscopic pollution-eating particles.

The new additive is the result of collaboration between the University of Sheffield and London College of Fashion, with initial support from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

The items of clothing only need to be washed in the additive once, as the nanoparticles of titanium dioxide grip onto fabrics very tightly. When the particles then come into contact with nitrogen oxides in the air, they react with these pollutants and oxidise them in the fabric.

The nitrogen oxides treated in this way are completely odourless and colourless and pose no pollution hazard as they are removed harmlessly when the item of clothing is next washed, if they haven't already been dissipated harmlessly in sweat. The additive itself is also completely harmless and the nanoparticles are unnoticeable from the wearer's point of view.

One person wearing clothes treated with CatClo would be able to remove around 5g of nitrogen oxides from the air in the course of an average day – roughly equivalent to the amount produced each day by the average family car.