Laundry may not be the most exciting topic in the whole wide world, but every one of us must deal with it (unless you're a dirty hipster). As for innovations in the coming years for washers, we're starting to see a push towards improved efficiency. No, not in terms of water recycling or energy, but in terms of raw speed. Pure, unadulterated speed.

Russell Hobbs has managed to reduce their wash times of their washers down to a quick 12 minutes. Given you must select 'super rapid' mode, an option we'd normally avoid unless we're in a rush, we do dig the aspect of raw speed. Who knows, at 12 minutes, it may even enough to justify whipping out the tablet and reading a few articles while we're waiting for our laundry to finish.

Electrolux also offers up several models that finishes washing and drying in 15 minutes or less.

The nice thing about faster washers is that it theoretically utilizes less water (at least the Russell Hobbs model succeeds in doing so), saving you money as well as time. We just hope the new wave of washers don't sound like jet engines as they fire away their dual nozzles or other technology enhancements at the expense of apartment sound quality.

What do you guys think? What's the next step in laundry evolution?

(Via Gizmag)