LCA - Laundry vs. Textile Spray
During 2024–2025, two master’s theses at KTH – Royal Institute of Technology were carried out in collaboration with Pure Effect, exploring how new approaches to garment care can contribute to more resource-efficient everyday habits.
Both projects used Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) as a method to analyse how different ways of washing and refreshing clothes affect resource use and environmental performance – taking a full life-cycle perspective from production to use and end of life.
Why
Garment care is a central yet often overlooked part of the textile sector’s environmental footprint. Washing and drying consume large amounts of energy, water and chemicals, and are strongly influenced by our everyday behaviour.
In these studies, the researchers explored how biotechnological alternatives, such as Pure Effect’s Textile Mist – could be used to extend the time between washes, and how different usage patterns influence results in a life-cycle perspective.
Background
The studies were conducted at the Department of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science and Engineering (SEED) and largely followed the framework defined in ISO 14040/44. Both drew partly on insights from a user test with Wargön Innovation, where more than 100 participants shared their experiences of how Textile Mist is used in daily life.
Faika Fakhar & Madiha Hameed (2025) studied the use of Textile Mist in caring for polyester shirts and compared different scenarios of traditional washing and spray-based refreshment.
Srusti Daruri (2025) focused on denim garments and analysed how consumer behaviour and different combinations of washing and spray use affect the environmental profile over a garment’s lifetime.
Both studies highlight that the use phase – how often and how we wash – has the greatest influence on the total environmental impact of a garment.
Results & insights
KTH, 2025 – Life Cycle Assessment of Jeans Washing and Textile Mist Cleaning – A Comparative Study on Consumer Behaviour and Environmental Impact
“In the LCA of jeans, reducing washing frequency and introducing Textile Mist led to noticeable decreases in energy demand, freshwater use and emissions. The study confirms that consumer behaviour — particularly how often garments are washed — has the highest influence on the total environmental impact. Extending garment lifetime and including microplastic emissions in future research could further strengthen these findings.” - Srusti Daruri, KTH
KTH, 2025 – Evaluating the Potential of Textile Mist to Reduce Environmental Impacts from Traditional Laundry of Polyester Shirts – A Life Cycle Assessment Approach
“Our LCA results show that when part of the machine washing is replaced with Textile Mist, several environmental impact categories — including climate change, toxicity and water use — are reduced. The findings demonstrate that the use phase dominates the total footprint, mainly due to energy and detergent consumption. This highlights the potential of behaviour-based solutions to complement technical efficiency in achieving lower overall impacts.” - Faika Fakhar & Madiha Hameed, KTH
Both studies also point out two key areas where data is currently missing: how washing contributes to microplastic emissions, and what the actual environmental benefit of extended garment lifetime is when washing frequency is reduced. The researchers emphasise that future studies should deepen these aspects to understand the full potential of changing garment-care habits.
For Pure Effect, the projects have shown how challenging it is to conduct a truly comprehensive LCA, as there is still a lack of data to capture the full picture of the impact that reduced washing actually has. It has also provided deeper knowledge of user behaviour and product life cycle, contributing to the ongoing development of products and communication around smarter garment care. It also reinforces the company’s long-term mission – to create measurable impact by helping reduce global laundry.
Significance
The collaboration with KTH strengthens Pure Effect’s work towards reducing unnecessary laundry and inspiring a new way of thinking about garment care – where research, design and behaviour meet.
These projects are examples of how academia and business can co-create new knowledge about sustainable consumption and circular solutions in everyday life.
Learn more
Evaluating the Potential of Textile Mist to Reduce Environmental Impacts from Traditional Laundry of Polyester Shirts – A Life Cycle Assessment Approach (Faika Fakhar & Madiha Hameed, KTH 2025)
Life Cycle Assessment of Jeans Washing and Textile Mist Cleaning – A Comparative Study on Consumer Behaviour and Environmental Impact (Srusti Daruri, KTH 2025).
Glossary
✓BIOTECHNOLOGY
Biotechnology involves using microorganisms to produce substances we need (such as medicines and environmentally friendly alternatives to chemicals) and to break down substances we want to remove; everything from grease and dirt to oil spills, wastewater, and toxic substances in soil and water.
✓BIOTECHNOLOGICAL CLEANING
The biological cleaning method differs radically from the chemical one. With the help of chemical cleaning agents, we can eliminate all life forms – friends and foes. This creates a temporary biological vacuum, where bacteria quickly re-establish themselves.
Cleaning with bacteria, Pure Effect's method, means that a selected and beneficial bacterial flora replaces that which arose randomly. Pure Effect's bacteria then effectively compete out the unwanted ones, which prolongs the effect of the biological cleaning.
✓ENZYMES
Enzymes are highly specialized substances produced by all living things. They are absolutely essential for specific biochemical reactions to take place at low temperatures, without the addition of energy, for example, inside the body. In laundry and cleaning products, enzymes specialized in breaking down fats, proteins, carbohydrates, and other organic waste are used.
✓FERMENTATION EXTRACT
A fermentation extract contains enzymes and forms the base of our cleaning products. The fermentation extract consists of fermenting bacteria and the enzymes they produce. The enzymes are specifically selected for our various products and their areas of application.
✓ENZYMATIC HYDROLYSIS
Enzymatic hydrolysis is a process where specialized enzymes break down larger molecules into their constituent parts using water molecules. Our bacteria cleave fat molecules (triglycerides) into glycerol and free fatty acids, making them easily soluble and simpler for our beneficial bacteria to break down and consume.
✓PROBIOTIC
Probiotic bacteria are living bacteria with beneficial effects – not least in our bodies. Among other things, their activity inhibits the growth of disease-causing bacteria.
✓MICROBIOME
The term "microbiome" is used to define and describe a specific microbial ecosystem – that is, an ecosystem consisting of microorganisms. These miniature ecosystems, however, operate under the same laws as all other ecosystems on Earth. Organisms compete for resources, cooperate in networks, or wage war against each other – and those most successfully adapting to the surrounding environment will survive, reproduce, and dominate.
✓BACTERIA
Bacteria are microorganisms, meaning single-celled life forms. Our relationship with them is complicated, as we know that some of them cause diseases. But we also know that bacteria are essential for life both in nature and in the body. For humans, they can be both friends and foes. Our "friends" can be induced to perform a variety of useful services – what we call biotechnology. At Pure Effect, we use the ability of beneficial bacteria to break down dirt and remove odors, as well as their ability to outcompete or combat undesirable bacteria.
All life on Earth can be divided into three large, overarching categories (domains), based on genetic data. These domains consist of Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryota. Bacteria consequently have an entire domain to themselves – a vast kingdom containing infinite variation and diversity. All bacteria, however, share certain common characteristics; among other things, they lack a cell nucleus. https://artfakta.se/taxa/5000052/information
The domain Archaea also contains only single-celled organisms. They lack a cell nucleus, but are not related to bacteria. Link: https://artfakta.se/taxa/5000082/information
The domain Eukaryota is characterized by a cell nucleus, but also largely consists of microorganisms. However, this kingdom also includes the exception: multicellular life forms; the visible "Life on Earth" – including ourselves. https://www.genteknik.se/ordlista/eukaryot/
✓MICROORGANISMS (microbes)
Microorganisms are very small, single-celled life forms that cannot be seen with the naked eye. "Microorganisms" or "microbes" is a collective term for bacteria, yeasts, microalgae, plankton, and molds, among others. These invisible life forms exist in all environments on Earth and play an important role in all ecosystems. They are the original force that drives the cycles of nature, and a large number of species (mainly bacteria) are essential for our own bodies.