Degassed water may reduce need for detergents

Researchers at the Australian National University in Canberra have found an effective alternative to caustic, strong-smelling detergents: water. Good ol’ water. Degassed water, to be specific. According to their findings, published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry, if dissolved air present in everyday water is removed, H2O becomes at least as effective a degreaser as regular detergent, getting clothes clean, sans chemicals. This could be good news for the environment, since water can be degassed cheaply and efficiently simply by passing it through a porous membrane, a method much easier on the earth than manufacturing conventional detergents that have been linked to some nasty things, including massive algal blooms. So goodbye, detergent. And hello, water, soap of the future.