A versatile self-cleaning fabric coating as a detergent-free laundry product

Laundry is an everyday necessity in modern life, yet its role in converting vast amounts of clean household water to wastewater remains underappreciated primarily due to the excessive reliance on detergents to achieve effective cleanliness and hygiene. To tackle this enduring issue particularly amid mounting global concerns over water scarcity, here a self-cleaning polyelectrolyte multilayer coating was developed by alternately spraying poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDADMAC) and poly(vinylsulfonic acid) (PVS) onto various fabrics-including both hydrophobic synthetic fibers and hydrophilic cotton textiles-forming an ultra-high dense sulfonate-derived complete hydration layer that enables the effective removal of food stains, oily residues, bacteria, and fungi through simple rinsing with tap water. This innovation transforms conventional detergent-assisted, multi-step laundry practices – typically requiring 1 washing cycles and 4 rinsing cycles – to a single detergent-free rinsing cycle with enhanced cleanliness and hygiene. As a result, the overall consumption of water, electricity, and time is reduced by approximately 82%, while the discharge of detergent- and microplastic-laden wastewater is entirely eliminated. This study presents an approach for sustainable textile care that has the potential to advance environmentally responsible and resource-efficient hygiene technologies in everyday life. Routine household laundry leads to the release of detergent residues and textile-derived microplastics, contributing to water pollution. Here, the authors report a self-cleaning polyelectrolyte multilayer coating that can be applied to both hydrophobic synthetic fibers and hydrophilic cotton textiles to remove food stains, oily residues, and pathogens, providing a detergent-free laundry product requiring reduced rinsing.