• Question: how do you wash clothes in space?

    Asked by mairrax to Anne, Beth, COLFlight, Jon, Tom on 12 Oct 2015.
    • Photo: Columbus Flight Directors

      Columbus Flight Directors answered on 12 Oct 2015:

      Sergio:
      Hi mairrax!
      very interesting question, because thwe answer will probably surprise you 😀

      Water is very precious in space, so we have to limit its use as much as possible. All the water that is used, has to be collected, filtered and disinfected so that the astronauts can use that again and again.

      Every time you wash your clothes here on Earth, you use several liters of water. Filtering that would be too much overhead and we can’t afford to throw it away.
      Therefore we don’t wash clothes in space! It’s actually more convenient to throw the clothes away when they are dirty and to wear new ones! 😉

    • Photo: Beth Healey

      Beth Healey answered on 13 Oct 2015:

      🙂 I wish the same was true for Antarctica! I’m running out of new clothes and excited for the first plane to arrive in November to get some new ones!!

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