14-year-old Kerala girl losing time washing clothes by hand during her Class X exams designed a bicycle-powered washing machine for Rs 2,000 that doesn't need electricity

A 14-year-old girl from Kerala found herself balancing Class X exams with hours of household laundry after her mother fell ill and her father underwent cancer treatment. Remya Jose and her twin sister had to take on the chores, leaving them with little time for their studies.

Instead of accepting the problem, Remya decided to build her own washing machine. She designed a machine that replaced electricity with pedal power and cost about Rs 2,000. The National Innovation Foundation (NIF) later documented the invention as the Washing Cum Exercise Machine.

How a 14-year-old designed the machine

Remya came from Kizhattoor in Kerala's Malappuram district. During her Class X examinations, her mother fell ill while her father was receiving cancer treatment. The household chores then fell largely on Remya and her twin sister, Soumya. Remya also faced a four-hour daily bus journey to and from school.

The lack of a washing machine meant the sisters had to wash clothes by hand. Remya wanted to find a way to reduce the time and effort the chore consumed.

She had already watched how an electric washing machine worked. After her Class X board exams, at the age of 14, she used that basic idea to design a machine that could work without electricity. NIF records that she drew the design herself and her father took it to a nearby automobile workshop, where mechanics built the machine.

The design used a pedal-and-chain mechanism similar to a bicycle. Instead of an electric motor turning the washing drum, the user generated the mechanical power by pedalling.

The choice also addressed a practical problem in her village. India Today reported that the power supply in her village was erratic, so Remya deliberately avoided an electrical design. The machine cost about Rs 2,000, according to both NIF and Economic Times.

A washing machine powered by pedalling

The machine combined washing with exercise. The user could load clothes into the drum, add water and detergent, and pedal to rotate the mechanism.

NIF's record says the clothes could soak for at least 10 minutes before the user pedalled for about three to four minutes. After draining and rinsing the clothes, continued pedalling helped remove water through centrifugal force, leaving the clothes about 80% dry.

The design therefore tackled two problems at once: it reduced dependence on electricity and turned the physical effort required for washing into the power source for the machine.

Economic Times reported the invention in May 2005, describing Remya as a 14-year-old who designed the washing-cum-exercising machine while dealing with her Class X examinations, a long commute and household laundry. The report also noted that the machine would cost less than Rs 2,000.

From a school problem to national recognition

Remya's invention eventually reached the National Innovation Foundation, which supports grassroots technological innovations in India. NIF listed the machine among the innovations recognised through its national competition.

NIF's current record also shows that the invention received a patent, with patent No. 207634 listed as granted. The organisation's record identifies Remya as the innovator and notes that she made the machine after her board exams when she was 14.

The invention also earned Remya national recognition. NIF records the washing-cum-exercise machine among the winners of its grassroots innovation awards, while contemporary and later reports have highlighted her national award for the invention.

What began as a teenager's attempt to reclaim time from a household chore eventually became an example of grassroots engineering: a bicycle-style mechanism, a local automobile workshop and an invention costing about Rs 2,000 turned an everyday problem into a machine that needed no electricity.