A CONVERSATION WITH NAVJOT SAWHNEY, FOUNDER OF THE WASHING MACHINE PROJECT

LISTEN TO THE FULL CONVERSATION VIA LINKS BELOW (SUBSCRIBE OR FOLLOW THE “LONDON WRITING GUY” PODCAST FOR FUTURE EPISODES)

Did you know that approximately 60% of the global population still hand washes clothes? If you’re reading this, you may well have a washing machine in your kitchen, or utility room. But this luxury is something that more than half of the world’s population, not to mention 85% of India’s population, can only dream of.

For this conversation I spoke to Dr. Navjot Sawhney. Founder of The Washing Machine Project, Nav’s mission is to provide off-grid manual washing machines to people in low income and displaced settings, whilst empowering women to alleviate the burden of unpaid labour (through sustainable solutions.) The world’s first flat packable washing machine is now impacting 50,000 people a year, including in Gaza. A product he himself designed, along with his colleague Alex, the idea would never have come had Nav not packed in his job at Dyson. A mad move if you ask some people, including his own family. “It was nuclear war, in my house,” he says. Sat in boardrooms debating issues surrounding £500 vacuum cleaners, Nav questioned his worth. “As an engineer, you can either help or hinder the planet.” Wanting to combine his engineering expertise with his want to help people, Nav took to Google. Not longer after, he was heading out to South India to carry out humanitarian work, making cookstoves, with Engineers without Borders. It was here that Nav met Divya, who would ultimately be the reason for the Washing Machine Project.

Wanting to embed himself into the culture and surround himself with the problem he was there to solve, Nav realised the burden that the women of this village, and many women around the world, take on. Living a life of many struggles, simply hand washing clothes was taking Divya up to 20 hours a week. With no electricity, no running water, a donation of a washing machine would have been of no use. With that, Nav got to thinking. A message to a friend, his mum’s salad spinner and a sock, we fast forward to a project that is now recognised for its work by receiving numerous awards within the engineering and humanitarian space, including the George H.W Bush Points of Light Award in 2023. You might assume that behind such a success story is a high-flying and perfect student. Not so. With multiple forks in the road, things could have been very different for Nav. “I was a really average student…I’m lucky, it could have gone either way for me, as it did with my friends. Some of them are still in prison, today.” Those from the Greenford area of West London may well be able to relate. But Nav now joins a group of illustrious Greenford High School alumni, some of which include Arsenal and England’s Bukayo Saka, as well as professional cricket player Naomi Dattani.

From Nav’s childhood and the origin of the product, to where we are today, we cover a lot of ground in this conversation. The help Nav is providing around the world is innovative and priceless (literally!) One of the most heart-warming parts of this story is that Nav was able to go back to South India in 2024, to provide Divya with a version of the very product that she inspired. Today, The Washing Machine Project continues to go from strength to strength. Currently in 15 countries and with a vision to expand further, the impact is immense. “Just giving it to one person is more than enough” Nav says, with pride. That said, with a new manufacturing line in India, the aim is to reach 1million people by 2030.

Learn more about The Washing Machine Project HERE>