Fish biology inspires laundry microplastics clean up

Words by
Robin Eveleigh
February 18, 2026

Inspired by marine life, inventors have created a filter to trap pesky microplastics leaked during laundry



Innovators have taken a cue from nature to help solve one of washday’s dirty little secrets: microplastics leaching into waterways via household laundry.

A single synthetic garment can release up to 1.5m fibres during a standard wash cycle, and studies point to household laundry as the number one source of microplastics in our oceans.

Yet ironically, it was marine life which inspired the solution dreamt up by a trio of young inventors at the Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, US. Dismayed at existing laundry filters’ tendency to clog, they designed an alternative based on the cone-like mouths of manta rays, which capture plankton in swirling eddies. Their patented Vortx filter traps microplastics in tiny vortices and funnels them into a disposable pod – a method they say is 300% more effective than traditional filters.

More:
https://www.positive.news/environment/fish-biology-inspires-laundry-microplastics-clean-up/