SWHIRL

The goal of this project is to help people to do home hard surface cleaning in a more efficient and sustainable way. I created a sustainable hard surface cleaning product called ‘SWHIRL’, which has a double-layered gear system with the vacuum function that users with different hand motions can have a better experience to wipe and vacuum the surface better.

'Wipe Away Efficiency'

Based on the research book I wrote about the history, materials and products of hard surface cleaning, the goal of this project is to help people to do home hard surface cleaning in a more efficient and sustainable way. I created a sustainable hard surface cleaning product called ‘SWHIRL’, which has a double-layered gear system with the vacuum function that users with different hand motions can have a better experience to wipe and vacuum the surface better.

Part 1: Problem

I. Overview

Home hard surface cleaning is a common affair that everyone needs to do. However, the existing supplies cannot support people to do it well and those materials of related products are not environmentally friendly. Based on the complex process that people usually have to clean hard surfaces at home, I want to find the opportunity to create a sustainable and effective way for people to have a better experience to do home hard surface cleaning.

II. Target Users

People who do hard surface cleaning and sanitize counter tops anywhere, especially in COVID19 period.

III. Goals

1. Simplify the hard surface cleaning process so that people can do it more effectively.

2. Eliminate using many different kinds of products to do hard surface cleaning.

3. Use a sustainable product as a substitution of those one-time cleaning supplies.

IV. Data Collection of Hand Motions

After doing research about users’ experiences with various existing cleaning supplies, I found out:

1. People usually put their pressure on their hands and fingers with different hand motions to wipe the table.

2. Participants usually keep one preferred hand motion to wipe the table, but some of the participants change between two hand motions to wipe the table.

Circular

Diagonal

Vertical

Horizontal

31.6%

25.9%

15.8%

26.7%

Part 2: Process

I. Solution

I decided to create a sustainable hard surface cleaning swiper, which has a double-layered gear system with the vacuum function that users with different hand motions can have a better experience to wipe and vacuum the surface.

II. Sketches of Appearance

III. Sketches of Double-Layered Gear System

Double-layered gear system contains upper layer gears (orange) and lower layer gears (blue). The whole system contains three separate rolling systems, and each one contains two bigger gears and two smaller gears. The smaller gears beside each other rotate in an opposite direction to vacuum dust well.

Side VIew

Upper Layer

Lower Layer

IV. Prototypes

I made three prototypes to finalize shape and dimensions of the swiper, handle and gears at the bottom. The last prototype was 3D printed.

Prototype 1

Prototype 2

Prototype 3

Part 3: Branding

I. Name 'SWHIRL'

I decided to name this product ‘SWHIRL‘, which is the combination of the words ‘swiper' and ‘whirl‘. ‘Swiper‘ represents the function of this product, and ‘whirl‘ represents the double-layered gear system.

II. Pattern

The pattern combines the contours of gear and cut circular shape, and three combinations with rotations show the circular motion. Also, the shape formed at the center of the pattern is the shape of the product.