The Next Revolution in 3-D Printing: Disposable Panties | Hacker News Reader

The Next Revolution in 3-D Printing: Disposable Panties

bloomberg.com

20 pointsT-A15 comments

Disposable plastic clothing. I'm sorry if this sounds bit hippie but that sounds really bad idea environmentally.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodegradable_plastic

Do any of the these from their website fit that profile?

> Various types of liquid polymers such as natural Latex, silicon, polyurethane and Teflon, as well as variety of textile fibres such as cotton, viscose and polyamide enable tailor-made fabrics for any need.

http://www.tamicare.com/#!technology/c1xu8

Yes, latex and cotton are biodegradable.

3D printed teflon and polyamide would be great, those are excellent materials with plenty of applications beyond clothing.

Cotton is most definitely biodegradable (but of course, not a plastic).

I imagine the slogan is something like, "Reduce > reuse > recycle > compost."

Just because PLA biodegrades doesn't make it more environmentally friendly than other sources of reusable underwear that also biodegrades....

Printing durable textiles at home sure would be cool, though.

The theoretical advantage of biopolymers isn't just that they biodegrade, it's that they biodegrade into materials (like methane) which can form the feedstock for bacteria which in turn produce the biopolymers. This is better than paper underwear because the paper->CO2->tree->paper cycle is much slower.

Ain't nothing wrong with being a hippie when you're right.

Not necessarily, if the materials are chosen well you could recycle them. Not necessarily an improvement in terms of total energy use but worth evaluating.

More importantly is to build recycling tech so that such disposable items can be broken down into raw material for 3D printing more ... whatever.

Piece of underwear printed in 3 seconds? That's Startrek grade innovation.

I told my wife about this article expecting her to be very impressed and she said "so does that mean you have to take your pants off every time you change the panties?"

I wonder if they've solved for this already? There's only one photo of panties on the site that I can find and the style suggests they would require removal of pants. Not exactly fast, and potentially awkward in public restrooms.

Or you could just use hydrogen peroxide to get the blood stains out of fabric.

It isn't just bloodstains. For example, depending on your body's pH, the discharge can also bleach fabric.

Japan rejoices.

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