A "chemical wringer" developed by researchers in Florida leaves clothes 20 percent drier than a normal wash, and could save consumers millions in electricity bills.

A novel mix of common detergent ingredients that lowers the surface tension in liquids could force extra water from clothes during the final spin cycle, the researchers found.

Dinesh Shah, director of the Center for Surface Science and Engineering at the University of Florida, and Ph.D. student Daniel Carter noticed that cloth fibers act like tiny capillaries, stubbornly holding onto water through the spin cycle. By lowering the surface tension – the force that keeps water in a straw when one end is closed with a finger – water drained more easily from these fiber capillaries.

The researchers found they could lower surface tension by mixing common surfactants in a new way – five parts lauryl sulfate to one part dioctyldecyldimethyl ammonium bromide. "We call it dodab," Carter said.

Carter tested the compound using a washing machine in his lab. He compared the weight of clothes after a standard wash against those washed with the new compound. The researchers will publish their results in the journal Langmuir.

Clothes dryers accounted for 5.8 percent of U.S. residential electricity in 2001, according to figures from the Energy Information Administration, costing $5.6 billion. "If you could cut that down by 10 percent, that would have a important impact on the big picture," said Jonathan Cogan, an EIA spokesman.

Carter says they can do even better: "I believe that with further research, we could cut drying times by between 30 and 40 percent."

Carter said he believes the research will lead to a product, although he couldn't say when. The research was funded by a $200,000 grant from Procter & Gamble. The University of Florida applied for a patent on the compound and will license it to P&G.

"This would have a big impact on national residential usage," said the EIA's Cogan, "but I'm not sure how big an impact it would have on individual households. You would need to do a more detailed analysis, and it would depend how much a product like this would cost."

He added that most American households use less-efficient top loaders, but front-loading machines that use less water and energy are becoming more popular, which could compound the energy savings.