One of the world’s weirdest home dust collectors we’ve found is ‘The Un-Knitting Machine’. Oh sure, it’s eco-friendly on a number of levels, and is brilliant at what it does, but, how many folks in the world do you think are currently out there shopping for an unknitting machine?
This clever device utilizes parts of a bicycle to unravel old unused wool clothes in order for the yarn to be re-fashioned into something else. The Un-Knitting Machine not only upcycles both bikes and clothing, it uses human pedal power to do the task. Kingston University design student, Imogen Hedges, is the creator of the unusual invention, and was inspired to build the unknitting machine after discovering that some local charity shops had to devote hours to unraveling home-knitted clothing.
Essentially, the unknitter simply attaches the loose end, and then pushes the pedals to unravel the wool. The wool simultaneously passes through steam (from a kettle) to straighten it before being collected onto a spindle. The wool yarn can then be sold. Great idea, but, with an itty bitty market.
