You don’t need laundry detergent to wash your clothes in Kentaro Takanashi’s Wash-plus laundromats in Chiba, Japan.

His machines use alkaline ionized water, not detergent, and they are the first to do so. It does not contain synthetic chemicals that cause itching and its impact on the environment is minimal. Not only does it avoid adding chemicals into the environment, it doesn’t need a rinse cycle so it uses much less water than a normal washing machine. In fact, its laundromats use 30% less water than conventional ones.

Takanashi was looking into other business possibilities after his family-owned real estate management firm was damaged by the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake when he learned that patients with atopic eczema suffer from itchiness and other symptoms brought about by detergent. He discovered an alternative washing method using alkaline ionized water.