Showering without water: Meet Ludwick Marishane is the creator of DryBath
An innovative hygiene product for daily bathing that is designed to save water.
DryBath is a germ-killing gel that allows you to take a bath without using a single drop of water or soap -- all you need is to apply the gel on your skin and then vigorously rub it off using your hands.
DryBath is a germ-killing gel that allows you to take a bath without using a single drop of water or soap -- all you need is to apply the gel on your skin and then vigorously rub it off using your hands.
"The
special formula will cover the whole body with the cleansing gel, which will
use the vigorous rubbing to lift the dirt off the skin," explains Ludwick
Marishane, the inventor of DryBath and founder of Headboy Industries.
The
23-year-old entrepreneur came up with his revolutionary idea back in 2007,
during a hot winter day when he was relaxing with some friends under the
blazing sun in Limpopo, northern South Africa. "Man, why doesn't
somebody invent something that you can just put on your skin and you don't have
to bathe," quipped
one of his pals, complaining that he didn't feel like having a shower -- and
this got Marishane thinking.
Still in high school, Marishane immediately took to Google
and Wikipedia to start researching creams and lotions, learning everything about
their components and how they are produced. Since he didn't have a computer he
carried out his investigations using his mobile phone and a few months later
he'd devised his own special formula -- at the age of 17, Marishane became
South Africa's youngest patent-filer.
Marishane, who won the global student entrepreneur award in 2011, went on
to study at the University of Cape Town and soon got his DryBath-producing
business running. He says his trademarked invention can be a "precious
tool" for the millions of people lacking access to clean water and
sanitation, as well as an an attractive option for corporate groups -- from
airlines and hotels to gyms and even aid agencies -- who want to encourage
their clients and users to save water.
CNN's
African Start-Up caught up with Marishane to speak about DryBath, his plans for
the future and why he doesn't shower on the last weekend of September every
year.
CNN:
How would you describe DryBath to someone who's never used it before?
Ludwick Marishane: DryBath is a bath-substituting gel, designed
to replace the need for soap, water and skin lotion. DryBath provides its users
with a fun and convenient alternative to traditional bathing and showering, a
precious tool for helping people to lower the excessive water use that is
leading to a looming global water crisis.
CNN: What are DryBath's
ingredients?
LM: It is a proprietary
blend of cleansers and moisturizers that make it a uniquely viscous blend of
bioflavonoids, natural emollients, and fruit acids to cleanse the skin, while
preventing dryness, irritation and body odor.
CNN: Can you
talk about your company's social goals?
LM: As it
stands, there are almost two billion people in the world without adequate
access to water and sanitation, all while people in urban societies consume an
average of 80 liters of water every time they bathe/shower. It is our goal for
DryBath, and other products like it, to change the way society practices
personal hygiene, and to provide cheap personal hygiene alternatives to the poor.
We know we cannot do this on our own, and we request any and all help that
anyone can provide.
The easiest way to provide
assistance to our cause is by participating in our annual "DryBath No-Bathing Weekend" -- this is our
strategy to allow the public to participate in helping us skip one million or
more bathes/showers by skipping them for a whole weekend in September.
CNN: What
are the challenges you've faced so far?
LM: The
challenge our business has been facing in recent years is pricing; we have
constantly been struggling to produce and distribute the product at prices that
are affordable for people in water-insecure communities -- ideally less than
$0.10 per bathe. As a startup, we have had to create a parallel product
(DryBath Premium) for the urban market -- campers/hikers, parents with kids,
shared/public-shower users, etc. -- that can be sold at a reasonable margin to
allow us to make the original DryBath product affordable.
CNN: Which
entrepreneurs do you most admire? And what advice would you give to those
aspiring to start their own business?
LM: I admire
the everyday entrepreneurs -- those who sell fruits from their stall at the
corner, have a great barbershop/salon, use their car as a taxi cab, etc. They
don't do it for any glory or adoration, they just wake up every day to get the
job done while still dealing with the risk of not breaking even each month.
I urge all aspiring entrepreneurs
to have this approach to business, because it's what every great business --
big or small -- succeeds on.
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