Design studio CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati has created a wardrobe purifier to remove micro-organisms, bacteria, and viruses from clothes.

The project aims to address the needs of the 'new normal' brought forward by COVID-19.

Called Pura-Case, the product uses ozone to clean clothes and is designed by Carlo Ratti Associati for tech startup Scribit. The product is portable, battery-powered and operated via a custom-made mobile app.

The process begins with users placing clothes inside the case – which accommodates up to four hangers – and closing it with an air-tight zipper. The purifier will then release ozone which penetrates the fabric to sanitise clothes. Once the system is finished, the ozone is reduced to oxygen through a natural decay process using sustainable materials, making the case safe to open.

Once a piece of garment is hung inside the case, the air purification system will clean fabrics in the space of an hour.

Ozone is commonly used in the health and textile industry to sanitize fashion items, objects, and spaces and Pura-Case brings this technology safely into domestic settings. It also reduces the need for unnecessary washing and thus the consumption of water.

The entire process can be started and controlled either via a LED-lit top panel or remotely through the Pura-Case mobile app.

“As the entire world adjusts to a new normal in terms of health and hygiene, Pura-Case aims to promote top sanitation standards in the key interface between us and the environment – clothes,” said Ratti, director of the MIT Senseable City Lab, who led the Pura-Case design team.

“Pura-Case is an alternative to large-sized devices currently being used in hospitals. It could play a vital role in the post-pandemic world next year as we regain our old social life.”

Currently developed as a prototype, Pura-Case is about to be launched through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign.