A Bath in Just 8ml!

Puneet Guptas start-up Clensta International lets you have a bath and wash hair without using a drop of water.

- Aprajita Sharma

When an army officer who had been posted in Siachen told IIM Calcutta alumnus Puneet Gupta, who was working with a defence start-up then, that he had once not taken a bath for 90 days, Gupta felt he should find a solution. He explored alternatives and landed on waterless technology. His start-up Clensta International, founded in February 2016, offers bathing products that do not need any water. Both its products, body wash and shampoo, are alcohol, sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and gluten free, making them suitable for all skin and hair types.

“Water is only a rinsing mechanism. So the idea is to maintain personal hygiene, without using water. We thought that molecules of dirt, oil and grease can easily be removed without water; when you take a normal bath, 80 per cent of the water doesn’t even touch your body,” explains Gupta. Along with a team of researchers at IIT Delhi, Gupta developed activated molecules that absorb dirt molecules. “After you massage the product all over your body or scalp, all you have to do is wipe it clean with a tissue or towel,” he says, adding that 100 ml of his product saves 350 litres of water.