Polk State College grad invents self-bathing machine after grandmother's death
'Clean Box' aims to revamp bathing in care facilities
A Lakeland resident is hoping to change the way the elderly in assisted care facilities are bathed. Fox 13's Ariel Plasencia explains his inspiration.
LAKELAND, Fla. - A Polk State College graduate created an autonomous self-bathing machine designed to transform the cleaning process at nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
How Clean Box works
Big picture view:
Armed with a degree from Polk State’s Engineering Technology Program, Terrance A. King invented Clean Box, an enclosed bathing capsule that covers a user’s entire body except his or her head.
"While you're inside the machine, you have a lot of free room," King said. "It's very roomy, it's very comfortable."
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His current model has 10 scrubbers on the back, six scrubbers on the front, and 30 water jets all over.
There are different wash cycles – quick, normal, and luxury. The user can also set the water temperature and pressure.
Plus, there’s a built-in drying system, which also dries the floor to prevent slips and falls.
The inspiration behind it all
The backstory:
In 2021, King lost his grandmother, Betty Ball.
While living in an assisted living facility, she developed severe bedsores.
She later died from infection.
King doesn’t want any other family to go through something like this.
He told FOX 13 that Clean Box not only speeds up the bathing process, but it also eliminates the uncomfortable reality of standing cold and exposed.
"Our Clean Box turns a 30-minute cold, assisted traditional bath into a 10-minute luxury shower with your own dignity, independence, and being able to do whatever you want inside a machine versus a stranger having to bathe you," King said.
What's next:
This week, King is in Jacksonville, meeting with different assisted living facilities to discuss details about his pilot program for Clean Box.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13's Ariel Plasencia, who interviewed inventor Terrance A. King, as well as details from Polk State College.