Short of water to bath? A young inventor has the perfect solution

Ludwick Marishane has already been featured on CNN’s Inside Africa Programme and included in the Time Magazine’s 30 Under 30 World Changers – two institutions that set the global media benchmark. What more credible affirmation can one ask for?

Though only 23, Marishane is a proud inventor of DryBath, a lotion designed to provide sanitation to people in water-deprived areas of the world. The product is a clear germicidal and moisturising lotion applied to the skin like waterless hand cleaners.

Already, DryBath has captivated the world’s attention, with growing demand in the West Coast region of the USA. “Sales are made to institutional investors such as the army and prisons,” he explained in an interview withTransform SA.

If Marishane tells you that there is no shortcut to reaching one’s destination in business, you better heed the message. The University of Cape Business Administration graduate has been through hurdles university professors thrice his age could have tolerated and triumphed. He lost resources through dabbling in different business enterprises and experienced numerous cul-de-sacs in his research endeavours. “I lost a lot of money that I did save to pursue my business ideas. As much as possible, I did not want to have a situation where I borrowed and end up failing to repay,” recollected Marishane.

Marishane’s idea of inventing a product that could substitute water but still just as effective in guaranteeing sanitation emerged when he was in high school. He noticed that during winter most students shunned bathing and pondered whether they could be a practical alternative. Afterwards, he embarked on a journey towards what would be a revolutionary invention.

Marishane’s invaluable advice to aspiring entrepreneurs does not come better than this: “Don’t listen to pessimists, go with the positive people. Believe in your mission, despite the teething problems and the hassles involved.”

Marishane is in partnership with Hennie du Plessis, a chemical engineer and the chief executive of BioEarth Laboratories, which now manufactures DryBath.