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Eco laundry balls?

S

scumbalina

Scummy Mummy
This kinda thing.

Anyone use them? Now there's a littleun on the way I've been looking into buying eco type chemical free washing powder, but obviously it's quite a bit more expensive and I'll be doing terry nappies and the like, so I thought these might be a cheaper alternative. They look great, but i was wondering if anyone had actually used them, and if so, do they just remove like a bit of dirt and a few days mustyness, or do they get rid or...well, sweaty smells and the like :o They come with stain remover which made me a bit sceptical about their cleaning abilities.
 
you can get them at planet organic, you know, and they last for loads of washes. i think they work really well. although nappies may be another story...
 
yeah, I've found loads of places that do them, vary in price quite a lot, looks like Ebay's the place, but they also do them in a few local shops so not stuck for choice!

They say they do up to 1000 washes :eek: before you buy a refill, but that's at a half hour cycle and I reckon nappies need longer. But even if I just used them for clothes it'd be worth it, I just wanna be sure that I won't smell of B.O. and stale curry all the time :D
 
I used some for about 6 months, can't remember the make but they cost me about £30.00 - I do about 5 washes a week, no nappies or anything like that so usually for pretty lightly soiled stuff. I wouldn't recommend - they were ok but not great, no good for hot washes (sheets, towels etc) and I always thought they left the washing smelling odd - in truth they left the washing smelling of damp material which then went when the washing was dried, but I was never keen. Anyway, I eventually gave up and have gone back to ecover washing liquid for most of my washing, with some 'ordinary' stuff for hot washes.
 
scumbalina said:
This kinda thing.

Anyone use them?
Click to expand...
it's a total con. putting an old tennis ball in your wash does the same thing - basically agitating your clothes a bit more than in a normal wash and relying on the fact that not all the soap gets washed out.

save your money and buy persil.
 
Re the eco stuff being expensive - I agree it is. However, if you have somewhere to store it you an save a bit of dosh by buying it in bulk off the net.
 
Thanks guys - phew, glad I checked, I thought it was too good to be true! I think I'll do what you suggested Madz and buy a load of Eco stuff in bulk (I know some folk who do a co-op, maybe I can get in on their order) and use that for the baby stuff, and stick to cheap old tesco's own for me and the mister.
 
janeb said:
I used some for about 6 months, can't remember the make but they cost me about £30.00 - I do about 5 washes a week, no nappies or anything like that so usually for pretty lightly soiled stuff. I wouldn't recommend - they were ok but not great, no good for hot washes (sheets, towels etc) and I always thought they left the washing smelling odd - in truth they left the washing smelling of damp material which then went when the washing was dried, but I was never keen. Anyway, I eventually gave up and have gone back to ecover washing liquid for most of my washing, with some 'ordinary' stuff for hot washes.
Click to expand...
But your washing is damp material before it's dried! What's wrong with that?

So are they ok for low temp washes?

Am thinking of getting some, and not convinced it's a total con.
 
baldrick said:
it's a total con. putting an old tennis ball in your wash does the same thing - basically agitating your clothes a bit more than in a normal wash and relying on the fact that not all the soap gets washed out.

save your money and buy persil.
Click to expand...
Does a tennis ball ionize the water?
 
a friend of mine uses them and reckons they do the trick, except for the boil wash she uses ecover.

will follow the thread for more opinion.
 
selamlar said:
Water is already 'ionized'.

Its a con.
Click to expand...

Yep. If you put the eco balls in at 90 degrees they ionise the water soooo much that you end up with a toxic stew of explosive hydrogen and toxic low flying ozone. It has a firey nuclear seasidey sort of smell :eek:

I would avoid. :hmm:
 
hovis said:
Yep. If you put the eco balls in at 90 degrees they ionise the water soooo much that you end up with a toxic stew of explosive hydrogen and toxic low flying ozone. It has a firey nuclear seasidey sort of smell :eek:

I would avoid. :hmm:
Click to expand...
Who does washing at 90 degrees?
 
For lightly soiled stuff, does it work? And what do you do to get your clothes smelling nice? (Please don't say Febreeze!)
 
Be afraid....be very very afraid
New Scientist said:
Thermonuclear wash days

FEEDBACK has long been intrigued by laundry balls. On the one hand, these variously shaped objects that you put in the washing machine to save detergent and energy may well work - after all, slapping your clothes against rocks in a cold stream works, apparently, if you have the persistence.

On the other hand, the marketing claims made for them are often such a load of you-know-what that many purchasers must be being hoodwinked, even if the balls do work. So we have to file these claims in the same philosophical tub as those things that people confidently assert are true and that are in fact true, but only by coincidence - which doesn't count as knowledge.

These thoughts are prompted by a follow-up to last year's claim from www.lakeland.co.uk that their balls "activate" water molecules, producing electrolytic oxygen and hydrogen ions, which led us to worry about washday explosions (5 May 2007).

Now Gillian Hurworth sends pictures of the packaging of Ecoballs, which claims they "make the molecule of water smaller" and "as a result this gives the water good hydrating properties and permeability" - a claim you can see for yourself via www.ecoballs.notlong.com.

Feedback is concerned that, if true, this claim would be far more serious than the one made by Lakeland. So we can only offer the following warning. Be careful not to overdose on Ecoballs, people! Make those water molecules too small and let them get too close together and the results could, we fear, be thermonuclear.
Click to expand...
 
been using these in a bag with some patchouli drops
seems to work
soapods_soapnutsontreeandgr.jpg

http://www.soapods.com/faqs.html
 
sheothebudworths said:
Ah...sounds like you just want to believe it :D ...carry on then.... :cool:
Click to expand...
I do want to believe it. But now am not so sure.

I emailed Ben Goldacre (Mr Bad Science at the Guardian) to ask about them, and he said he might cover them in his column. So if he does, you know it was inspired by me.
 
actually this thread has persuaded/gave me the idea to buy them. i think even if they are used only every so often, say alternately that should save a lot of money and be good for the environment.
 
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