An eco-friendly washing machine replacement for detergent. Sounds intriguing..
Reply to this article / Report this article
Replying to this comment:
suttree
Sombrero Fallout 904c2f2f-4e79-40b4-8830-16b4909b1948 The wearer of this fallout will receive many funny looks, but there can be no doubt that this is truly a king Sombrero in a world reduced to poor imitations.
My husband bought me some of these for Christmas (yes, I know it's not exactly a conventional present, but I wouldn't have bought them otherwise and I was striving for a green Christmas).
So far, I have to say that they appear to work. They are weird things though - I thought that they would be really small, but you have to put three other them in the machine and each are about the size of a tennis ball with a foam protective rim - they look like space ships!
We've had to use a bit of Ecover's stain remover on a couple of my son's nursery tops, but they rarely get very clean anyway.
if you do the sums - about £35 for 1000 30 minute washes, then they aren't badly priced at all. It'll be interesting to see how long they do last - 1000 washes would last us about 5 years now that we aren't washing nappies any more! It makes it very cheap when you think of the price like that.
Reply to this comment
Here's what they look like:
and, from the top....
Reply to this comment
I have been using the EcoBalls for a month and have failed to get my laundry even half as clean as when using my mild detergent. Whites I had to wash twice at a higher temperature and as for short programmes I found the EcoBalls useless as the garments came out with no change other than being wet and in need of a wash.
The only success was the softness of the clothes but I suspect that this was down to having large objects bashing around the machine (EcoBalls are very large compared to other ‘wash balls’ and they recommend you use all three at once). I feel sure large pebbles would give a similar softness but for the sake of my machine will give the experiment a miss!
Surely adding detergent and/or bleach along with the EcoBalls as the manufacturer suggests is not only pointless economically but environmentally as well? I for one will save my money and stick to the detergent with minimal packaging that works at a low temperature and on a short programme.
Reply to this comment
shame to hear that. They have worked fine for us. Yes, there are times where I end up applying Ecover stain remover to bad grass and paint stains on our son's clothes, but other than that they work really well. I'd expect to have problems getting those things clean anyway....
Reply to this comment