Detergent Free laundry Ecoballs

Rolandtheroadie

Sisters a reborn eco warrier and bought herself some ecoballs. Back on the Persil.

Penelope_Penguin

DitzyLips wrote: »

The hydro electric shop in allen street,blairgowrie (scotland) has the ecoballs for your washing machine available for 14.99.
A moneysaving and green tip :-P
Hope it helps someone else.

I'll add this to the existing thread which has other opinions on ecoballs

Eco_Girl_2

I've been using Ecoballs for about 8 years but, as most people say here, only use them for limited applications. Just in case you are interested in my laundry habits, this is what I do.

Ecoballs - childrens sheets (when wet with wee) on a quick, cold wash, hung over the banisters before going to work and can go back on the beds same evening. Tea towels, table cloths, swimming kit and towels, dark school sweatshirts, anoraks and dark riding kit.

Ecover Washing Liquid - Darks on a 30 degree wash. Lights pre soak with Ecover Laundry Liquid then a 30 degree wash.

Nasty chemical stuff from supermarket - rugby kit and little-boy trousers followed by an cold ecoball rinse

My breakdown of washing formulae is as follows
Ecoballs 30%
Ecover Laundry liquid 60%
Nasty Chemical 10%

I normally buy in bulk and refill bottles although next order I'm going to try Ecoleaf which I think will end up being cheaper.

dirtyflannel

I got some washballs from aldi andthey were fine. two balls and two sets of refills and a small stain remover £5.99 bargain still using the first one nearly 6 months later

jonnyb1978

Hi

Does anyone have any experience with eco balls and dryer balls?
Never knew anything like this existed and they have caught my attention due to the cost effectivness if they work. We have washing machine on every day, whereas these balls could last a year compared to normal washing powder.
Also due to two young kids the dryer is on a lot and eats electricity so again by cutting 25% of usage seems a good ethical and money saving thing to do.

Money_maker

I have washballs. Dont use them for white loads any more - not effective enough. I do use them for dark load though and they are fine. The actual balls fell apart after a few dozen washes (plastic deteriorated) so now have them in an old stocking!

eslick

we have dryer balls, dont think they work but it could be our dryer, seems to take the same length of time to dry

Dreaming_debtfree_dreams

I use both, eco balls are fine, just put in with some borax if things are abit smelly, i.e. gym fit, and put a little ecover bleach in with the white. Everything comes out fine.

I'm not convinced about the dryer balls for saving energy though, but I try to avoid using the dryer as much as possible, line drying preferable. If I do have to use the dryer I tend to spin the clothes again in the washing machine first and pop the dryer balls in just in case. The dryer balls do seem to prevent everything getting really static and clothes come out soft, so that's a bonus atleast.

Volcano

There's a thread on it here: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=239386

Basically, if the 'eco balls' involve filling them with a type of detergent, then they work (but then so does putting detergent into your wash by any other means!)

If they are non-refillable, then they don't work. Many people don't realise that they can get perfectly adequate results by washing without using any detergent; 'eco balls' just exploits this. Detergents are mainly used because they contain optical brighteners and perfume: hence the complaints about 'grey' whites and musty smelling clothes. Many 'eco balls' also include a stain remover, further underlining their ineffectiveness.

I remember seeing the original tests for dryer balls on the web a few years back. It certainly wasn't a 25% saving though.

jonnyb1978

Volcano wrote: »

There's a thread on it here: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=239386

Basically, if the 'eco balls' involve filling them with a type of detergent, then they work (but then so does putting detergent into your wash by any other means!)

If they are non-refillable, then they don't work. Many people don't realise that they can get perfectly adequate results by washing without using any detergent; 'eco balls' just exploits this. Detergents are mainly used because they contain optical brighteners and perfume: hence the complaints about 'grey' whites and musty smelling clothes. Many 'eco balls' also include a stain remover, further underlining their ineffectiveness.

I remember seeing the original tests for dryer balls on the web a few years back. It certainly wasn't a 25% saving though.

Interesting as i found this info on an official energy saving website. Dont think i will be bothering. Thanks everyone