eco balls (merged)

jacky_horn

Hi Volcano

I did that for a while, using less powder, but then bought these eco balls for £24. The clothes are lovely and clean, but tend to smell musty. Yesterday, I bought some laundry fragrance from Lakeland costing a fiver, then thought "What am I doing??????????" It works. The clothes smell nice now, though my husband says they smell musty with nice overtones. But I wanted out of buying stuff for my washing. That was the whole point of buying the eco balls. Does no one know how to get rid of the smell?

Volcano

I've answered this but to reiterate:

"The musty smell is quite normal and seems to be due to certain types of dirt (maybe oils etc) not being cleaned from the clothes sufficiently and building up over time."

..and the answer is:

"Many people use washing powder but only a fraction of what is recommended; dissolves oils and greases, makes your clothes smell nice and less impact on the environment than when you used loads of powder."

So, use standard washing powder to get rid of the musty smell. Then either:

a) use less powder to retain the fragranced smell, keep clothes non-musty smelling and clean.

or

b) wash clothes in nothing but water, with the occasional use of powder or fragrance to keep the musty smell down.

But make sure you do:

c) throw eco-balls in bin or use as a dog chew.

3plus1

Robin_T_Cox wrote: »

Has anyone tried these? Did you save any money?

http://www.ecoballsdirect.co.uk/

My housemate uses these. (The lakeland version, not this particular brand.) Her clothes smell. She smells.

I wish she'd use washing powder like the rest of us. We can't bring ourselves to tell her.:(

cafcfan

sarah wrote: »

It's really easy to search the forums- just click 'search' in the toolbar at the top and type ecoballs and you'll get heaps of posts! Alternatively you could have just cast your eye about 5 posts down the page... try spending at least 1 minute searching first. Ecoballs

Bit caustic don't you think- what ever happened to being welcoming to posters. I'm glad Robin asked as I wanted the same info too I would have been put off by your reply- but I take your point about searching- its not always easy to find f you havn't got the experience

cafcfan

frenchconnection200 wrote: »

Having read this thread I have now bought Eco-balls and soap nuts (the names of which send my DH into hysterical laughter when mentioned!!). At the moment Eco-balls are winning my trial, but I wondered how they compare to Ecover in terms of cleaning quality. Anyone tested all three??

I'm afraid I havn't used the eco balls so I can't compare . I have used the ecover washing liquid but I'm not that happy with it- it doesn't do collars very well- I have to pre treat and wash at a higher temp, so I'm going back to a normal detergent for OH's shirts but its ok for light soiling. The Ecover washing up liquid is great though

jacky_horn

cafcfan wrote: »

I'm afraid I havn't used the eco balls so I can't compare . I have used the ecover washing liquid but I'm not that happy with it- it doesn't do collars very well- I have to pre treat and wash at a higher temp, so I'm going back to a normal detergent for OH's shirts but its ok for light soiling. The Ecover washing up liquid is great though

Agree with you there. Have used Ecover washing up liquid for about 2 years now. Don't think it works out dear either

cafcfan

Anyone had experience with the dryer balls? I'm sort of tempted to try them but don't know if they are effective as claimed. I admit to only having seen the JML ones- or are they not worth spending money on. Don't they damage the tumble dryer? Could I use some tennis balls instead?

kitekat

cafcfan wrote: »

Anyone had experience with the dryer balls? I'm sort of tempted to try them but don't know if they are effective as claimed. I admit to only having seen the JML ones- or are they not worth spending money on. Don't they damage the tumble dryer? Could I use some tennis balls instead?

I dont have a dryer but you can buy the dryer balls in poundland.

ribenagirl

I use the dryer balls in our (very unenvironmentally friendly ) tumble drier, and they're worse than useless. They're meant to mean that you don't need fabric softener, and cuts the drying time but they didn't make the slightest difference, so I gave them to the baby who now rolls them around the floor with the greatest of delight

cafcfan

kitekat wrote: »

I dont have a dryer but you can buy the dryer balls in poundland.

Do they? I shall have to check them out. thanks