Wash balls - Laundry balls - Eco balls (merged)

nikkita_2

hi all,was just wondering how much soda crystals to use?can u use it alongide washing liquid or only powder?many thanks

growingafamily

If anyone is wanting some eco balls to try - get down to Aldi they're on special £5.35 for the two pack with a small stain remover
http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/2867_8860.htm?WT.mc_id=2009-02-13-17-04

kafkathecat

I have used ecoballs, ecover and most recently soapnuts and so far my dh thinks soapnuts do the best job even though he rolled his eyes and groaned when I bought them.

Sally_Davies

Hi all. I'm new to this game, so be gentle with me... Sorry it's a bit long, but I've got quite a bit to say.



I bought the Eco balls set from Lakeland, being a bit of a Lakeland addict, and, like lots of others, seduced by the promises of greenness! I had good results for the first wash with these, as quite a few other reviewers found, but then things started to go downhill - a bit smelly, with no impact whatever being made on such things as armpit area. Basically about as effective as washing with plain water with 2 rocks in, I suspect, and as others have observed. Admittedly I didn't go for the stain remover tube thingy that comes with. Instead, I tried using my usual trusty wash booster as well (hydrogen peroxide type) but then my daughter (about to finish her Masters in Chemistry) pointed out that this could all be a very bad idea, because, if you follow the instructions on the Ecoballs package and *don't rinse*, you have all that stuff from the balls, and any boosters you've added, still in suspension and deposited on your unrinsed clothes. Furthermore, she said, the main ingredient of the Ecoballs, at 51%, is anionic surfactants, and that, folks, is detergent. All over your clothes after you finish washing them, as instructed, without rinsing. If you *do* rinse it would seem (a) ineffective - unless you bother to stop the cycle before rinsing and remove the Ecoballs, the detergent will still be being released into your "rinsing" water (who's going to bother..?), and (b) costly - presumably more lots of water means your Ecoballs erode more quickly than expected, so goodbye "150 washes". I've stopped using them and feel a bit suckered. I hope others have better luck than me, but from reading the other reviews it seems like many don't.



My silver lining is that after I posted my gripe on the Lakeland website, they contacted me back same day (!) and offered me a refund. I hadn't even asked for one, imagining that they wouldn't give it as I already used some of the product. How awesome are they! :T they are a bunch of :A. Oo I like these little pictures.



To go on a bit more, for a couple years before the balls experiment, I was using homemade wash liquid, recipes from Tipnut, but I had stopped because I think since we haven't been allowed to use real borax any more the other stuff seems to work less well. (What is with that?! So we're OK to have bottles of bleach under the sink but not borax, why?) Anyhow I went off the idea and have now finally moved on to half-quantities of fabulous Aldi big box washing powder. Awesome. How did we ever live in the UK before Aldi and Lidl came? Works great and doesn't stink. What more could a girl ask. Needless to say I abandoned fabric softener years ago, and use white vinegar. We all know FS kills washing machines don't we?


Happy laundry all!:)

cyclingyorkie

nothing environmentally friendly has ever worked on stuff worn by my OH!

So its half quantities of Morrisons own brand colour liquid for me!

rachbc

They work just as well as washing with nothing - whcih is effectively what you are doing. If you seriosuly dont want to pollute then wash lightly soiled stuff with no detergent - it works pretty well and this is waht I do for my allergic dd. Any really mucky stuff gets a tiny amount of stain treatment then washed on a extra rinse cycle with no added powder

welshpet

Just bought these on bid-up tv.

At first thought they were great, but I have had an allergic reaction as has my husband - very bad/itchy rash in places you don't need an itch!!!

Will not be using them again.

JulieGeorgiana

At first you think they are great... then you realise that after the first few washes, they stop working... and replacing the beads don;t save you money at all!!!!!

I use Ariel Gel at 30 Degrees, only I use less then the recommend amount and for whites I add a cheap version of the oxey stain remover!

Washing comes out beautifully... using 1/2 - 2/3 of the recommended!

Don't buy these balls!!

£30 and I threw mine away!

broodylass_2

Hi! Does anyone have any experience of using ecoballs to wash nappies? Do I need to add anything else to the wash?

I tried using soap nuts before and they weren't very good at getting the nappies clean and stink-free at all!

natlie

I would put in napisan or some other sanitiser scroll down to laundry on this page http://www.babykind.co.uk/nappyessentials.htm#violets and have a look at the choice of sanitisers they look a bit exp. but most of them you would only use a tablespoon of. I don't think ecoballs would work unless you washed on a really hot wash - which kind of defeats the purpose of ecoballs - to get the germs out you could try tea tree or lavender oil too which are both antiseptic
Nat