Washing Clothes the Green Way? Independent Consumer Feedback

Last year Matthew Sidford looked closely at washing balls that claim to make laundry detergents unnecessary. We’ve republished the piece to coincide with the arrival of ecoballs in our webstore. He draws on first hand experience and examines the environmental impacts and cleaning efficacy. He also raises some unanswered questions and your views are mixed!

Low temperature washes, eco-friendly detergents and wash balls considered

Just as I had finally got my greenclean act together and had an all-Ecover cupboard full of washing products – along came Ecoballs, Washballs, Aquaballs which are all variations on the same theme. They are reusable plastic balls that you pop in the drum of your machine and so-say take care of everything.

The principal claim made by the manufacturers of these products is that they machine-wash your clothes without any additives at all. This, it is claimed, results from agitation of ceramic granules or the like, within the perforated balls which ionise (or is it de-ionise?) the water. The effect of this, it is said, is to lift dirt from your clothes, just as a detergent would, except without the harshness of chemicals that fade your clothes and require you to add softeners to your wash. With no softener required there is no need for a long rinse cycle either so electricity can be saved. Washing at 40 degrees and never above 60 degrees is recommended by the manufacturers of Ecoballs. Suddenly, there is no demand for gallons of chemicals to be carted to me in plastic bottles by ship and lorry from the world’s greenest factory of such things, in Belgium in my case.

Green consumer shopping websites carry rave reviews by people experiencing religious conversions in their utility rooms. Skin allergy sufferers rejoice at the lack of chemicals. Add all this to the fact that these initially dear products pay for themselves financially and environmentally many times over, up to 1000 reuses claimed for Ecoballs, and you have a compelling case for ‘taking the plunge’. I did.

Optimism overcame scepticism as I parted with 35 quid for my Ecoballs complete with stain remover and replacement granules. I waited for two or three washes with them before passing judgement as residual detergent was likely to be in the machine. Then I critically examined my laundry. Unlike others I had no Road to Damascus experience but it was, you may say, satisfactory. The basic flaw here was that I am not a person who has ever examined his laundry after washing it. Sticking my nose into the crotch of some washed underpants and inhaling deeply is entirely new territory for me! The clothes came out soft, as promised. In the main they also came out looking clean and smell-free. There is of course no fragrance of detergent, which some will see as a plus, others not. One has to ask; what would clothes come out smelling like with a fragrance-free detergent?

More heavily soiled items fared less well on 40 degree ‘express wash’ in my Hoover machine. The inclusion of the stain remover in the kit also tells you something! Perhaps though, the fact that my long-suffering eco-reluctant wife has not banished Ecoballs from the house as the spawn of Beelzebub is the best indicator that the standard of wash is at least tolerable.

On the face of it, it looks like a good environment-saving option with most clothes being washed to an acceptable standard. We now use the balls mostly, and have some ‘green’ detergent in the cupboard for more soiled washing or add Ecover laundry bleach for whites, as the Ecoball makers recommend.

Nagging questions do remain however. Are the balls the product of misguided visionaries, or even, perish the thought, a scam? Will your clothes come out just as well with a water-only machine wash? Has anyone tried this? Why are the products so little-known? Some have been around for 3 years. Perhaps they simply don’t have the megabucks to advertise like the big detergent companies do? Is there really such a thing, scientifically proven, as the balls’ claimed cleaning action, that effects beneficial changes to the water? Should green consumers really be switching to these gadgets at the expense of long-term environmentally very committed companies like Ecover? And what is the likely long-term effect on your washing machine which was, after all, designed to use detergents? Will it gunk up and break a lot sooner, creating a huge environmental setback with both disposal issues and the drawing of extra resources when a new one replaces it unnecessarily soon? Already some express concern about the effects of low temperature washes and also of eco-friendly detergents on the life expectancy of washing machines. www.washerhelp.co.uk for example, mentions this concern.

These are questions that really ought to be properly answered before Ecoballs and the like can be fully endorsed.

Thanks for that Matthew – perhaps the answers to your questions will roll in and spin us further towards a sustainable choice!

NEW LINKS: Look at the grownupgreen feature on Part 1 of its lifestyle challenge survey results – and take the survey YOURSELF!

Solar Water & Eco Washing Machines. Pip’s dilemma…

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Latest Update
September 2007: even more on Eco-Balls. Find it here.

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YOUR COMMENTS

These balls have been sold by Lakeland Plastics for quite a while – often featured in those brochures and flyers that fall out of newspapers and magazines. I used them once and also had some doubts about the cleaness of the wash – though I thought things went better if you put even slightly less of a load of washing in the machine than usual!
S.P.

I have used washing balls for over 2 years and was always happy with the results until one day when a ball came apart in my machine causing all the small balls inside to block it up and break it completely – not a frugal outcome!
S.KW

I have used wash balls on and off for years now and find them most useful if you just want to give clothes a quick wash. they are good for easy wash, but no good for heavy soiled items. so for them it is back to detergent.
A.McC.

Thanks for a really informative article. I have been considering buying some of these balls and now have decided not to, at least not yet. The information about cooler wash temperatures was particularly useful . Do you know how the balls work in very hard water areas?
H.V

Wash balls are a scam. Washing clothes in plain water will yield the same results.
E.H

There must be something in it though as it claims to destroy E-coli and staphylococcus, water alone doesn’t do this.
P.J

Thank you Matthew Sidford for your research on eco-balls. I’ll continue to use Ecover’s cleaning products till there is more research on the balls. Feel sorry for those people whose balls came apart & wrecked their machines!
J.E

I’ve recently used the eco balls for my daughters cloth nappies and have been amazed how clean they’ve come out! I would even say there are less stains than using detergent! I do wash at 60 though so don’t know if that’s got anything to do with it.
E.C.H

I have tried washing clothes in plain water, long before the advent of washing balls and decided it definitely wasn’t worth the saving either to my pocket or the planet. But I find the Aquaball very adequate. If things are really dirty I use Ecover, but its still much better than using detergent all the time.
P.M

I have Lakeland Plastics Eco Ball. At least it contains recognisable ingredients – not so much ‘smoke and mirors’ as some others. Doesn’t clean clothes well enough for me, but I do use it for towels because of the difficulty in rinsing away detergent residue (my washing machine is plumbed into an artificial water softener)
PHD

I have been using ecoballs for the last 18 months and just like the reviewer I put in laundry bleach, bur recently my husband put on the wash without the balls and the clothes came out hard and still with marks on I have 3 children all boys so you can image. They are worth the money and I advise any one to purchase them. Hope this helps.
R.M

I have just started using ecoballs, thought they were a fantastic idea but all my clothes come out smelling musty and not very pleasant, having scoured the internet it looks as if i am the only one who has found this…?
S.

Eco balls and Dryer balls! We tried, we liked, they work and we will continue using them. Very good products!

We have been using Surcare – liquid, powder and conditioner – for a number of years (12+), which is for sensitive skin and is perfume free. I have got a sensitivity to perfume and Fiona has built up a sensitivity prickly heat, itchiness and skin rashes – to Surcare. We found that if you do not rinse Surcare out thoroughly then Fiona gets these problems. Fiona researched the internet and came across eco balls on www.ecozone.co.uk.

I am really interested in the Eco balls and would like to try them, but I am not comfortable using a product without any knowledge that the manufacturer takes the environment into consideration when producing these. Otherwise it would all be in vane.
Could you please give me some details on the manufacturer?
D.B

(we asked a retailer, when this question came in, June 2006, who told us that the company he bought from avoided any products that would be detrimental to the environmnet. That isn’t a conclusive answer – maybe others can shed light? He told us he understood the balls to be produced from recycled plastic. We will endeavour to get an official answer – gug)

Fiona and I were sceptical at first. While we waited for our Eco balls and dryer balls to arrive, we washed a load with no washing powder/liquid and yes they were still dirty and smelly, but now wet.

The washing machine was loaded with whites – full – and the 3 eco balls were placed on top of the clothes. The quick cycle took 30 minutes, since you wash at a lower temperature <=60C and require less rinse cycles, because there are no chemicals to rinse out. When the cycle finished we carefully inspected and smelt the clothes and they were clean and odour free. Fiona also reckoned that they felt softer. We have also found that prolonged use of conditioner makes the dish towels and bathroom towels less absorbent.

We placed our 2 dryer balls – £10 – plastic balls with dimples that last for years – in the tumble dryer. The makers claim that the dryer balls will make your clothes noticeably softer, will reduce your dryer time by up to 25%, reduce creases and produce less lint. Again, we found the results to be good and all the things they claimed we found to a certain degree i.e. no worse, but overall probably better than before.

How much does all this voodoo magic cost? Well surprisingly very cheap. We spend on average £125/year on Surcare products liquid, powder and conditioner and the eco balls cost £35 and should last you for 1,000 washes, 2 adults and 2 children. In our case that should last us 4 years. Therefore, Surcare costs 30-50p/wash, against 3.5p/wash for eco balls. Also, we are doing our bit for the environment. You can also buy eco balls from e-bay, saving quite a bit of money.
I.O

Sadly my ecoballs disintegrated after about 18 months of use. I bought some new ones and they only lasted two months. I have asked ecozone for new plastic balls, but they will not supply replacements, and my retailer greenshop.co.uk ignores my email requests for a refund. Have reverted to ecover washing powder, but using a very low dosage which seems to work fine. Bernie D

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 â?~wash ballsâ?T 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. G Steel

At last:-Eco balls! Our web development manager always used to say that if she had a pound for every time a grownupgreen supporter asked her where to get eco balls, she’d be a millionaire by now. So, we’re pleased to announce Ecozone Eco Balls are now in stock! You can find them at a special offer price in the gug webstore – remember for anything helps, the charity behind gug, to keep grownupgreen up to date.

(this article was orignially submitted in Nov 2005)

Matthew Sidford - 27/10/07

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