are ecoballs a load of balls??

[piggynose]

i found these advertised recently as a green solution to washing machine powders/liquids. they retail at about 35 quid. has anybody used them? if so do they work? are they worth 35 quid ?

[Buenchico]

14 reviews here:
http://www.ciao.co.uk...ws/Eco_Balls__5784389

Chris

[alavahalf]

We.. or should I say the wife got some eco drier balls about a year ago...they did what it said on the box and reduced the drying time by half...the only downside was the noise they made as they trundled round the tumpble drier...they sounded like half bricks in an empty cement mixer.
These raised the interest in the Eco wash balls....so she got them (Eco not copies) for about £20 on eBay...I encouraged her to get them as we spend about £10-15 a fortnight on washing liquid.
We were'nt surprised to find out these also work well...dont expect them to remove heavily stained or really dirty washing...you need to apply a stain remover first.
But for most of our everyday washing, they worked well....the washing comes out clean but it does'nt smell of anything, that is quite strange when you are used to smelling the fagrances that are added into most detergents.
I was not so much interested in saving the planet, but more interested in saving a good few quid..!
So in our case they paid for themselves inside a month....if you do get some dont go for the cheap alternatives... get the real ones. http://tinyurl.com/yas5ypn

[Vagrant]

Not used them myself, but I have tried other "Eco Scam" products - EcoVer, for example - in my experience, without exception, they're all cr@p.

Things that sound too good to be true normally are. I would be sceptical because of a lack of a scientific explanation for how they work.

On their website, it states: "Together they produce ionized oxygen that activates the water molecules naturally and allows them to penetrate deep into clothing fibres to lift dirt away"

This doesn't explain how they work - this is typical pseudo-science b()ll5h1t - it doesn't mean anything - think about it - 'activates the water molecules' ??? What The Funicular does that mean? Try finding a serious scientific explanation of what 'activated water molecules' means 'Allows them to penetrate deep into clothing fibres' - doesn't normal water do that?

Why do you need 3 of them? Why not 2, or 1, or 7? Are the 3 different, or are they all the same? If they are different, why don't they explain this?

Before you spend your hard earned cash on them, try 2 things - first, Google for "Ecoballs scam" - plenty of people think they exploit the placebo effect. Second, try just washing your stuff just in water and see what you think.

Finally, consider how 3 small lumps of plastic can cost 35 quid.

[piggynose]

scam or not, i also read somewhere that its not just your chosen washing machine powder or liquid that does thw work, but its mainly the actual washing machine, i also read that you should ignore the advice of eg ariel when it comes to ammount of detergent to put in your machine, it works oj with 1/2 the ammount, plus if you put a stain remover on the the heavy stains, the wash will come out right,

[woofgang]

have tried eco balls, have tried wash balls, they seem to work at first (I believe) because of the amount of detergent that is stuck inside your machine. Once that is washed away and not replaced by fresh build up, then the balls appear to cease to work...would love to hear from someone who has used them in a brand new machine....also if the stain remover that you use is a concentrated stick or spray of dtergent, that is going to dissolve in the washing water.

[Vagrant]

Just been to Aldi - they've got wash balls - claim they work by providing extra rubbing action, so you can use less detergent - sounds reasonable to me, and they're 6 for a fiver.