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Eco balls care for your clothes, your washing machine and your environment. Ecoballs stand for everything we believe in; they're natural, environmentally friendly, efficient and cost-effective, and deliver a clean, fresh, sensitive alternative to conventional washing powders that pollute our water supply, reduce the lifespan of our washing machine and break down the very clothing they're supposed to care for. Environmentally friendy eco-ball is a scientific breakthrough in cleaning technology. Just place the three eco-balls in your washing machine instead of detergent. Together they produce ionized oxygen that activates the water molecules naturally and allows them to penetrate deep into clothing fibres to lift dirt away. They are reuseable for over 1000 washes and costs on average 3p per wash. There are no harsh chemicals so less pollution. Rinse cycle can be shortened saving water and electricity. They will not fade bright colours or damage clothing fibres. Hypoallergenic so suitable for sensitive skins/eczema (including babies and children). Eco-ball softens clothes even in hard water. As your clothes will be softer no fabric conditioner is necessary. Also anti-bacterial and kills Escherichia Coli and Staphylococcus Aureus.

http://www.theinsightecostore.com/index ... roductid=1

I have a friend who recently bought these and they informed me that they work!
I know it's a lot of money to pay out in one go, but you really will save money down the line not to mention all the green benefits of this product.

Blimey - these are worth a test!!! Thanks!

They do sound good - I've thought about buying them many a time but they are quite expensive.

I'm pretty sure I've seen someone offering a 10% discount on nigel's eco store.... perhaps a google! Are discounts like this something that SS can get involved in?

Soap nuts are another way of washing - I bought some before we moved but haven't found them again yet... has anyone used these??

Apparently there are also Dryer Balls (no comments please) that will reduce the drying time of clothes in a tumble dryer (drier?)

dryer balls?

You can buy them and the eco balls from Nigels - as a package...

I keep meaning to get some of these. I cut down on my washing powder tabs, but these I must get!

It will be worth getting them for the amount that powder costs over say, a year. 8)

http://www.spiritofnature.co.uk/acatalog/sect2110.html

Just found these...wonder if they are as good. LOTS CHEAPER!

If I remember correctly, the balls from Spirit of Nature don't last as long - but they are a lot cheaper, especially now that they are reduced, so might well be worth it. I use the eco balls and find them very good, except for greasy muck. Once in a while I still use ecover laundry liquid.

I,ve used the ones that shiney mentions.
They were good for clothes that just needed a freshen up, but they didn,t work well on anything heavily stained or greasy. I might give the ecoballs a go though.

A tumble dryer

Spot the newbie dredging up the old posts!

I have eco balls, they look like green flying saucers! They work fine for 99% of dirt, and in our house that's saying something. Anyone who has a septic tank or soakaway would find them useful too.
I do still use detergent (Ecover usually) for pre soaking or a normal wash or really mucky items. We fostered a litter of puppies last month and the pooey blankets were a bit much for the balls!

nice Ive just ordered some.
We try and keep the wash loads to 3 - 4 a week at 1000 washes that should last us about 5 years.

Upahill wrote: I do still use detergent (Ecover usually) for pre soaking or a normal wash or really mucky items. We fostered a litter of puppies last month and the pooey blankets were a bit much for the balls!

If I have really dirty stuff, I try to arrange it so that I myself am also very dirty and need a bath... The bathwater is then the soaking water for the dirty stuff, so I can "justify" wasting all that water! And the now truly dirty water is still good enough for flushing the loo...

Im going to redirect our washing machine water into washing up bowls outside to use for watering , so it will be very useful not using any detergent of any kind.I did the same thing last summer but im not sure it did the plants much good as I had used detergent that time(only used it for the potato watering though).

I use eco-balls they are great! got mine off Ebay for two thirds the price.

I shall have to conclude that I am smellier than everyone else. I was given a version of eco-balls to try (I think it was made by lakeland, and there was only the one), but found after a few washes that my t-shirts were still a bit, er, whiffy under the arms . Not sure if this was because I only had one ball so it wasn't as effective? I may give them another go as I suspect it was deodorant residue that wasn't washing out, and I have recently switched to one of those crystal deo sticks which doesn't leave any residue.
For now I use ecover, but in much smaller quantities than they recommend.

Yeah there are different brands of them so sure they'll have different results. I just had a looky see on ebay and they have the one from the link in my first post for 28 quid - that's 7 quid cheaper!!