Th Ecowasbal washes your clothes... without detergent! Designed by GreenHabits, a company based in Amsterdam, the Ecowasbal is made of environmentally-friendly polypropylene plastic. Just toss it in your laundry and it promises to save you up to 80% of the amount of detergent you would normally use. It sounds like science-fiction, but apparently it works very well. Anyone tried it?
Instead of detergent, the Ecowasbal is filled with small ceramic beads. When these beads come into contact with water, they create ions, just like normal detergent, which reduce the surface tension of water, activate the water molecules, and release the dirt and grime from them. And the Ecowasbal supposedly works with any type of fabric, and is good enough for 1,000 washes, which should last the normal user about 4 years! The manufacturer mentions that lightly soiled laundry doesn't need any detergent at all, while heavily soiled washes need a small amount of detergent, or around 15ml.
If it's true that this really cleans effectively, then it could reduce significantly the amount of conventional detergent that a family will use over the course of a year. And while we're not huge fans of plastic of any type, as you know, it is completely recyclable. If you want to try it out, it's available from The Future Perfect for $37.95.
(Via NotCot. Images by The Future Perfect)
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ooohhh super interested to know if people like it
very cool!!!
I wonder if this would be a good solution for cloth diapers, particularly for babies who are sensitive to detergent...
Consumer Reports tested either this or a similar product a few years ago and found it didn't work. The only reason it seemed to work at all is that most people use way too much laundry detergent most of the time, so there's usually some detergent left in your clothing. Using the balls had the same effect as skipping detergent without the balls. Of course, this particular product could be fundamentally different somehow from the one they tested. But I wouldn't count on it.
on what do you base your statement "apparently it works very well"? Did they pay for this article? I've read several independednt reviews of this product, all of which said basically that it's worthless, as polly pointed out
I read an article about these many years ago which came to the same conclusions as above; works the same as water with no detergent since most people use too much. Since then I've cut my detergent in half; my clothes still come out clean.
"environmentally-friendly polypropylene plastic"?? I have to shake my head at this statement. Since when is plastic "environmentally-friendly"?
It IS important to re-educate the public that it is NOT detergent that gets your clothes clean, but rather the WATER. One detergent might help break up the surface tension f the water better than another but it's still the water that does the cleaning. We've been brainwashed to believe we need bubbles to clean anything.
A better option over chemical detergents is to switch to soapnuts. The naturally-occurring saponin in these berries breaks up the surface tension of water so your clothes get clean. Plus they can be composted when you are done with them.
Yeah, these are a bit of a scam unfortunately. It'd be great if they worked, but ceramic isn't a solvent (as much as I'd love my ovenware to auto-clean!) and doesn't release enough ions to work. I borrowed one to test a while back, here's my review.
someone amazing thought of this idea. I wish I knew him or her. such a kind person. sincerely, mary
Exactly how recyclable is it? You'd probably have to seperate the ceramic from the plastic before dropping it in the bin. I don't know about this one.
Seems like another plastic fake green gadget...for $40
We have similar wash balls in the UK. The balls themselves are designed to be refilled and so, while being made of plastic may not seem like the greenest choice, they will certainly last and last. I got some to try out last summer. The first few times I used them was for washing towels and bedding and all seemed fine. I'm not a profuse sweater or anything but when I used the balls to wash my clothes that I noticed that, while things looked clean and fresh, they didn't smell it! Very disappointed, especially as it meant having to go back to my green detergent and wash the load again! They now live under the sink until I can think of some other use for them (maybe I could ditch the contents and refill them with pot pourri...). So, yeah, I spent about £30 and managed to 'recoup' about 9p with those few washes! >(
I wouldn't mind trying soapnuts sometime though. Any advice about using those?
Sorry Green Cat, I just realised that you've mentioned soapnuts!
AcrossThePond: My family has been using soap nuts for a few months now and we're very happy with them. They do not take care of seriously smelly items--such as mildewed washcloths--by themselves so I keep a bucket of vinegar water in the laundry room for soaking. That batch gets washed about once per week. If I'm washing a load that includes my son's icky socks, I throw in about 1/2 cup of Borax. Most loads only use the soap nuts, however.
That's so much for the info! I had switched back to a green liquid laundry soap but will be running out of my current bottle shortly so, it's probably a good time to gather the nuts and give them a go. I might even try giving some to friends as Christmas gifts... Cheers skyethebard!
"apparently it works very well. Anyone tried it?"
--- ummm, aren´t you the ones that should be trying it for your readers ?
I have had an Ecowasbal for a few months now and it works perfectly. It cost me about 25 euros. And i've since bought no new detergent.
I have a neighbour, and a friend who idepently have good results with the SOut Korean Washing Balls. It's the O2-Ion Ball and it's tested over there by labatories, for what it's worth. In the Netherlands you can buy them
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