info on washing balls

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info on washing balls
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jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28233
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 05 6:24 pm Post subject:

mochyn wrote:

They do for me, Jema! Perhaps you're dirtier... I use a low-temperature cycle: could that be the clue?

But have you tried the same wash without the ball?

Gervase

Joined: 17 Nov 2004
Posts: 8655

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 05 9:22 pm Post subject:
Doh! Me and my filthy mind. When I saw this on 'latest posts' I was going to suggest just a flannel and soapy water...

hoarebag

Joined: 03 Oct 2005
Posts: 5

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 05 9:55 pm Post subject:

We use the eco balls from CAT and they seem to work okay with no bleach, powder or conditioner and it all seems to come out clean. They are expensive and it may be that your washing machine could do just as well with plain water? But the eco balls apparently create ionized oxygen (ozone) a natural clensing agent. Your washing may not smell like it does when you use powder (perfumed) and may not be whiter than white (bleach). Worth a try but maybe try cheaper/shorter lived versions to see how you get on first.

jax

Joined: 06 Dec 2005
Posts: 98
Location: norfolk

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 05 7:20 am Post subject: info on washing balls
thankyou for the info everyone and the welcome. Ive often wondered how they could possibly work but might give them a go. Very funny Gervase, i'll have to watch how i word things in future.

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45669
Location: Essex

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 05 10:23 am Post subject:

Gervase wrote:

Doh! Me and my filthy mind. When I saw this on 'latest posts' I was going to suggest just a flannel and soapy water...

Now how did that pass me, NL, Behemoth and Jonnyboy by?

mochyn

Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 24585
Location: mid-Wales

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 05 2:00 pm Post subject:

Jema: I've not tried doing a comparison wash yet: hard to replicate type and degree of dirt! And I agrre, the clothes don't smell the same as with a powder or whatever, and it's clear there are no optical brighteners in the balls! I don't mind, though, nor does the old chap: neither of us wear many white clothes, and most things are (visibly) clean enough.

I'll have to do some tests, I think: same programme, same cloths, smae stains (or as near as possible!) and it'll have to wait until spring now!

Cathryn

Joined: 16 Jul 2005
Posts: 19856
Location: Ceredigion

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 05 2:55 pm Post subject:

mochyn wrote:

I'll have to do some tests, I think: same programme, same cloths, smae stains (or as near as possible!) and it'll have to wait until spring now!

Are you not taking water conservation a little far?

I use the soap powder mix (recommended on here)in a very small quantity when clothes seem more dirty than usual and then at other times just stick the balls in to agitate the clothes. They are too old now to have any other use. And then I put lavender oil in the final rinse. We have very soft water here though I'm sure that must make some sort of difference if only psychologically.

puffedpride

Joined: 05 Nov 2005
Posts: 300
Location: bristol

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 05 4:01 pm Post subject:
I wrote a piece on wash balls/eco balls at www.grownupgreen.org.uk and there are some readers comments added to my pearls of wisdom too....

ele

Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Posts: 814
Location: Derby

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 05 5:19 pm Post subject:
interesting article Ta Am I the only one who doesn't have "lightly soiled" laundry?, if a load of washing is being done there is going to be at least a few things in the heap that are are able to almost walk about they're so icky

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 05 6:00 pm Post subject:
Nope - no lightly soiledstuff here! Muddy dog towels, gardening clothes, boiler suits and wretched white polos work insist on. I only use detergent for the whites though - the rest of it few people see, and no-one cares if the dog towels are a bit grey. Never found the washing balls made the blindest bit of difference though!

dougal

Joined: 15 Jan 2005
Posts: 7184
Location: South Kent

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 05 6:31 pm Post subject:

I reckon that modern washing machines, with a lightly soiled wash, and a long (cool) program might well produce results acceptable to some.
Give it a bit of extra agitation (like from a ball tumbling around) and it'll wash slightly better.

Use a higher temperature, and I expect you'd cook any 'organic' stains onto the garment, (protein coagulation and the like), such that mere agitation in plain water wouldn't touch them.

And I'm afraid that I can't see any scientific principle on which the balls might work, beyond increasing the agitation (which will wear the textiles).

As for "ozone"... I'd like to know where from, and how.
If its supposed to come from the water (H2O) - where does the Hydrogen go? Does it make the water acid (Hydrogen ions is a starting definition of an acid)? Or is explosive Hydrogen gas supposed to be given off?
If anyone has a process that will ionise water at room temperature, without the input of energy (like electricity - via platinum electrodes) I'd love to know about it, because since we can obtain energy from recombining the Hydrogen and Oxygen, separating them 'for free' would break the fundamental principle of the conservation of energy (OK mass/energy, but its not nuclear laundry).
And if anyone thinks agitation is going to make any difference to the natural ionisation of water, then they might also hope to split atoms with a flint axe.

I think magic beans are balls.
And I'm sorry to say that I think magic balls are more effective at extracting money than greasy dirt.

However well the balls wash, the machine will wash near-as-dammit as well without them. And much better with some soap or detergent.

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28233
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 05 8:03 pm Post subject:
I forgot about the basic 'O' level chemistry angle. Simply reading and seeing plainly that no testing backed up the claims was enough for me to be instantly dismissive. But once you point our the molecular facts of life it sounds even more absurd, not to mention thermodynamically impossible.

fenwoman

Joined: 12 Dec 2005
Posts: 509
Location: Tydd St giles

Posted: Thu Dec 29, 05 11:42 pm Post subject:

What a coincidence. I started another thread then found this.
My experience of laundry balls is that they are fantastic. I bought one from lakeland for around �8. Bear in mind I wash for fun. I like laundry and do about 3 loads a week.
My worst laundry items are the dog mats. They get wet, mud and the odd piddle on from the little girls who won't go outside if it is raining hard. So they are stinky and filthy. Usually I need a pre wash to get them clean and smelling fresh but with a 40C wash with the laundry ball the mats came out smelling completely fresh and were really clean. Honestly I cannot recommend it enough. I save a fortune on washing powder, need no fabric conditioner and one ball lasts me 6 months and cleans anything I throw at it.

I initially got one for my son who has severe allergies to lots of detergents. He blows up like a michelin man with fluid under his skin on his whole body and eventually the skin cracks. It is very very painful. The laundry ball gets his stuff clean and he has no reaction to it. Previously he was having to wash in plain water and his clothes never got really clean or smelled fresh enough.
Someone on ebay is selling 2 balls plus a stain stick for �12.
Item number 4428367869

sally_in_wales
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 20809
Location: sunny wales

Posted: Fri Dec 30, 05 6:35 am Post subject:
I know a fair number of people for whom they work well, yet the 'science bit' above does seem pretty odd when you look at it. So, I suppose they must work in another way rather than how they advertise themsleves. But at the day, as long as they work without adding all sorts of extra crud to the environment eh?

puffedpride

Joined: 05 Nov 2005
Posts: 300
Location: bristol

Posted: Fri Dec 30, 05 6:09 pm Post subject:

Even if they do work (and I am still not sure - I tend to use them alternate washes) there may be worries about faster build up of sludge in the washing machine innards. This is a matter of environmental concern, if true, as it would lead to shorter machine life with consequent disposal and replacement problems.

One person has also commented on line that his/her Eco Balls burst open in the machine, and the granules destroyed it!

Is the science bit really proven nonsense?

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