Eco-Balls

My mum gave me this set of Ecozone Ecoballs® after she had received them as a gift. She asked me to try them out to see what I thought about them, knowing I like trying out new products. The box contained 3 Ecoballs®, 3 refill packs, 45ml tube of Ecozone stain remover and a very handy instruction leaflet. Apparently the contents of the box allow you to do 1000 washes based on a 30 minute cycle in the washing machine. (The balls with pellets last ...
...additional 250 washes) Those in hard water areas may achieve a lower amount. Just to let you know we live in a soft water area and a 60°c wash takes 1 hour 30 minutes in my machine, so I was interested to see how these perform

♦ WHAT ARE THEY ♦

Ecoballs® are an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional washing detergents. Ecoballs® are exactly that "Balls", made of plastic and green in ... more

My mum gave me this set of Ecozone Ecoballs® after she had received them as a gift. She asked me to try them out to see what I thought about them, knowing I like trying out new products. The box contained 3 Ecoballs®, 3 refill packs, 45ml tube of Ecozone stain remover and a very handy instruction leaflet. Apparently the contents of the box allow you to do 1000 washes based on a 30 minute cycle in the washing machine. (The balls with pellets last up to 750 washes and the refills included provide an additional 250 washes) Those in hard water areas may achieve a lower amount. Just to let you know we live in a soft water area and a 60°c wash takes 1 hour 30 minutes in my machine, so I was interested to see how these perform

♦ WHAT ARE THEY ♦

Ecoballs® are an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional washing detergents. Ecoballs® are exactly that "Balls", made of plastic and green in colour with a sponge ring around them, making them resemble a UFO or Saturn (that's the planet not the Roman god of agriculture). I'd say they are about the size of a tennis ball (discounting the sponge ring). Each ball is filled with small round white and brown (more white than brown) pellets. These pellets do not contain soap, so they are kinder on the environment, your clothes and your washing machine. Because there is no soap present means you could actually save energy and water as you can dispense with the rinse cycle, that's assuming you have the facility on your machine to do so. The fact they don't contain any harsh chemicals suggests they are extremely good to use if you have sensitive skin. Not only are they hypo allergenic ( approved by Action Against Allergies in the UK ) but also have antibacterial properties too which kill Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus Aureus because the pellets raise the water PH to higher than 10 and such bacteria is only active in a PH of between 6 and 8.
You can use Ecoballs® in all washing machines including top loaders and twin tubs; however you will need extra balls when using industrial sized machines. Apparently you can cut your laundry bills by 80% using Ecoballs®. Ecozone advise that it is not possible to use water softener tablets whilst using the balls. They are rather tactile and attractive looking, but as the manufacturers advise, they are not toys and should be kept out of reach of animals and children.

♦HOW THEY WORK♦

By placing all three Ecoballs ® in the machine on the top of your laundry, the pellets set to work by ionising the oxygen in the water which then penetrates the fibres of your laundry to lift the dirt away without fading colours or damaging delicate fabrics. They also expand the fibres of the fabrics as they wash, which in turn softens your laundry without the need to use fabric softeners or conditioners.
It's important to point out that the maximum temperature recommended when using these is 60°c, anything higher would probably result in damage to the balls and a reduced life span, for this reason you MUST not use them in your tumble drier either.
For maximum effectiveness it is advised to reduce the amount of laundry you do each time as the Ecoballs® need room to move around in the machine. Whilst you can save energy and water by cutting out the rinse cycle, I do feel that any such saving would be somewhat negated, as you end up splitting what was once one load of washing into two. I certainly found this to be so when one lot of bedding had to be washed in two loads so the balls could be accommodated accordingly.

The balls can be used continually throughout the same day, but it is advised that they are not left in the machine with wet washing any longer than necessary once the machine cycle has ended. Once you have finished your laundry for the day, be sure to remove the balls and allow them to dry before using them again another day,
If you miss the smell of your usual fabric conditioner then you can still use it but you are advised ( if your machine has a rinse hold function) to remove the balls before adding such to the dispensing drawer, by doing this you are removing any risk of chemicals coming into contact with the pellets inside the balls.

The pellets will decrease in size over time, when they reach the size of a match head, feel much lighter in weight or they no longer appear to be effective, then this is when you need to use the refills to replenish the Ecoballs®. Although mine are not ready to be re filled I did follow the instructions, not only out of curiosity, but also to inform readers what exactly is involved. Firstly you need to remove the sponge ring, then using a Phillips screwdriver remove the stainless steel screw, turn one half of the ball one way and the other half in the opposite direction (I found this very easy to do) don't remove the pellets in the ball, just simply top up using a bag of refills for each ball. According to the instruction leaflet you should only need to top up after 750 washes (they estimate this as taking 18 months) After you have topped up using the refills included in the pack you can purchase extra refills (usually from the same place you bought your initial pack), which are in turn, designed to replace the remaining pellets left in the balls. Providing the outer casings of the balls are still intact and undamaged you can continue re filling for as long as necessary.

When the pellets have worn out, probably around the time you need to purchase refills, any remaining pellets left in the balls should be disposed of in your general household waste. They are biodegradable, so will not be contributing to landfill, nor be harmful to the environment.

The little round pellets contain the following active ingredients:-
Calcium Carbonate 30%, Anionic Surfactants 25%, Sodium Carbonate 17% and Sodium Metasilicate 4%
There are no toxic chemicals, harsh detergents, petrochemicals or animal testing involved in this product.

The stain remover included in the set contains Aqua, Cellulose Gum, Sodium Silicate, Sodium Dodecylbenzene sulfonate, Sodium Citrate, Zeolite and Sodium Hydroxide. There is no presence of Phosphates or fragrance and it has not been tested on animals.

♦My EXPERIENCE ♦

I started using these in the middle of November 2008, firstly on a batch of towels which were placed in the machine along with the three Ecoballs® using my usual (for towels) 60 °c wash. During the cycle I did notice a lot of "clanking" emitting from the machine, (it reminded me of the sound it used to make when I used to wash son's school trainers). I wasn't that surprised as I had expected some noise considering there were 3 plastic balls albeit with a sponge ring around them flinging themselves around in the drum. Cycle over, the towels emerged soft and smelling fresh. I would point out though that there were no visible marks or stains on them when they went into the machine so at this stage I was unable to pass judgement on the effectiveness of the balls to some degree.
Since my first en counter using Ecoballs ®, I have done over a 100 washes using varying temperatures from as little 30° right up the maximum of
60 °c (for towels and bedding), all of which have achieved mixed results.
They worked perfectly well on their own (and still do) on mud splattered Jodhpurs and muddy golf trousers, both of which seem to be regular weekly visitors to the washing machine these emerge fresh smelling, clean and soft.(without the aid of stain remover). They work well on all denim jeans and cotton items.
They certainly pass the male (and sometimes female) - sweaty - armpit - T shirt / vest test too, (when something is clean and dry but still pong's a bit), this surprised me somewhat as even some conventional detergents have been know to fail this in the past.

I did however encounter problems with a few other items that had a varying amount of food spills and drips which came out of the machine, the same as they went in. My fault really, as I should have had the foresight to treat such marks with the stain remover provided instead of relying on the balls to do all the work themselves. These marks included tea (that's the drink and not the meal), curry, and marmite. Now don't get me wrong we are not messy eaters but accidents do happen and in light of such stains requiring treatment before they go in the machine, I am seriously considering investing in some plastic Pelican bibs, if only to save on the laundry. Tooth paste, mascara and mayonnaise did come out though without the need to use the stain remover. I had just trained the two men in my life to separate their dirty laundry into two wash baskets, one for whites, and the other for coloureds. Now I have introduced a third for items with stains. This is purely for my benefit, I have found it saves time as I don't have to check every individual garments for items that require the stain remover treatment with all the stained stuff being is in the same place. I must say having to do this is somewhat of a hindrance, it certainly wouldn't normally be required when using my usual eco friendly Soapnuts or indeed a conventional laundry detergent.

I can however report pleasing results when using these Ecoballs® on the handy Freshen up cycle that my washing machine has, for those not familiar with this, then it is designed for freshening up items that are clean, but haven't been worn for a while, or have been stored away. I tend to use this programme more in the spring (when bringing summer clothing out of hibernation) and again in the autumn when all the winter wear emerges again. I have used these Ecoballs® on this programme on some curtains which I brought out of storage this winter and was more than pleased with the fresh smelling results.
I am not yet ready though to trust these plastic balls with my favourite winter woollies or other delicate items ( even if they were placed in a laundry bag) having seen the way the balls fling themselves around in the machine.

My main bug bear with these however, is the fact that to save you having to put things through the machine again, you really do need to check every item for any visible marks or stains and if in doubt treat with stain remover. It saves you the hassle of having to put items through the machine again because the marks are still there. Not only will this save you valuable time but perhaps more importantly energy (electricity) and water.

You may question why I am recommending these when my experience using them has been a bit hit and miss, well its simple really, they do work providing you pre treat stains before putting things in the machine and the fact I can use them and cut out the rinse cycle. They are perfect for use in the freshen up cycle (when I would have normally used a fabric conditioner) and yes I do think continued use would save money in the long run, seeing as the pack I have, giving me 1000 washes, only works out at 3p per wash. This could be counter productive though should the need for the use of stain remover increase as I would be purchasing more tubes of the stuff long before I am due to refill the balls with fresh pellets.

♦AVAILABILITY♦

Just type Ecoballs into any search engine and you will have a plethora of links to sift through, I have therefore picked out just a few places you can purchase a set of balls for yourself.
As far as I am aware you won't find them on the supermarket shelves, you will see them in certain shops but are available mostly on line. I have also seen them advertised in the colour supplements tucked inside magazines as well as those that are included in some of the weekend tabloid newspapers. My son has also seen a cheaper version on one of the shopping channels (what I call trash TV) although these didn't appear to be called Ecoballs®, but instead were marketed as Envirowash Balls, they didn't look the same either.
It is worth checking you are buying the real thing as some cheaper alternatives may well contain harmful ingredients such as SLS (sodium lauyrl/laureth sulphate) which could cause allergic skin reactions for some.

♣ John Lewis ♣ (where my mums came from)
3 ball pack, 1000 washes) 3p per wash. 45ml tube stain remover, 3 packs refills
£29.00 and is available both in store and on line.

♣ Ecozone ♣ (www.ecozone.co.uk)
3 ball pack (1000 washes) 3p per wash. 45ml tube stain remover, 3 packs refills
£34.25
2 ball pack (150 washes) 7p per wash 45ml tube stain remover, 2 refill packs
Delivery charge of £3.95 applies to orders under £75.00

♣ Lakeland ♣
2 ball starter pack (150 washes) 7p per wash. 45ml tube stain remover. 2 refill packs
£9.78
Available in store and online.
Orders under £49.99 carry a £4.25 delivery charge.

Further refill packs are available from all of the above and as you would expect, John Lewis is selling refills (6 x45g packs) enough for 750 washes for £19.50, but it is worth shopping around for the best deal.

No doubt you will also find Ecoballs® on E bay and Amazon.

An important thing to point out is that Ecozone offer a full 30 day money back guarantee if you are not satisfied with their Ecoballs®, just return the product to the place you purchased it with your receipt and a full refund will be given. This may sound tempting but in my humble opinion I don't feel 30 days is sufficient time to evaluate the product.

I would also like to point out there is no "hyphen "in the wording of Ecozone's Ecoballs® although ciao seem to have included one in their title of this product.

© tune57 2009 

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