I came across Ecoballs on Amazon a while back and added them to my wish list, I didn't know much about them at the time. I was in no rush to buy them as I didn't have the money spare at the time, and I don't like to buy things unless I know they are going to be worth the money. I then came across a review which sold them to me, so I rushed back to Amazon to order myself some. Sad to say, I was excited about receiving them as I was eager to try them out for myself.
I try to be eco-friendly as much as I can; I like to know that the products I use are safe for the environment. There are lots of new products that can help us to become more environmentally friendly. I must spend a fortune on washing detergent being a family of four, and with two active children I'm never short of dirty laundry. When my baby boy was born I bought a milder washing detergent as a baby’s skin is more delicate, and they don't appreciate heavy scents. I usually give my washing an extra rinse through the machine as I'm not overly fussed with the floral scents that most detergents leave on my clothes. Quite often I run out of washing detergent before I do my next shop, so I'm left with mountains of washing that are usually stained with food and left damp, which leaves me with even grubbier washing to tackle. I hate having dirty laundry all over the place; we had three over flowing laundry bins as the washing seemed to be endless. Having a toddler means I get plenty of really mucky washing that gets left in the wash bin and by the time I get to the bottom of the wash bin it can be a bit smelly as damp clothes can often become musty.
Buying some Balls
I paid £27 for a pack of
Ecoballs , and you can find them on a few on-line sites for around £25 - £35 and you can also buy refill packs. As soon as the box arrived I quickly opened it, the box contained 3
Ecoballs, 3 refill packs, a 45ml tube of
Ecozone stain remover, and an Instruction leaflet that provides you with all the information you need to know.
This pack is said to provide you with 1,000 washes! That has to be excellent value for money. This is based on a 30 minute wash, however you can use them on any cycle providing the temperature is no higher than 60°C. I have been using them everyday up to three times a day on some occasions for the last 12 months, so I have saved a huge amount in laundry detergents and the hassle of having to carry heavy washing powder and liquids home from the supermarket.
The
Ecoballs look similar to a tennis ball and are roughly the same size; they also have a sponge ring around them which stops them from clanging about much in the machine. The sponge rings are removable and the plastic ball contains brown and white pellets, the ball can be opened with a screwdriver with ease to top up or replace the pellets when needs be. The
Ecoballs provide 750 washes and the additional refill packs will give you a further 250 washes. There is also a tube of stain remover for those stubborn stains, should you need it.
Handling your balls
The
Ecoballs are environmentally friendly as they do not contain soap or harsh chemicals, so fewer pollutants are going into our water supply from using these. They are hypo-allergenic so they are ideal for sensitive skin. They have also been approved by
Action against Allergies in the UK.
They can be used in all washing machines including top loaders, twin tubs, front loaders and industrial machines, but of course you would need to use more Ecoballs in an Industrial machine - so a second pack would be required. You need to leave ample space in the machine for them to be effective and have space for them to move around the machine. It is recommended that you fill the machine to ¾ full and then place the three Ecoballs on top of your washing. It is advised that you do not use fabric softener as they are designed to soften your clothes, however if you want to use a fabric softener you can wait until the wash is complete and remove the Ecoballs
and then add fabric softener and put the laundry through a short rinse. I can honestly say that your clothes will feel soft, so there is no need for the extra softener unless you want your clothes to be fragrant.
You should not set the temperature above 60°c as this could result in damaging the balls and will reduce the life span. For best results they should be used between 30°C - 60°C on a 30 minute wash cycle; you can also cut out the rinse cycle if your machine allows you to, as they do not leave any build up in your clothes so you can also save water.
You can continuously use the Ecoballs throughout the day but once you have finished your washing you should take them from out of the machine and leave them to dry naturally; they should not be put into the tumble dryer as this can damage them. It is also advised not to leave them in the machine for too long once the wash cycle has finished.
So how do they work...?
The Ecoballs are antibacterial they raise the water PH to higher than 10, bacteria is active in PH between 6- 8. This rise in the PH level will help to kill off any nastiness on the clothing. They also produce an ionised oxygen reaction that activates the water molecules naturally and allows them to penetrate deep into clothing fibres to lift dirt away. The outer sponge ring was a later addiction to the Ecoballs to reduce the noise they make in the machine. The sponge rings are not important and you don't have to keep them on, they can pop off during a wash. I don't mind the noise they make as all manner of things get put through my poor old machine from gym bags to toys.
When to top up or refill
Once you notice that the pellets have decreased in size and the balls have become lighter, also when you notice they are not cleaning as well as before. You do not need to throw away the remaining pellets you can just add more, if you chose to throw them away they can be put in the bin with your household waste as they are biodegradable and they contain no toxic chemicals.
You can use your
Ecoballs with delicates, it is recommended that only two
Ecoballs should be used and the garments should be placed in a laundry bag to protect them.
If you are worried about your delicates becoming damaged then it is safer to hand wash them.
My 30 month old son is attracted to the Ecoballs as they do look like a toy and make a rattling sound too, however they should be kept out of reach of children and animals.
Putting them to the test
With a sticky toddler and a sweaty teen, would these magical balls clean up?
I wasted no time in testing them out and gathered up some washing and put it into the machine along with the three
Ecoballs, there was nothing really all that dirty or stained, just items that needed freshening up. I set the machine to 40°C, as I sat and waited for the wash to finish I did notice that the balls make a bit of noise but no more than expected. Once the wash cycle had finished I took the wet laundry from the machine and put the
Ecoballs on the side to dry although they don't hold any water within. The clothes didn't have a synthetic fragrant smell that conventional detergents leave in your clothes; they did smell fresh and clean and appeared clean too. The wash took less time as you don't need to put them through a full length wash and I could leave out the rinse and extra rinse I usually put my clothes through, so it saved me time. I was eager to test them out on laundry that was in need of freshening up that had body odours present to see how they would combat smells, so I loading the machine with some bedding that was in need of washing, I wasn't expecting it to remove odour from the bedding but much to my surprise the bedding came out smelling fresh and clean! I was impressed.
The next test was my son's highchair cover which gets quite grubby and food spilt on it so from time to time it gets put through the washing machine to give it a good clean, all of the clips and straps on the highchair cover become quite mucky and food gets stuck in the groves in the clips which is never easy to get out so I was unsure how well the Ecoballs would clean up the seat cover, and again I was happy to see that they washed just as well as my regular detergent did and it was looking and smelling clean again!
On old stains on some T-Shirts that had been left in the basket for a long time the
Ecoballs and the stain remover were not effective at cleaning them out completely, but I wouldn't expect them to shift old stains so I wasn't disappointed, some of my sons T-shirts are hard to get clean as all sorts of food gets dropped onto them so I occasionally use a natural laundry bleach which always brings up my whites and stained T-shirts back to new.
They have been used to wash towels which have washed well and feel soft and fresh, all the bedding and my sons cot sheets have been washed using the Ecoballs and on occasions when he is cutting a new tooth there are blood stains on his sheet that have washed out with no problem if they are washed the next morning. I usually leave space in the machine to allow the clothes to move about and when I have heavy large bedding to wash I don't like to overload the machine with too much laundry.
The results for bedding have been perfect every time leaving them smelling fresh and clean.
Even sweaty socks and T -shirts have come out smelling fresh and clean! I soon caught up with my washing and now I only have one laundry bin as opposed to the three I had before purchasing my Ecoballs. I don't need to worry about running out of detergent and I can keep up with my washing.
My 30 month old loves his food and he also likes to play with it, I gave up using a bib on him many months ago as his clothes still end up with food on. This doesn't bother me as long as he is enjoying his food and he is happy, however once he has finished eating and squashing the remains into his cup and highchair I strip his clothes off and put them straight into the machine and as you can imagine throughout the day the washing builds up so whenever anything need washing I put it into the machine and once there is enough in there I put it on with the Ecoballs, the clothes are mostly covered in food and are wet and they always come out clean and soft!
One of my son's favourite foods is banana which always goes black if it is left on clothes for too long, so as long as I put the banana covered clothes into the machine with the Ecoballs soon after then they always come out clean.
I have used the Ecoballs every day since purchasing them and I have been pleased with the results, they have saved me a small fortune and they have saved me a lot of time. I have used them on a 30°C wash and up to a 60°C wash to test them out and they have produced good results every time. I have also noticed the difference with our clothes, they feel much softer and the colours haven't faded like they do over time with conventional detergents. My son's clothes stay in better condition and I no longer need to worry about giving his clothes an extra rinse to remove the strong scent and chemicals that detergents leave behind. However they won't brighten your whites but they will clean them you can use Eco friendly laundry bleach if your whites are in need of brightening which can be used separately.
They are also great for freshening up clothes that have been left in the back of the wardrobe that become musty if they are not worn for a while or clothes that are just need a quick freshen up.
I also put my son's soft toys through the machine with them and they freshen them up and leave them feeling clean. I know that his toys are safe for him to chew on and that he won’t be ingestion chemicals.
They are environmentally friendly, natural, they contain no soap or toxic chemicals, and they will reduce your water and electricity bill and save you a lot of money in detergents and fabric softeners.
They will reduce the amount of toxins that are put into our water supply and they are kinder to your clothes. They are good for people who suffer with allergies or sensitive skin, and also people who suffer with eczema. In my opinion they are better to use on babies and young children's clothes whose skin is delicate, I wish I had discovered these when I was pregnant with my son as laundry detergent that is designed for babies clothes is more expensive.
I cannot fault them at all, in all the time I have been using them I have had good results. Some people may miss their clothes having that fragrant just washed scent that conventional detergents give but I'm sure after time you will prefer to use these and there will be no going back!
I highly recommend these to everyone! Why not give them a try!
If you are not entirely satisfied with the results they come with a 30 day money back guarantee.
I purchased my Ecoballs from Amazon as they had the best price at the time with no delivery charge. You can also buy these from Ecozone, John Lewis and Lakeland also stocks them. It is always best to shop around to find the best price. I also thought it was better value to buy the pack with the refills and stain remover and I'm glad I did. Make sure you are buying original Ecoballs as there are probably cheaper imitations that will not produce the same results and they may contain harmful chemicals.
For more information:Ecozone (UK) Ltd
PO Box 59165
LONDON
NW2 9HG
www.ecozone.co.uk
eco.customer@ecozone.co.uk
Tel@ 0845 230 4200
Summary: A great alternative to washing for the Eco-warrior in you.
Great Balls of Washing 
