Has anyone used Ecoballs?

[BellendenBear]

Do any of you family forumites use Ecoballs instead of washing detergent? They sound a bit too good to be true. Do they work? I am tempted to give them a try but they are quite pricey.

Thanks.

[The Nappy Lady]

Eco balls & soapnut husks etc - OK on everyday stuff that isn't truly 'dirty' but hopeless on children's socks / crawling baby clothing or cloth nappies - in my experience!!

Xx

[Otta]

Eco balls sounds like a good thing to call your fella if you want to belittle him.

[BellendenBear]

Hmmmm, thought so. All the things I need them for!

[hellosailor]

Yes I have to say in my experience they don't get stains out unfortunately..

[Townleygreen]

There is a sachet you add to the mix if you have stained clothing to wash

[Yak]

Pre baby, I used them pretty much exclusively. I think they are good for used but not dirty-stained clothes, if you see what I mean. I still have my set if you want to give them a spin.

[bethhs]

We use them in my house, they work for a while really well - we have started putting a liquid tablet in with them now just to make sure. I would say they were worth the money!

[Saffron]

But if you have to add a liquid tablet, or a special sachet for stained laundry, then what's the point really??? You might as well just be washing your worn or lightly soiled clothes in a long warm wash w/o any detergent, soapnuts, sachets, or ecoballs. It would probably be just as effective. A long plain warm wash will clean most day-to-day grime. And as others observe, stained laundry will require separate extra attention anyway. I've always been intrigued by ecoball, but I remain a skeptic.

[sophiechristophy]

I use soapnuts, and I think they work well. Some stains don't shift, but they items are clean, and to be honest, on a toddlers clothes, I'm not all that bothered if the stains don't 100% remove. They are much cheaper than using regular laundry detergent.

[Curmudgeon]

We used ecoballs for a year or so - until we realised that it was all a con and they didn't really work but washing at temperature and the agitation gets a certain amount of dirt out anyway

[Smiler]

A friend uses soapnuts and the kids smell really nice!

[QueenMab]

We use them for standard laundry washes and they are excellent. Definitely not a con, as I find they get things cleaner than that 'non bio' powder, so it is not just the action of the water/residual soap.

However as others say, you should apply a spot stain treatment before washing for dirty marks, spilled food stains etc.

[womanofdulwich]

we use eco balls for things like lightly used sheets -also for bath mats.

[Saffron]

kid Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I heard echoballs are rather bad

>

> in fact i dont use nuts on my kids at all

>

> as that frowned upon

Kid, what do you mean by 'rather bad'? Is it that you think ecoballs don't work to clean the clothes, or that you believe there is some harmful or negative effect of ecoballs?

Also, when you say that 'nuts' are 'frowned on', do you mean that you dislike soapnuts, or that they are somehow bad for your children, for example are your children allergic to them?

[Saffron]

Here's what Wikipedia has to say on the subject...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laundry_ball

So, it would appear that laundry balls of various types are the 'homeopathy' of laundry cleaners. Your clothes will be clean if you perceive them to be so.

;)