Washing Clothes the Green Way

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Washing Clothes the Green Way

Last year Matthew Sidford looked closely at washing balls that claim to make laundry detergents unnecessary. Weve republished the piece to coincide with the arrival of ecoballs in our webstore. He draws on first hand experience and examines the environmental impacts and cleaning efficacy. He also raises some unanswered questions and your views are mixed!

Low temperature washes, eco-friendly detergents and wash balls considered

Just as I had finally got my greenclean act together and had an all-Ecover cupboard full of washing products C along came Ecoballs, Washballs, Aquaballs which are all variations on the same theme. They are reusable plastic balls that you pop in the drum of your machine and so-say take care of everything.

The principal claim made by the manufacturers of these products is that they machine-wash your clothes without any additives at all. This, it is claimed, results from agitation of ceramic granules or the like, within the perforated balls which ionise (or is it de-ionise?) the water. The effect of this, it is said, is to lift dirt from your clothes, just as a detergent would, except without the harshness of chemicals that fade your clothes and require you to add softeners to your wash. With no softener required there is no need for a long rinse cycle either so electricity can be saved. Washing at 40 degrees and never above 60 degrees is recommended by the manufacturers of Ecoballs. Suddenly, there is no demand for gallons of chemicals to be carted to me in plastic bottles by ship and lorry from the worlds greenest factory of such things, in Belgium in my case.

Green consumer shopping websites carry rave reviews by people experiencing religious conversions in their utility rooms. Skin allergy sufferers rejoice at the lack of chemicals. Add all this to the fact that these initially dear products pay for themselves financially and environmentally many times over, up to 1000 reuses claimed for Ecoballs, and you have a compelling case for taking the plunge. I did.

Optimism overcame scepticism as I parted with 35 quid for my Ecoballs complete with stain remover and replacement granules. I waited for two or three washes with them before passing judgement as residual detergent was likely to be in the machine. Then I critically examined my laundry. Unlike others I had no Road to Damascus experience but it was, you may say, satisfactory. The basic flaw here was that I am not a person who has ever examined his laundry after washing it. Sticking my nose into the crotch of some washed underpants and inhaling deeply is entirely new territory for me! The clothes came out soft, as promised. In the main they also came out looking clean and smell-free. There is of course no fragrance of detergent, which some will see as a plus, others not. One has to ask; what would clothes come out smelling like with a fragrance-free detergent?

More heavily soiled items fared less well on 40 degree express wash in my Hoover machine. The inclusion of the stain remover in the kit also tells you something! Perhaps though, the fact that my long-suffering eco-reluctant wife has not banished Ecoballs from the house as the spawn of Beelzebub is the best indicator that the standard of wash is at least tolerable.

On the face of it, it looks like a good environment-saving option with most clothes being washed to an acceptable standard. We now use the balls mostly, and have some green detergent in the cupboard for more soiled washing or add Ecover laundry bleach for whites, as the Ecoball makers recommend.