Saturday, October 28, 2006

Balls to the environment

I have funky new toys, but really they are very sensible items for performing a sensible task and reducing the amount of pollution I am responsible for.

They are Ecoballs (on your right) and Dryer balls (left). Really I ought to hold off posting about these because I haven't thoroughly tested them, but they do look really cool.

These promise to do away with the need for washing powder, fabric condition and the resultant pollution was well as saving on the electricity required for rinsing and to dry clothes in a tumble-dryer (which we have to use). They also purport to be much better for sensitive skin, to cut down on the need for ironing and reduce the amount of fluff generated.

Yes, it does sound rather amazing...

The Ecoballs cost me £24.50 and my Dryer Balls £6.99 from the Ethical Superstore (they've gone up in price since, sorry). The Ecoballs are supposed to last 1000 washes. My box of washing powder is supposed to last thirty washes at £3.74, totally about £125 for 1000 washes, £175 with fabric conditioner. So the economics make a lot of sense, assuming both manufacturers have been equally generous with their estimates.

Plus, the Dryer Balls are supposed to reduce the required drying time by 25% and reduce the need for ironing. We very rarely iron anything, but given how often the Dryer is in use and given that a Tumble-Dryer needs a lot of energy to do its thing, I should be saving a significant amount of electricity and some pennies as a result.

And naturally, you're adding no chemincal pollutants to the sea.

Only trouble is, I don't really understand the science in either case, not enough to be completely and utterly convinced by them. Ionised oxygen, apparently. I know what that means but I don't know enough about how that's supposed to clean things. I bought them because I had read so many good reviews and no negative ones. I will let you know how I get on.

5 comments:

The Goldfish said...

My test message remains in place because whilst these two posts seem to have published themselves overnight, I cannot edit or delete them.

Anonymous said...

Glad it's not only me Blogger's playing silly bloggers with.

Calm down, paranoia.

Could the washing-machine balls simply be reproducing the normal way of washing that existed (and still exists) before soap powder or detergents were invented: viz. simply bashing the wet clothes? Put in a washing-machine drum that is exactly what they would do as it twirled around.

Anonymous said...

Do let us know how the ecoballs and dryer balls work out ... I know I will be very happy if I don't have to deal with powder and liquid anymore! Me lugging a box of powder to the dormitory laundry room is an accident waiting to happen.

The Goldfish said...

So far, they're working very well.

And yes, I guess it is just bashing the clothes.

The only noticeable difference with the end result is that the clothes smell completely neutral - whereas we're used to clean smelling slightly flowery.

But they have worked the first couple of tries. I'm rather chuffe.d

Anonymous said...

I should probably get some of these, as my T-shirts feel like cardboard!