| Eco balls | 
| Brand: Ecozone
Category: Kitchen
New (7) from £22.43
Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 3627
Media: Kitchen & Home
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
EAN: 5060101530009
ASIN: B000F5FNX4
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| Features:
| • | Ecozone Ecoballs | | • | Wash your clothes naturally | | • | Works just like a bar of soap | | • | These are genuine Eco Balls (TM) | | • | 3 Balls per pack, plus refills, plus stain remover |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
No detergent required with these eco-friendly wash balls, giving up to 1000 washes
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| Customer Reviews: Read 6 more reviews...
 Don't bother with these - use detergent sparingly and wash at a lower temperature instead. January 9, 2009
Sir Lemon (Gibraltar)
I tried these about a year ago. At first I was pleasantly surprised that my clothes didn't come out of the wash looking too disgusting. Lacking the 'normal' detergent smell, but not seeming too disgusting.
But after using them for a while, I found that they really came up short. Stains that would be removed by an ordinary wash stayed on my clothes, even when using the provided stain remover.
Then I went camping for a week, and washed some of the clothes I'd been wearing using the Eco Balls, following the manufacturer's instructions. They came out stinking.
I soon found that whenever subjected to clothes modestly more dirty than usual, the Eco Balls did not work. My shirts came out of the wash with a very discernible odour around the armpits. Not nice. Clothes that had been though several wash cycles without the benefit of detergent gradually started to show up dirt.
The simple reason why these balls sometimes seem to work is the manufacturer's recommendations - only half-load your washing machine, wash at 40 not 30, if your clothes have any stains at all use a seperate stain remover. Strangely enough, washing machines are designed to wash clothes, and that's generally what they do, and they even do it relatively well if your clothes are relatively clean to start with. Combined with a bit of placebo effect from optimistic users, and people think the balls have magically done something. This of course falls down when the balls are subjected to a tougher cleaning challenge.
I have since given up on Eco Balls, and now use Woolite as I've decided that it's worth spending a little more to avoid my generally brightly coloured clothes being spoilled by harsher detergents. I've also learned that clothes which are not too dirty don't need quite as much detergent as manufacturers generally make out.
If you want both clean clothes and a cleaner environment, these balls are not the solution. Try washing at a lower temperature, using conventional detergents more sparingly, and making sure that you neither overload your washing machine, nor run wasteful half-loads.
 Half way there November 24, 2008
D. Armson (England)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I recently bought these Eco balls and I have to say I was excited by the prospect of clean clothes and a chemical free wash. I have to say I was let down.
I have given this product 2 stars simply because I cannot argue with the environmental claims that there is a reduction in the chemicals put into the wash and therefore a reduction in the chemicals coming out in the waste water. On this note I cannot fault them.
However, the claim that there is a reduction in the amount of water used is dependent on the ability to reduce your washing machines rinse cycle (I cannot on my machine and as the instructions on the eco balls infom me not to use an eco wash I cannot save water there either)
Secondly the balls are limited to there cleaning abilities. With lightly soiled clothes they do remove the dirt (i would imagine a washing machine without any detergent would do the same)and remove bad smells (though don't replace them with a nice one)but on heavly soil or stained clothes the dirt remains, even with the use of the supplied stain remover!
As a whole, I dearly wanted to like this product but in truth I returned them to the shop a little over 2 weeks later and used the 30 day money back guaranty!
 New life for old washing October 29, 2008
Andina Seers (London, England)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I bought these as a trial, wondering if they would turn out to be a 'nice idea that doesn't work' - and I have found them to be great. I now do all my laundry with them. I use a Dyson washing machine, and maybe that makes a difference judging by what some other people have experienced, and have found these balls to be so effective that I now use lower temperatures and shorter cycles, all without washing powder or fabric conditioner and everything comes out clean, soft and smell free. Having said that I don't have really muddy or very soiled clothing so can't say if they are upto that, however I am really greatfull that I no longer have the expense and hassle of buying washing powder - it makes more of a difference than I would have thought, and have the bonus of less impact on the environment.
Use with caution June 25, 2008
Matthew
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
I got these to see if it would make any difference to my eczema. It didn't but the wash seem satisfactory for day to day household use. Significant stains didn't always come out first time but they do give you a small tube of stain remover as well.
However there was a BIG problem after a few months use. My washing machine started to smell distinctly musty as did my washing. I eventually traced it to a build up of mould or bacterial in the seal around the drum and in the fluff catcher. It has taken a LOT of hot washes, soda crystals, vinegar, and bleach to clean it. If you use these then keep an eye on your machine and do a hot maintenance wash every so often.
I would love to love these June 25, 2008
Carolina Wikholm (Malaga, Spain)
14 out of 18 found this review helpful
Dear manufacturers of Eco Balls
I am writing to let you know what I think of your product. The ecologist in me loves the idea of getting the laundry done with just water and no harmful chemicals to the environment. I would love to love this product, really, I would.
So this would be the case if your product lived up to its promises. Unfortunately it doesn't.
It doesn't clean your clothes. And I'm not even talking about a pair of socks I've used to traipse up and down in some muddy undergrowth, I mean just your everyday, average laundry. It'll clean it just fine if the clothes you put in weren't really dirty (like a twice used bath-towel), but that kind of defeats the point then doesn't it?
And if that wasn't bad enough, I could take comfort in the fact that at least it leaves your clothes soft without the need of a softener. Only it doesn't. Everything comes out rock hard, which means I have to iron everything, which I think probably neutralizes any environmental good I'd managed to do with the Eco Balls in the first place.
So here I am, having made a 38 Euro investment in something I thought would last me at least another year, and it's lasted me about 6 washes before I've come to the conclusion that it's crap.
Nevertheless, I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt by sending you this e-mail before posting my official review online, so you can indicate what I may have been doing wrong to produce these undesirable results, I really don't want to give up on them this soon.
Kind regards,
Carolina
THE REPLY
Hi,
Sorry to hear that you are not happy with the Ecoballs.
We refute your allegation that the product is 'crap'. Ecozone has carried out lab tests that have provided scientific proof that the product delivers an effective, clean, fresh, wash, and the test results showed that no fabric softener is required as the clothes come out totally soft.
Ecozone sells hundreds of thousands of Ecoballs a year in top stores such as John Lewis, comments like yours are extremely rare.
Firstly, check that you have purchased the authentic Ecoballs. Then read throught the FAQ that comes in the box.
Over filling the machine and a lack of water in the machine will both cause the Ecoballs not to function.
Regards
Simeon
This is my correspondence with Ecozone. As you can see, I'm not terribly happy with this product because it does not live up to its promises. I'd like to note that anyone reading this review can verify that "comments like yours are extremely rare" is of course completely untrue as reviews before mine go down to even 1 star. I wish I would have seen these reviews before shelling out the cash.
I still use Eco Balls because they are environmentally friendly, but only for washes that don't need to be cleaned very much.
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