eco balls

[grawrc]

Can any of the scientists out there help me with my new eco friendly purchase of eco balls? (Not to be confused with Betty Swallox - relegated to the Watershed :o :o)

The box announces that eco balls "replaces traditional laundry powder and soaps in your washing machine and saves £££. Not an additive. Lasts up to 1000 washes. Ideal for sensitive skin." and elsewhere: "environmentally safe. cleans clothes without traditional washing powders and soaps"

Now all this is good news that I am happy about.
It's when I come to the list of ingredients that I haven't a clue. Don't know what they are or what they do. So can anyone help me out please?

Ingredients are:
higher alkyl sulfate, non-ionic surfactant, sodium metasilicate, calcium carbonate, sodium carbonate

[grawrc]

[OliveOil]

sodium carbonate - washing soda
calcium carbonate - lime
sodium metasilicate - type of sodium silicate - Water glass is used as a water treatment in waste water treatment plants. Waterglass will bind to heavier molecules and drag them out of the water.
higher alkyl sulfate - detergent to remove grease type things


non ionic surficants - http://www.chemistryquestion.com/English/Questions/ChemistryInDailyLife/27c_nonionic_surfactant.html

[prink13]

OliveOil - WOW! that's some chemistry brain you've got! ;D

Grawc - I'm really interested to know if they work - I've thought about buying them, but wasn't convinced enough to spend money

Kathi

[Rhubarb Thrasher]

it just sounds like a different formulation of chemicals, though it certainly doesn't contain troublesome ones like EDTA, phosphates or maybe borax or optical brighteners. If they say all those things, then they "must" be true, no?
there's a Newsnight bit on it

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/4969324.stm

[manicscousers]

we use them..good for everything apart from dishcloths and really dirty stuff, like overalls..saved me a fortune over the past month..no smell and no fillers in the machine  :)

[prink13]

Thanks manicscousers , maybe I will buy some and give them a go

Kathi

[Jeannine]

Oops,  Calcium Carbonate is actually chalk, it is an ingredient in agricultural lime,but in itself it is just chalk.Mostly used in antacids. I can't think why it is in a washing powder,it must be the catalyst for something else as it in the agricultural lime. We used to use loads of it as a coat chalk when we bred Old English Sheepdogs.XX Jeannine

[flossie]

I've used them.  They are ok for things that are lightly soiled but things like shirt collar somethings need something extra.  With the pack I got a little "stick" of something to rub onto more serious stains.

Definitely worth a try

[grawrc]

Thank you all! I still don't really have a clue whether these ingredients are good things but at least they seem to be relatively innocent.

Kathi, I have it on authority (my son's girlfriend) that they work and do clever oxygen releasing things......
(pssst ..... isn't that where the free radicals come from??)

Thank you Jeannine for "catalyst". That is a good word and one of the few scientific/ chemistry-related words that my teenage  and literary brain managed to latch on to, understand and enjoy. Chemistry at school was my worst enemy. I loathed it with venom. I failed the exam. Despite my brilliant MAths and Physics, it was ordained that I should be relegated to the German class. "Phew" said I.

My first husband was a chemistry teacher. Small wonder we divorced.
Flossie I too got a little tube of something for serious stains but I've told the boys that we won't need it. THey're going to wash. ;) ;) ;D

[flossie]

 ;D

[Jeannine]

Really Funny Anne, do boys still have a problem washing then,!!!XX Jeannine

[Rhubarb Thrasher]

their philosophy seems to be that modern detergents are more powerful than they generally need to be, with strong stain removers and whitening bleaches added as standard. If your clothes are not badly stained then this is all unnecessary. If you do have stains, then you treat them with the separate stain remover stick, and if clothes need whitening, then it's up to you to add a (natural) bleach, which all makes sense
On the other hand, since it's less powerful, you might not get good results from washing at 30 ^oC, as we're all encouraged to do now to save the planet, though they point out that since there are less chemicals to get rid of you can use a wash program with a shorter rinse cycle instead to use less electricity

[grawrc]

Doh RT. I don't know whether I can reduce rinses on  my WM. I'll need to dig out the user guide. I normally do 30 or 40 degree washes with Ariel Liquitabs. Why does it have to be so hard??? I just wanna save the planet goddamit! >:( ;)

[Rhubarb Thrasher]

that's what I thought too, but didn't want to admit i'm a bit hazy  where the washing machine is concerned. I'm thinking of a radical alternative approach - stopping washing. That'll reduce my carbon footprint.

[cambourne7]

I have seen them but not used them, i always wondered if they were ok and i though the shape of the balls helped bash the clothing clean.

That said i buy my washing powder in Fance, and its one that i know does not affect my skin. Only using a 40 degree wash.

I do maybe one or two boil wash a year usualy for table clothes or special bed sheets/duvet covers which we use christmas ( as they take 2 hours to iron before use ).

But i only use 1/3 - 1/4 of the powder your supposed to use.

In fact i buy maybe 3 boxes of washing powder a year each is supposed to be 45 washes each and i get a lot lot more out of them.

I do however if the washing is really dirty use washing soda in the drum or prewash with bio-tex. I use a about 2 boxes of bio-tex a year and maybe one 250g bag of soda crystals a year (mostly on hubbies shirts).

[Jeannine]

Hey RT, they won't need a footprint if you stop washing,just being down wind should be enough.

You know Anne, life wasn't this complicated when we used the washboard and posher with a bit of Sunlight soap.

Cam... long way to go for washing powder.??

XX Jeannine

[cambourne7]

Hi Jeannine,

I cant find the persil i like here the one i get has a very high soap % and lower in the other chemicals as its what the French are used to (apparantly).

Cambourne7

[Rhubarb Thrasher]

well, when I said I was going to save the planet, I never said anything about it smelling nice afterwards

actually the ecoball thing does make sense. For most of us, most of the time our clothes don't really get particularly dirty, so extra strong detergents probably are a bit overkill. If there were problems, there's nothing stopping you zapping them with Daz once in a while (and cycling to the shops for a few days if you feel guilty about it)
Different maybe if you're bringing up a family

[Marymary]

I have been tempted by the eco-balls too & wondered how they work - I thought it must be to do with ionisation cos I thought they were made of metal - I didn't realise they had 'ingredients', glad you are going to try them out for us Anne  :)

While we are on the subject of the chemistry of washing  :), please may I ask a supplementary question which has been bugging me for some time? 

We live in a very hard water area & everything gets badly scaled including the washing machine.  I refuse to buy Calgon tablets mainly cos they are so expensive & I don't know how environmentally friendly they are.  Like Cambourne I use washing soda sometimes but has anyone discovered a cheaper substitute for Calgon- I keep thinking there must be a basic substance which would deal with the limescale but don't know what.

[jennym]

....  Like Cambourne I use washing soda sometimes but has anyone discovered a cheaper substitute for Calgon- I keep thinking there must be a basic substance which would deal with the limescale but don't know what.

Vinegar. To use as a de-scaler.