Washer BallZZZZZZ!
Happy Earth Day 2009 everyone, can’t wait to get this day over with and get back to non-earth rest of year! just kidding. In honor of earth day I figured I’d post up a product that everyone can relate to because everyone does laundry, or at least everyone has laundry done for them. *ahem*
Today we’re looking at True Green Lanudry Washing Machine Balls. These wonderous little green balls are filled with all sorts of mumbo-jumbo that make your clothes bright, clean, and fresh smelling without washing them with liquid (or solid) detergent and bleach.
Yes, you heard it right mr./mrs. skeptic… without… as in not used. It’s not a “consentrate” or “ultra strength”, it’s not there! No water is used, no container is created, nothing is shipped, and thus, the entire footprint surrounding the creation, transport, marketing, use, and disposal of detergent and bleach simply disappears.
Best of all, as in better than the greenie stuff, is that you will no longer have to buy these. Each washerball has the ability to clean 18lbs of clothes, use 2 if you have a heavy load… and they last for 18 months… that’s roughly a $400 savings. Even if you could give three craps about mother nature and the whole environment thing these puppies make sense. This is a smart product.
So what makes these fancy things work? I was crazy skeptical when I saw these at the Green Products Expo in march, despite the product rep having a very nice shirt which I assume was washed with these. Inside these crazy green money saving balls are magnets and different types of ceramic beads that do/are the following: Hypoallergenic, Antibacterial, free of dyes and fragrance, protects against discoloration and oxidation by eliminating chlorine, make “the most spectacular bright whites”, reduces scale, rust, and lime buildup. The way my non-scientific mind figures, these beads change the pH balance of the water thus seperating dirt and grime from your clothes and cleaning them. Oh, there are negative ion magnets too, so that’s cool because it’s like throwing one of those big ion things you see at home depot in your washer.
They indicate that these work really well in cold water and you don’t need a rince cycle so it saves energy, while I’m sure there is a good bit of truth to that we haven’t felt comfortable doing so, and thus have not realized the savings. We saw a good cleaning level on cold, but also used it warm.
Overall, i’m very happy with this product, it saves money and keeps a whole bunch of material from being made. The best way to be green is to use less, and this product does that.
Photo Gallery and Video Review below.
RATING: 4 out of 5 Gears for Variable Eco Benefit, Value, Quality and Innovation, and Being something we should all try.
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{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Just to expand, we didn’t try it without the rinse cycle, because we do not have the capability to stop the washing machine from doing a rinse, so it wasn’t possible for us to try that feature… I did not see a difference between cold or warm loads of laundry so I would say it works adequately for both. There is a disclaimer that for deep stains they do recommend using a stain remover, so you are not completely free of the chemicals… additionally, I don’t know that I would use them for 18 months, I don’t really trust that anything is that well made any more! But I guess we will find out !
are they safe in any washing machine without damaging them.
Where can you get them? Also, have you tried the dryer balls? They eliminate the need for those fabric softner sheets – which I never use anyway because of allergies but it seems more green to not use them…
Alicia, Yes I believe so, but I would contact the manufacturer to make 100% sure.
Laura, You can purchase them here http://www.truegreenonline.com/
It seem more green to not use what? The dryer balls or the sheets? I have used them and do like them, but wouldn’t buy them since I don’t have much problems drying without either. The greenest option is always to not buy something you won’t need / use.
Laura, there are several different kinds of dryer balls… the ones that we are currently testing are spikey moldable plastic, so they do not have quite the same effect as the tennis ball style ones (which is why mr green gear says he has no problem not using them) … I am trying to get him to test some that are handmade out of wool to see if those have more of a softening effect, I will say though that they do effectively cut down on dyer time and static cling in small to medium loads of laundry… in large ones they just tend to get stuck in the clothes!
I just sortof question how well this can work. I work alot outside so the stains are bad but thats why i have cloths for working outside dont really care about the stains. How ever the smell from say working outside or exercise clothing. Does it have a difficult time with those. Or how about pets blankets and things of that nature?
I’d defer to Mrs. Green Gear on this one, but our experience is that you would need to pretreat any stains in addition to using this. I don’t have the best sense of smell so again, I’ll wait for the Mrs. to chime in.
David, like you I will admit I am skeptical of this product and since reviewing have reverted back to my detergent of choice, Dropps (Nellie’s is also good) … It definately cannot completely remove deep stains… as to the scent… they do make scented versions of these (we have unsecented), but I don’t like the smell of perfum as much as I do, just that fresh clean smell, which you get with detergent that you don’t get with this… often the clothes just smell blah, not good, not bad… just like you washed them in water, which is basically what you did… additionally, I have found that it doesn’t do a good job of softening the clothes… you know when you hang dry clothes, they are a little stiff… that is the same thing with this as well… long and short, I would use this mostly on rags, towels, sheets and other household items and use detergent for your clothes and other delicate items.
i love this product. the easiest/best test was using them on my boyfriend’s smelly socks he wears playing basketball. not to embarrass him, but his socks smell pretty bad! after using the ball i smelled his socks. surprisingly very clean, fresh, and smelling great! i read on another website that simply washing in warm water works just as well as actually using the product, but i don’t think warm water could rid my boyfriend’s sock odor. the dryer balls that came with the product were ok. i wasn’t as pleased with the effectiveness of the plastic dryer balls as i was with the green wash ball, but i will continue to use them anyway. much greener than using dryer sheets.
I’ve never tried using laundry balls but it sounds really interesting! I’ve found another green detergent alternative that works well and is convenient, so I’ll probably stick to it. It’s made by Grab Green. It doesn’t look like regular detergent. (You can see it on their website at http://www.grabgreenhome.com.) It comes in small dissolvable packs and 1 pack is enough for a load. I throw a few in my basket on my way to the laundromat and I’m set!
I am so glad that I found your website. Over the course of the next few days I will delve further into your page, but I am quite happy with what I have seen so far. I found this site in my pursuit to see if laundry balls are worth my money seeing as how I am not the richest person in the world. I have 2 questions for you tho. The first one stems from the fact that I work in a bar and am a pack a day smoker (I am aware that smoking isn’t exactly the greenest thing in the world but i have switched to a 100% natural tobacco and my lungs and my body thank me daily for doing so. I could write up a whole article on the switch but this is not the time.). I am wondering if these laundry balls have enough kick to remove smoke odors. As for my second question, I am wondering if there is a similar product to use in my dishwasher because those dawn gel packs are neither cheap nor green. Thank you for your time,
Zak
I personally would not recommend the balls for any sort of strong odors, it is my main complaint about these products. While I am not a fan of overly perfumed/ scented products the lack of any sense of freshness is a deterrent to me. I really like the Dropps product (also reviewed on this site), they make a scent free and a “fresh ” scent, both work very well!
I think this is a good product. I wonder why this has not caught on yet since many people are still not aware of its good benefits. Hopefully, this will work well even when using a top loader with an agitator. But for a greener way in washing clothes, this is definitely a sound idea. There are also spin ball washing machines that are currently pushed in developing countries like India. It does not need electricity. Clothes are stuffed inside the ball and the ball is used during soccer games. How convenient and efficient is that?
This is a great way to save on simple laundry loads. Green machine balls are not enough to keep your laundry energy efficient, though. There is a section on this page that extends the conversation on how to keep your laundry machines (and other appliances) low energy and low costing: http://www.homeesp.com/energy-savers-and-green/going-green/271-green-appliances. Check it out- this website has great tips for homeowners.