natjtan Having eczema sensitive skin I always opt for environmentally friendly laundry detergent that’s fragrance free. Eco friendly as I care about nature, fragrance free and harsh toxic, chemical free as I never know when I have a bad flare up usually once a year what caused it.
I used the laundry Ecoegg for about a year and as promised an update on its use. It was fine for the first few months, then I started not to be happy with it. It’s cheap. I only paid about €15-20 inc shipping for refills throughout the year which is great. I for sure noticed I wasn’t buying laundry detergent every month and the pennies saved. The white balls are mystery however they are harmful chemical free, biodegradable and vegan which react with the water. The black tourmaline pellets to lift stains by energising the water. Ecoegg state what the tourmaline pellets do, but I find it shady they don’t mention what the white pellets are made of. I did find one site that listed the ingredients but as it’s not Ecoegg themselves I can’t be sure it’s the complete list of ingredients. They recommend disposing of the used white pellets in the bin as they haven’t been tested on wildlife or plants (so how eco friendly? The ingredients separately are? Together are? They contradict themselves here by saying not harmful to aquatic life). I think for light washes it’s okay and at low temperatures. However it’s not great on whites, leaving them grey. It also washes out colours from clothes. This could be the dye, cheap clothes but after one wash, lighter colours such as pinks, greens they started to fade noticeably after just one wash (see photo below). It could also have been that my washing machine died this year and wasn’t washing as good as previous.
Towel’s I usually wash at 60C (naughty, but towels need a little hotter wash. And also for a peaceful life when P used to comment. Sorry P!) and again maybe it’s the machine, the towels were no longer fluffy and started to feel greasy. Again maybe the washing machine’s age should taken into account, but I found the Ecoegg isn’t for heavy loads even with regular pellet top up. Clothes were cleanish. The egg is guaranteed to last 10 year and it didn’t come apart in the wash. Ecoegg is allergy free, recommend by Allergy UK. For the time I used it, I didn’t have any eczema flare ups but for overall cleaning I’d wouldn’t use again. The black tourmaline pellets I used for an energy clearing jar. amazon.co.uk
A year of use.
The Socks. Colour loss after one wash
Magnesium Pellets/Balls
P last year brought back laundry magnesium pellets or balls from Japan. He gave them to me not really knowing what they were, only that a guy who was also on his sushi course uses them, mentioned they’re detergent free and eco friendly. Helpful, right?! Thankfully there was an website in English on the packaging, another on the instructions inside and a QR code letting me know WTF was inside.
Magnesium forms an alkaline solution and hydrogen bubbles when in contact with water. This in return has a powerful cleaning effect that can lift tough stains and dirt! The negative ions repel negative ions on the fabrics, some magic happens, clothes are clean. The science bit here and here. The magnesium further down the water system doesn’t pollute the water, instead it helps the water and earth by acting as a natural fertiliser. 1 pouch lasts about a year or about 300 washes before magnesium loose its power. After a year you can add the balls to the garden, balcony plants to enrich the soil! It also helps keep the washing machine drum and pipes clean. This is probably due however to residue build up of liquid or powder detergent.
They’re not 100% plastic free as the pouch they come in is polyester although the original manufacture is looking for non plastic pouch (cotton wasn’t strong enough to survive numerous washes). This results in plastic microfilaments in the water system from the pouch. The packaging is also plastic. They are however aside from the plastic mircofilament in the water system from the pouch, toxic free being only magnesium balls. When I take time to separate the dark and coloured items, the coloured items keep their colour. Everything feels clean, even towels and bed linen at hot washes. Towels feeling clean and not greasy like with the Ecoegg. Nothing smells either! Low temperature washes at 20C and hot at 60C everything feels clean. I also have a new washing machine that again needs to be taken into account. However before the old one broke for good, the magnesium pellets were washing better than the Ecoegg. I should have taken a photo for one jumper the dye was so much it had to be washed on its own (it was even staining white t-shirts worn with it and irritated P’s skin). The pouch was almost black after that initial wash. The next wash the pouch was light grey it had cleaned that well. Drying after use is recommend and I hang it on the clothes rack along with the laundry. Both sites on the packaging say adding normal detergent improves cleaning power, but it cleans fine without. I’ll also point out I don’t like that this particular company sells sticky mouse traps! The next one will be the Terra Wash Mg who also recommend just using the magnesium balls for laundry. No sticky mouse traps sold.
The pellets even come with a reminder sticker to put in your diary or on calendars! I’m hoping when I come to replace it, the fabric pouch is non plastic, it’s easy to buy in Europe as so far it’s the most cost effective, toxic free, eco friendly laundry detergent yet that hasn’t irritated my skin, cleans and the price has come down. On amazon.co.uk a Terra Wash + Mg one is £48!! Terrawashmg $58. The Zero Japan has a DIY version of a cotton or linen bag.
The only cons I have are that the pouch isn’t plastic free and in the old machine it used to get caught up in between the washing machine door and rim mid wash. To overcome this I placed it in a small laundry bag. Aside from this I would recommend it for sure!
Hand washing I still use an eco friendly hand wash detergent although the Ecoegg can also be used for hand washing by leaving it overnight. I’m curious about soap nuts which I might try next.
I was going to mention soap nuts. Hope you can try them soon! They even grow downstairs from my building hahaha, but I never tried picking and drying them, just bought them online super cheap. I used them for a couple of years and was very happy with them. Only stopped when I started using cloth diapers as some websites said they didn’t clean properly the diapers, but other cloth diapering mums in a group I’m in are using them and no problem, so I’m starting with them again.
Hehehe. That’s why I mentioned it as I knew you would! They’re on my list for next month!
Maybe the temperature you wash the diapers with depends on the soap nuts cleaning power? I don’t like hot washes due to energy but for towels and linen I do. The only think I don’t like about the magnesium is the polyester or nylon pouch.