Ecoballs

I've recently bought some Ecoballs (shown here on the John Lewis website) in our local Oxfam shop.  They were advertised as an environmentally friendly, and economical, way of washing clothes.  They are supposed to last for up to 1,000 washes, and to cost therefore about 3 pence per wash.  (I actually bought them half price, so make that 1.5p.) They seem to be working well so far, after three weeks of use, though I have noticed that although clothes smell clean when they come out of the washing machine, they don't have that aggressively clean smell that commercial detergents produce.  That is probably a very good thing, chemicals-wise, but slightly disconcerting to begin with.  Also, the ecoballs can't be used at very high temperatures, though as I try to keep wash temperatures fairly low, that does not bother me.

I already try to minimise use of the tumble dryer, by hanging clothes out to dry on a drying rack as much as possible, and have long been using dryer balls to reduce energy use.  They may work - but they also produce quite a bit of noise when the machine is in use.