Eco Eggs?

[BlackInk]

I'm thinking of investing in an Eco Egg... Does anyone have any experience of them? As good as they sound or not?
www.ecoegg.com/product/laundry-egg/

[NannyR]

I bought one a couple of years ago and I was really disappointed with it. I was using it to wash my clothes, which as an adult weren't particularly stained or dirty and they came out of the wash looking clean. But what I didn't like about it as the smell of the clothes, the 'clean linen' fragrance wore off after the first two or three washes and then my clothes had a weird, musty smell which lingered even after they were dried.
I only used it about eight times then stuck it in the back of the cupboard.

[BlackInk]

Oh :(
Doesn't sound promising! Thanks though NannyR!

[AnnaMagnani]

Oh too

Was weighing up between these and soapnuts. Think it will be soapnuts then.

[ThreeTwins]

I tried an Eco egg, really wanted it to work but it was about as good as washing in plain water. Clothes came out clean-ish. Surface dirt came out but stains like deodorant marks stayed put. Very lightly used clothes camo out ok, but then the didnt desperately need washing anyway! Heavily soiled clothes didnt clean well. I'd say it's least effective on greasy stains. No scent, which I quite liked as I'm not keen on highly scented detergents but it takes some getting used to.

I use cloth nappies and it was terrible on them- not at all clean, smelly and stained. That's a pretty harsh test- nappies are one of the dirtiest things to go in the machine!

Each egg is suitable for a 4kg drum size, so you'll likely need 2x eggs which makes it expensive.

They are very machine dependent. It will probably work better if you have an older machine that uses more water, rather than a modern machine that uses less.

[SPARKS17]

I use an eco egg for dog stuff and towels and I have definitely been satisfied with the cleanliness but not the scent, as in there is none (even though it is meant to have a linen scent)!

I use liquitabs for bedding and clothes as I like the scent.

[TooMinty]

Oh, I was thinking of starting this thread as I keep seeing adverts for them on Facebook and have been tempted. Not keen now.

What are soap nuts?

[BahHumbygge]

They only appear to work at first because you have caked on detergent residue in your machine. After that gets used up it's no better than using plain water.

Soap nuts are an option, they are a pod like shell from a tree that has saponifying plant chemicals in it. However, there is a quinoa-like problem with it, in that, like South Americans being priced out of their traditional food stuff as it becomes popular in the west, soapnuts are becoming inaccessible to Indians to wash their laundry with as they become popular with eco-conscious westerners.

Best thing, use a regular powder detergent, eco if possible, try a lower dose until you can notice a difference to efficacy. Or if your local health food/refill scoop and save store does it then buy from there to avoid packaging.

You could investigate the advanced hippy option and try native saponifying plants like soap wort or conkers.

[TooMinty]

I have just noticed that my local health food shop does refills of ecover so think I'll switch to that.

[BlackInk]

Thanks all - I really wanted them to be good, but it sounds as though they may not be... Our water pressure is really low so we can't use the drawer on our washing machine and have to put something in the drum. Local shops don't seem to stock anything vaguely eco-friendly that's not in a plastic bottle or tub!

[Glitterandunicorns]

I use one and have found it great! I've even used it on a reusable nappy wash (very stained ) and it sorted those out no problems!

As he others have said, the scent isn't strong (I picked the floral one) but can't complain about the cleaning power.

[Claireyskillz]

Ahh we have been using an ECO egg for about 6 months. It sorts all the dog towels and the gym kit out!
Everything basically smells like nothing which suits us as a trade off
Considering adding some essential oils, apparently this is quite nice

[gallicgirl]

I used one when my daughter's eczema was bad and found it fine. I couldn't quite get used to the lack of fragrance but my daughter's skin preferred it.
I sprayed white vinegar onto stains before putting the clothes into the washer which was a bit of a faff but it got clothes clean ok. I just used a teaspoon of zoflora in fabric conditioner segment if I wanted fragrance.
Really dirty clothes needed a proper detergent in my opinion but for the most part, it did the job.
DD's eczema has improved a lot but I go back to it when she has flare ups and it works wonders.

[kikisparks]

I’ve used one with no issues so far (lavender one)

[Mymouthgetsmeintrouble]

I think theyre great but i do add a couple of drops of grapefruit oil to scent my laundry

[BlankTimes]

I'm a big fan, been using an unscented one for years, family member has severe eczema and non-scented eco-egg gets all things clean and leaves no irritants.

Don't understand why anyone would want laundry to smell of artificial scent, I'm prone to migraine and any synthetic smell sets me off. A neighbour used to use some stinky sheets in her tumble dryer and I could smell her in the tumble-dried clothes several feet away.

[barleyreed]

I have just had one delivered, will start using this week - I am really keeping my fingers crossed. DS1 (3) has eczema and his baby brother looks like he is following suit, so it's great to see positive feedback for eczema sufferers!

[gallicgirl]

It's fantastic barley. I would say it's the single most important change that made a significant difference. It took a while to find the right cream but we hardly ever use steroid cream now

[dontticklethetoad]

We use them and they have been great. Admittedly not amazing at getting rid of stains, but I sun bleach most stuff anyway.

[Ohyesiam]

I use them and love the lack of synthetic smell. I add essential oils, it works really well.

[LoniceraJaponica]

"Local shops don't seem to stock anything vaguely eco-friendly that's not in a plastic bottle or tub!"

Ecover washing powder. Doesn't that come in a cardboard box?

If you use eco eggs and nothing else your clothes won't be very clean and your washing machine will develop mould and begin to smell as you won't be using anything to kill off the bacteria. I know because this happened when I tried eco eggs. Another side effect was that my daughter's eczema got a lot worse.

After reading some excellent advice on MN I tried some bio washing powder to rid my washer of its stinky smell. A happy side effect was that DD's eczema disappeared.

IMO eco eggs are a con and a waste of money.

[BlankTimes]

If you use eco eggs and nothing else your clothes won't be very clean and your washing machine will develop mould and begin to smell as you won't be using anything to kill off the bacteria

That may be your experience, it's certainly not mine, I've been using eco egg for years, same cleaning power as detergents, no mould in the machine, no smell.

[dontticklethetoad]

Agreed blank

My eco eggs came with washing machine cleaner tablets to be used every 6 months. No smells here!

[Pigeonpost]

We've had ours a couple of months. I got the fresh linen scent but it's worn off v quick and I'm going to have to start adding some dilute essential oil to the fabric conditioner compartment as I don't like the damp musty smell it leaves behind. :(