Money saving household products, would really appreciate some feedback please..

[Kattekit]

Hi,

I've just found a product on Amazon called the ecoegg, it claims to wash 3 yrs worth of washing for 3p a wash. It's certainly got my attention but is it any good?

They also make a fabric softener, again it's claiming to be as good as market leaders but be better for the environment. Is it too good to be true?

Feedback would be greatly appreciated if anyone has tried any, also any other money saving ideas please do share.

Thanks

There have been several threads on here about them. There's a reason they aren't in every household - they don't work. If you want to save money, use washing powder and replace some of the powder in each wash with soda crystals which will soften the water making the washing powder go further.

You don't need to use fabric conditioner at all and I don't ever use it on towels as it makes them feel slimy when wet. I've seen distilled vinegar recommended as a softener but it just made my washing stink! We live in a very soft water area so it might work better in hard water.

No fabric conditioner and use half the recommended amount of liquid or powder.

Generally any product marketed as eco is a con.

I buy 13kg of wash powder at a go. It's concentrate so you only need one tsp per kilo of laundry. It's lasted me a year so far, and hasn't run out yet.

I use Aldi almat and don't use very much (used to)

It is so cheap and effective. I add white vinegar to sweaty clothes and I wash mostly on a quick wash at 30degrees

Lidl concentrate bio liquid is good. No conditioner and use a short cycle.

I have been reading about soda in laundry, apparently it is not as good as people think, and can increase limescale.

I buy laundry stuff that I like when it is reduced and keep it in the garage, or Lidl, I like the Formil powder non bio for the smell. I have been using a lower temp wash but only because the machine needs fixing, you do need to run a boil wash every so often or it will stink.

I looked into the EcoEgg thing, it doesn't remove stains, you need to pre-treat them. Have also read that people wash without detergent for lightly used loads. If you run a load without any you can see the build up of old soap washing out of the laundry, it is in the washing but also in the machine so you could probably get a way with that sometimes.

White vinegar instead of fabric conditioner, and instead of rinse aid in the dishwasher. I rarely use fabric conditioner, it has some nasty ingredients and dryer sheets are toxic.

I gave up fabric softener 6 months ago and no one has noticed. It's awful stuff.

I use whatever washing powder is on offer, a dash of zoflora if I'm washing bed sheets or towels, and a small amount of bicarb in a white wash. I've probably spent about £30 this year on all of this, it's really not so expensive that it justifies one of those eco-eggs that doesn't even work.

Not totally laundry related but I've recently found an Aladdin's Cave of cheap cleaning products at Office Depot no less !

90 Finish tabs for £5, Astonish kitchen, bathroom, window etc etc cleaners £1 each. The have cheap ecloths, dusters, J cloths, polishes and cleaning and laundry products. They have a bit of a display at the front of the store and the rest is found in an aisle dedicated to cleaning offices presumably. Either way, it's a winner.

I buy industrial washing powder from Costco. One drum lasts for about a year, and costs about £12 to buy.

Which did a comparison test with eco eggs and found them to be exactly the same as not using any detergent at all. Which cleans the clothes remarkably well, considering. So you could just stop using detergent, except on especially grubby loads. They rate Aldi's bio as the absolute best detergent, so you could use that as your occasional detergent.

I'm another softener refusenik, it's just horrid gunk, you are fine without.

I bought one of those laundry egg things from qvc years ago...it was useless...i buy a big box of whichever powder is on offer and dont bother with softener as i dont like the feeling of residue on my clothes.

We always use powder. Biggest box we can whenever it's on offer. We've got Persil at the moment, which along with Ariel is my favourite.

Dose according to the load so you get moare out of one box. If it's a small load or not that dirty, does less. If it's a heavier, dirtier load or stuff like towels and bedding, use a bit more. Use the minimum recommended dosage and top up with Soda Crystals - 69p for 2kg in Home Bargains.

Ditch fabric softeners, they're pointless. After a week, you won't even notice the different anymore. It's just a bottle of scented animal fat anyway.

I agree re not necessary to use fabric softener. I'm not on a budget however haven't used that for years. Occasionally put some white vinegar in for final rinse.

Fabric softener is horrible stuff.

Agree also, use half of the detergent that is recommended. Powder is cheaper because it takes up more room, is messier but it's great stuff and much cheaper.

My favourite bit of laundry-related learning recently was from the thread about hot washing towels.

There were loads of judgy hoikers posting snotty comments about how they boil washed everything that had been used for more than 10 milliseconds with BIO powder to within an inch of its life etc, and that is the ONLY way to get things clean.

Then several people came along and pointed out that bio detergents are denatured if you use them above 40 and that they are explicitly designed to get things clean at that lower temperature

Chop dishwasher tablets in half, just as effective