Ecoballs and smelly washing

[ajm200]

Hi Ladies. I need your advice pls

I've been using ecoballs for 6 months after discovering that DS's sore dry skin was caused by washing powder and some soaps.

The washing smells fine when it comes out of the machine even the nappies but recently hubby has complained that his clothes smell stale in hot weather. Also, I've noticed that if I do a load late at night and fold it into a basket to hang out on the line first thing the next morning, it goes sour by morning. Not a problem I had with detergents and softener.

This is what I've tried so far to fix the problem but I've had no luck

Cleaned the machine with 95 degree washes using white vinegar, washing soda and hotpoint recommended cleaner..

Adding vinegar to the rinse water

Adding lavender and teatree to the rinse (caused random greasy marks)

Adding washing soda to the wash (helped with the smell but made my sons skin dry)

Leaving the wet washing in the machine overnight (caused creased smelly washing)

Help pls. I don't want to go back to using washing powder for my sons sake and because now I can't stand the smell and feel of clothes washed in detergent/softner

anyone?

Hi there. I sell the ecoballs from my real nappy shop and the problems you have can arise. The reason you don't get those problems with detergents is that they mask the smells with their perfumes. Obviously the ecoballs can't do that as they don't have any chemicals etc in them so it's best not to leave washing in the drum for long. All the things you tried should work - and I have a long list of tips on my blog, but it pretty much just includes what you've already mentioned. blog.cleangreennappy.co.uk/2008/08/29/getting-the-most-out-of-your-ecoballs/

Which lavendar and tea tree are you using? Is it the essential oil, because it shouldn't leave greasy marks. You could always add it into the wash draw instead, to give it a chance to wash out easier. Also, which washing soda are you using? My daughter and partner both get dry skin easily, and we use bicarb, which eliminates smell, and has never caused us skin problems.

Finally - vinegar isn't really to stop smells - more to help with fabrics going cardboardy in the wash due to hard water. Hope this helps a bit!

I am rather sceptical about Ecoballs, I don't think their explanation of how they 'work' makes any scientific sense. I suspect the reason that some of your things smell is that they're not clean! Detergents don't just mask smell, they actually digest the dirt (if they're biological) and remove grease, sweat, food particles etc.

Have you tried a really gentle detergent like Surcare? I have to say, my dd's eczema improved massively when we switched from non-bio to bio (yes, I do mean to bio) There was some research published a year or two back showing that bio may be better for sensitive skins than non-bio.

Personally, I'd try a few different detergents and use a really small amount, maybe 1/2 to 1/3 of what is recommended and see how you get on.

Or what about soap flakes? Although I found I needed to do a hot wash with washing soda from time to time to stop them bunging up my machine.

As for washing going 'sour' when left overnight - I have this problem (I use detergent but it is unscented as I have sensitive skin) and I agree with CGN that this problem occurs whatever you use, it's just more difficult to tell if the washing powder is heavily fragranced. Does your washing machine have a time delay option? I've never worked out how to use mine sowhat I do now is load it ready to go at night, then start it going the moment I get up and hang stuff out immediately.

Thanks everyone. I'll try your tips. I've got a big box of bicarb that I use for cleaning.

How much bicarb would you use per load?

I used them for a while and but chucked them because they didn't seem to actually do anything. I did try putting some lavender in the wash, but it started to get silly, it wasn't that it just smelt stale...nothing was clean!