Laundry ball – Sheet Metal Parts – Sheet Metal Fabrication Supplier
Types of Laundry Ball
There are several types of laundry ball.
Balls which contain ceramic pieces (also called ‘washing pearls’).
Balls containing magnetic materials.
Balls which are sealed tight and contain a liquid or unspecified contents such as “a frequency enhanced mineral blend”. The cleaning mechanism for these balls is frequently vague or unspecified.
Balls which contain pellets of detergent. These balls may also contain ceramic or other ingredients.
Claimed Benefits
Laundry balls are marketed as cheaper, environmentally friendly alternatives to ordinary washing powders or liquids. The claimed benefits include :
Lack of chemicals which may harm the environment
Hypoallergenic and anti-irritation.
Can be re-used many times before refilling or replacing. This can range from 60 to 2000 wash loads.
Reduced water usage (because less rinsing is required – this assumes the customer uses a different setting on their washing machine).
Reduced waste from packaging.
Reduced use of energy (see embodied energy).
These benefits are comparable to the benefits of washing without any detergent.
How they work
Claims vary between products. Some claims are not backed by science, while others are an exaggeration of benefits. Balls which contain detergents may offer more cleaning power than water alone since their ingredients are comparable to normal washing powder, but in smaller quantities. It is claimed that conventional washing powder manufacturers recommend using more powder than is necessary, and that these powders contain unnecessary fillers or fragrances. Critics question whether the amount of detergent released by these balls is sufficient to generate significant cleaning effects.
Infrared and alkalization
Some of the pearl-based products claim to “generate powerful far infrared ray wave energy to cut off the hydrogen and binding of water molecule to have smaller water cluster to have the penetration and washing, at the same time, it radiates the anion electron to lower the surface tensile and interfacial tension for possible agent-free washing.”(sic). The claim of emitting infrared is not false, as all materials emit “far infrared waves”, in other words, heat radiation. It is also true that heating reduces the surface tension of water, but the effect of the radiation emitted by the pearls is negligible compared to the radiation emitted by the water which is being heated. There are no independent tests showing that the pearls could generate stronger infrared waves by interacting with water than what they otherwise should.
The claim of alkalization is dubious, while it is true that the alkaline agents in normal washing powders catalyze the tensides, there are no studies suggesting that the washing pearls would affect the pH of the water.
Anti-chlorine properties
Many products also claim that the balls contain “anti-chlorine” agents which are supposed to neutralize chlorine which has been added to the tap water. Chloride and bleach related substances are actually common in washing powders and chlorine is used in the disinfection of tap water. The claims state that by removing chlorine from the washing water the surface tension is (again) reduced and harmful chlorine can’t interact with the clothes, even though the amounts in tap water are very small both in Europe (0.3-1.0 ml/l) and North-America (4 ml/l).
Antibacterial properties
Chlorine is a strong antibacterial agent, so neutralizing it from the washing water would in fact reduce the anti-bacterial properties. There are no clear explanations of how the antibacterial substitute in the pearls work. A viable option would be silver pearls, as silver has documented antibacterial properties.
Balls which contain detergent claim that the alkali properties make them antibacterial .
Magnetic properties
Some products claim to have magnetic elements which “minimizes the size of the water molecule which helps with scale and rust removal of the washing machine and pipes”. Both of the claims are false from a proven scientific viewpoint: while magnets do interact with rust, magnets will not keep rust out of your laundry, and molecules can’t be “scaled” freely.
Negative ions
Some laundry balls claim to release negative ions, which cause the dirt to weaken in its adherence to the fabric. It is possible that OH-ions, or hydroxide, could be created, but not in a large quantity.
Consumer protection and Scientology link
In 1997 a Scientology-owned company, Trade-Net, sold a laundry ball product (the Blue Laundry Ball) in various US states. After complaints, their claims were investigated by consumer protection departments in Utah, Oregon and Florida, amongst others, and the company was prohibited from making certain claims, including that “that such product cleans as well as conventional laundry detergent”. Trade-Net offered a ‘new’ laundry ball product after this, but were forced to pay fines, including $190,000 to Oregon’s Department of Justice, $10,000 to Utah and then in April 1999, $155,000 to the states of New York, Arizona, Arkansas, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma and the FTC. The company disappeared shortly after.
Multilevel marketing
The product is often sold by participants in multilevel marketing schemes.
See also
Laundry detergent
Soap nuts
External links
Straight Dope Article
Notes
^ a b c Adams, Cecil (1997-07-25). “Do laundry balls really work?”. The Straight Dope. p. 1. http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_007b.html. Retrieved 2008-02-25.
^ http://www.hollings.mmu.ac.uk/~dtyler/ecochallenge/LAUNDRY_BALLS.htm
^ http://www.ecozoneitalia.it/reports/report1.pdf
^ “Magicball product description”. http://magicball.se/.
^ http://bwt.jeffotto.com/avail_now/laundry_balls.htm
^ “Portal Marketing liquid Laundry ball product page”. http://portalmarket.com/laundryball.html.
^ http://www.mysticwondersinc.com/wonderBall/default.asp
^ http://www.laundryball.cn/Laundry-Pellets.html
^ http://www.gogreeneraustralia.com/blog/index.php/2009/05/11/laundry-balls-put-to-the-test/
^ http://www.laundryball.com.au/home.php
^ http://www.greencleanproducts.com.au/save_water.html
^ http://www.hollings.mmu.ac.uk/~dtyler/ecochallenge/LAUNDRY_BALLS.htm
^ http://www.grownupgreen.org.uk/features/?id=1078&PHPSESSID=2833b2dc91d17b76b4520775c06b78f0
^ http://www.jeremyjohnstone.com/blog/2008-05-11-ecoballs-are-they-for-real.html
^ “Bio magic globe product description”. http://www.ionfarm.com/1642.
^ “EP patent 0,870,862”. http://v3.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=EPODOC&IDX=JP10277566&F=0&RPN=EP0870862&DOC=cca34af1984f0ecc8342ffb88039e0b057&QPN=EP0870862.
^ “True Green washing ball product page”. http://www.truegreenonline.com/Laundry_Washing_Ball.html.
^ “FAQ of water supply of the city of Pori”. http://www.pori.fi/ves/faq/kysymykset.html.
^ http://www.ethicalsuperstore.com/download_docs/ecoballs%20instructions.pdf
^ http://www.chem1.com/CQ/magscams.html
^ http://www.religio.de/publik/arsreview/100897.html
^ http://www.ftc.gov/os/1999/04/anujdg12.htm
^ http://www.holysmoke.org/cos/front-sight-safety-standards-failed.htm
Categories: Cleaning tools | Cleaning products | Consumer goods | Pseudoscience | Scientology controversies
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