I Thought This Most Interesting: Lean, Green ( And Cheap) Washing Machine?

[Ships Cat]

Forgive me, but I can't understand why anyone would consider putting a gallon or so of detergent filled water straight in the canal.

 

And, to my surprise, the Ecoball works! I put my 9 yo's washing from her 9 day camping and swimming in a lake fully clothed holiday and her school socks (no idea why she packed those) that used to be white but have over the last five months turned brown underneath have come out cleaner than they have looked for ages. The kids even noticed.

 

DS came back with a shirt that stunk to high heaven, no idea what of but I put it in with detergent and the smell was still there, washed it with the Ecoball and the smell has pretty much gone.

 

I'd be interested how it copes with a turmeric loaded drip down DS's white school shirt but a tad of bio would be perfectly ok as a spot on stain remover - I'd rinse it off anyway, always do cos the kids can't use bio, it makes them itch.

 

Thus far, I'm impressed. 700 washes out of one £30 box - 3 years they reckon. I think perhaps less, I have an enormous machine.

[IanM]

Forgive me, but I can't understand why anyone would consider putting a gallon or so of detergent filled water straight in the canal.

 

 

 

Because that's where waste water on a narrowboat goes to.

[carlt]

Of course the Ecoball (made in China) is made of recyclable (not recycled) plastic (a petrochemical) and rubber ( which is rarely grown in an eco-friendly or fairtrade manner) and is stuffed full of Tourmaline that is usually open cast mined in appalling working conditions.

 

Now if they produced it locally, using recycled plastic and rubber and the Tourmaline was mined responsibly and safely then it could possibly have earned the title "Eco".

 

As it is it would appear to be just more "Greenwash"

 

I use 25% vinegar, the rest water with a dribble of washing up liquid in for the kitchen in a spray bottle. The toilet, neat white vinegar. The oven - bicarb AND vinegar.

I do wonder what would happen to the acidity levels of canal water if we all took to pouring vinegar down our sinks...

Edited August 5, 2013 by carlt

[Starcoaster]

As IanM says, "Because that's where it goes." That is how narrowboats are set up. There is no greywater tank like you get on a caravan. Plenty of us pick our products with this in mind, but at the end of the day, it's going over the side, and that's just how it is. It's been working for us for a long time now, as have our solid fuel stoves.

[Tuscan]

Forgive me, but I can't understand why anyone would consider putting a gallon or so of detergent filled water straight in the canal.

 

And, to my surprise, the Ecoball works! I put my 9 yo's washing from her 9 day camping and swimming in a lake fully clothed holiday and her school socks (no idea why she packed those) that used to be white but have over the last five months turned brown underneath have come out cleaner than they have looked for ages. The kids even noticed.

 

DS came back with a shirt that stunk to high heaven, no idea what of but I put it in with detergent and the smell was still there, washed it with the Ecoball and the smell has pretty much gone.

 

I'd be interested how it copes with a turmeric loaded drip down DS's white school shirt but a tad of bio would be perfectly ok as a spot on stain remover - I'd rinse it off anyway, always do cos the kids can't use bio, it makes them itch.

 

Thus far, I'm impressed. 700 washes out of one £30 box - 3 years they reckon. I think perhaps less, I have an enormous machine.

 

Is this the Ecoegg advertised at £19.99 ? I've been thinking of getting one for the boat.

[onionbargee]

Putting a big tub of water and strong washing powder on your hot roof and soaking for 48 hrs does a good job on my work clothes. No effort required. The way i like it.

[Grace and Favour]

Is this the Ecoegg advertised at £19.99 ? I've been thinking of getting one for the boat.

 

You'll need at least five ecoeggs (and an extremely large twin tub) to wash a whole boat

 

*unless it's a small cruiser of course

[Ships Cat]

Of course the Ecoball (made in China) is made of recyclable (not recycled) plastic (a petrochemical) and rubber ( which is rarely grown in an eco-friendly or fairtrade manner) and is stuffed full of Tourmaline that is usually open cast mined in appalling working conditions.

 

Now if they produced it locally, using recycled plastic and rubber and the Tourmaline was mined responsibly and safely then it could possibly have earned the title "Eco".

 

As it is it would appear to be just more "Greenwash"

I do wonder what would happen to the acidity levels of canal water if we all took to pouring vinegar down our sinks...

Since I frequently use bicarb, not much as they will balance out. In my spray bottle, it's a vinegar addition, not the main body - the biggest % of content by far is water. I'd say 3/5ths. And most of it ends up on the cloth I wipe down with, not down the sink. I'm not in the habit of pouring stuff I've paid for down the sink willy nilly.

 

The cloth then goes in the washing machine where any vinegar (or bicarb) on it will be diluted massively.

 

Yes, Tuscan, that is it indeed.

 

Look, Carlt, I have a sciences degree and a background in aircraft engineering, not lentil-knitting. I'm as cynical as the rest. But I've heard it works from people I trust, and now I've actually tried it for myself, so have evidence that it works that I can SEE.

 

More than you have.

[carlt]

 

Look, Carlt, I have a sciences degree and a background in aircraft engineering, not lentil-knitting. I'm as cynical as the rest. But I've heard it works from people I trust, and now I've actually tried it for myself, so have evidence that it works that I can SEE.

 

More than you have.

Really?

Perhaps the BSc and Masters certificates in Materials Science were misprints and the career in advanced materials and textiles research was just a false memory then?

 

Having specialised in the surface science involved in the interaction between aerospace grade textiles and soft finishes I think I can speak reasonably knowledgeably about the snake oil and placebo effects of chucking a rubber ball in with your dirty washing and, whether or not it works, there is no denying that a non-recycled plastic and rubber ball, filled with drift mined minerals and shipped over from China is most definitely not "green".

 

The cloth then goes in the washing machine where any vinegar (or bicarb) on it will be diluted massively.

 

 

Surely the same can be said about the tiny amount of Persil non-bio that I put in my machine or the drop of washing up liquid...

 

If we all chuck vinegar overboard then would we not just be increasing the amount of a different, potentially harmful substance released to the environment.

 

You are definitely making less of an impact whilst you are in the tiny minority of people polluting with acid, rather than washing liquid but if we all switched then you'd be among the polluters and the few people still using Persil would be the green minority.

[Tuscan]

I've bought one, cheap via Lakeland, seems like it might be less of a polluter to me even if it has generated plenty of hot air !

[carlt]

I've bought one, cheap via Lakeland, seems like it might be less of a polluter to me even if it has generated plenty of hot air !

Possibly less of a polluter if you discount open cast mining to get the Tourmaline and the fact that it doesn't use recycled plastic or rubber or the fact that those raw materials have to be shipped to China for manufacture then shipped here to be sold.

 

The ethics of a product produced using cheap Chinese and South American labour in notoriously unsafe working conditions in factories and mines that have scant regard for their "footprint" are also surely called into question.

 

If all that matters is the end user's contribution to the mess we make then it is indeed a green solution.

 

The problem with greenwash is that it escalates the damage that so-called "green" products create.

 

Look at Biodiesel, for instance. Once it was a harmless pastime that right-on greens did to lower their personal (negligible) impact on the environment but, once big business and governments jumped on the bandwagon we see rain forest cleared to produce palm-oil, low paid workers employed in appalling conditions and, as is always the way, poor countries turning food production over to biodiesel crops to supply the profit hungry developed world.

 

"Green" products are, in the main, only green because of the fact that few people use them but, if everybody who puts a drop of washing-up liquid or detergent down the drain switches to using "eco"balls and vinegar then the greens will soon be calling for action against the dirty polluters, just like their reaction against mass-use of biofuels.

[Tuscan]

You are right of course and I'm lucky I don't have your conscience and still sleep at night. I am buying it because it's cheaper than buying washing powder which is produced in environmentally friendly circumstances as we all know, uses less fuel in driving to and from the shop, less distribution costs as I will be buying less packets of powder, less storage on the boat, and a shorter washing cycle less power. Of course it could prove to be useless and I will go back to where I was before, no doubt recycling the plastic so it starts it's journey again.

[carlt]

You are right of course and I'm lucky I don't have your conscience and still sleep at night.

Nothing to do with my conscience.

 

My contribution to the destruction of the planet compared to yours is so small as to be irrelevant.

 

I don't particularly care about whether the tiny amount of pollution I cause is less or more than the tiny amount of pollution that you or anyone else produces I am merely commenting on the blatant hypocrisy of the greenwash manufacturers who make claims about their products that they simply cannot substantiate.

 

The products I use make no such claims and the tiny amount of the products I use contribute no more than the tiny amounts you use.

 

I don't actually use any detergent in my wash, btw, as I am aware of the placebo effect of the Eco ball and it would make no difference to the wash if I chucked a golf ball in or, as I actually do, add nothing at all.

 

I don't buy greenwash products because of their hypocrisy, not because they are more or less harmful to the planet.

Edited August 14, 2013 by carlt

[Tuscan]

I'm glad you have been able to accurately assess our relative contribution to the destruction of the planet sounds a very clever system.

 

On the hypocrisy point we are in agreement it's all around us

[Ships Cat]

 

You are right of course and I'm lucky I don't have your conscience and still sleep at night. I am buying it because it's cheaper than buying washing powder which is produced in environmentally friendly circumstances as we all know, uses less fuel in driving to and from the shop, less distribution costs as I will be buying less packets of powder, less storage on the boat, and a shorter washing cycle less power. Of course it could prove to be useless and I will go back to where I was before, no doubt recycling the plastic so it starts it's journey again.

Quite right, and I don't use as much water as I don't feel the need to do extra rinse cycles/allergy cycle in my machine to make sure the powder/liquid is truly out, since one of the kids itches with washing powder and none of us like clothes that smell of 'fragrance' when they're freshly washed. One of my kids can't walk down the washing powder or air freshener aisle in a supermarket without his eyes and nose running immediately and standing in a bus stop where someone's used a stinky wash medium or conditioner means we all have to stand outside, whatever the weather. That smell's left in the clothes - how are they clean?

I've now done lots of washing with mine, including three kid's stuff after camping/lake swimming for a week, and everything is coming out clean on all fronts, in fact, I've just done a month-long survey about my laundry and changed medium half way through and there's been no other difference to report!. If there is any sort of stain that I don't think it will shift - thinking turmeric, for instance I'll do what I've always done - take a bit of olive oil soap and rub it on the stain and then wash as normal.

And the girl's white school socks are impressively whiter than they were before I started using the EcoEgg. That I find hard to believe but the evidence is there in front of all four of us, and they noticed on their own, and wondered how I got them so clean.

As to the plastic recycling, round here we can recycle coloured plastic, it's made from recycled plastic too and will last for a very long time I think. You can buy refills of the minerals as top-ups so what's not to like about that?