A box of these UFO-shaped Eco Balls turned up in the post last week, so I switched off my snakeoil radar and started using them to wash my clothes. The balls apparently produce ionized oxygen which in turn causes a chemical reacton with water, thus removing dirt from your laundry. How they work is beyond my GCSE science, but work they do - at least in my experience - removing light stains and generally proving as effective as Ecover washing powder. For £35 and a claimed lifetime of 1,000 washes, they also compare favourably against £6 for a box of Ecover that'll manage about 25 washes. There are, however, a couple of caveats. The balls don't leave your clothes with a nice/unpleasant (delete according to your preference) washing powder fragrance and they also make a bit of a racket bouncing around in the machine (about the same noise level as washing a pair of trainers). They're available online from The Insight EcoStore.
From: BEST OF 2008: Eco-friendy and sustainable shoes