[christopher_reality]

christopher_reality asked the Naked Scientists:
   
Hello,

Nice to hear you back on my radio.

Please can I ask, I have started to use whats called an Eco ball to clean my washing. It doesn't use soap powder or conditioner.

It does get my washing clean though.

How does it work?

Listening to the Naked Scientists on a Sunday is as important to me as my Sunday dinner.

Regards

Nicki from Norfolk

What do you think?

[Bored chemist]

Try just using water in the wash (without detergent) and see how well it works, then consider if the ball still has any effect that needs explaining.
I analysed one of these sort of things once and it was a plastic ball with some coloured water in it. I think it's a hoax.

[chris]

Well, of course the company could argue that the ball has some cleaning effect - by physically rubbing against clothes and causing the fabrics to deform around its surface. The significance of this effect to the overall clean, however, I'd agree is negligible.

Chris

[LeeE]

Sounds like a modern (and washing machine safe) version of pounding with rocks before the invention of detergents.

[Bored chemist]

I can see how the rocks work; the thing I looked at floated in water...