Eco-friendly detergent: great idea, disappointing at removing stains
Ecoegg is designed to reduce the amount of laundry detergent you use by relying on minerals as an eco-friendly alternative to liquid and powder detergents. I tested it out to see how clean it leaves clothes.
Less detergent with the same clean results: it’s an ambitious goal Ecoegg has set for itself. By using minerals, the washing egg claims to require less soap without compromising on clean laundry.
Sounds promising. Or simply too good to be true?
How minerals supposedly require less detergent
To help you understand the principle behind the Ecoegg, here’s how soap works in a nutshell. One reason soap gets things clean is that the surfactants it contains reduce the surface tension of water. This allows the water to penetrate the fabric fibres more effectively and wash out any dirt. At the same time, surfactants bind to fats and other dirt particles, dissolve them and prevent them from resettling on the clothes.
Ecoegg aims to support this process with the help of minerals, which are supposed to further reduce the surface tension of the water. This means that less detergent, and therefore fewer surfactants, end up in the water, even at low water temperatures. It’s an exciting promise, and quite a bargain at just over 15 francs for 70 wash cycles.
The additional minerals are provided by so-called tourmaline pellets, which are put in the Ecoegg along with the detergent pellets. To date, there’s little evidence to prove their effectiveness. It appears that minerals have been known to slightly reduce the surface tension of water. However, further studies are needed to determine whether this reduction is sufficient to significantly lower the amount of detergent you need.
But even without the effects of the minerals, the Ecoegg could still be an eco-friendly alternative, since the product contains detergent. I put it to the test to find out if it leaves my clothes nice and clean.
Decent results at 40 degrees
For my first test, I have a go at washing my sportswear. It’s slightly sweaty, but by no means smelly. A worthy opponent to start with, I find. The white detergent pellets and black tourmaline pellets are included with the Ecoegg. Once the pellets have run out, you can get refill packs.
I pour the white and black pellets into the egg, place it on top of my laundry, and only partially fill the drum with clothes so that the egg can move around. I set the washing machine to 40 degrees as usual.
Fast forward one hour and I take my laundry out of the washing machine. The clothes look clean, smell fresh and are only lightly scented. The fragrance is a little too faint for my taste, but that could be an advantage if you’re sensitive to smells. I sniff the areas that are particularly prone to smelliness and detect a neutral odour, which is a good sign.
No effect at 30 degrees
The second test at a lower temperature doesn’t go so well. One of my jumpers contaminated the other clothes with its musty smell. The fragrance? Mouldy rags instead of fresh linen. So I had to put all the clothes back in the washing machine. After the Ecoegg failed me at this temperature, I went back to my regular detergent for this cycle. I assume that the sweater absorbed too much water, which is why the Ecoegg wasn’t able to release enough detergent. My takeaway from this failed cycle: If an item of clothing is overly dirty, you’re going to have to wash everything again.
My semi-analytical test
I want to know how well the laundry egg handles heavily soiled items. To achieve this, I smear barbecue sauce and a dash of olive oil on two white, worn-out socks. Ecoegg recommends treating stubborn stains in advance, so I start by treating the second stain on the top of the foot with gall soap.
I wash the first sock along with the laundry egg on a 40-degree sports wash cycle. I wash the second sock the same way, but without the laundry egg, just with water.
The result is sobering: Despite using different washing methods, the socks look practically the same. The oil and sauce stains are still there. This applies both to the sock that was washed with the Ecoegg (shown on the left in the picture with a paper clip and to the one that was washed only with water.
This raises some questions:
- Does the detergent in the Ecoegg have any effect at all, or did the water do all the work?
- Does the laundry egg release small amounts of detergent into the water until the end of the wash cycle?
- Would it work if I replaced the white detergent pellets with washing powder?
- Is it really environmentally friendly to dispose of tourmaline pellets in your general waste? After all, their exact effects on plants and animals haven’t been tested.
The laundry egg remains an experiment based on a nice idea that’s far from being a revolution. You could use it to wash clothes that aren’t sweaty or stained, but the Ecoegg isn’t about to replace my regular detergent. This would only be the case if it delivered satisfactory results at low temperatures, too. A better alternative to regular laundry detergent might just be the laundry strips from Bluu, which are popular in the Community.
In a nutshell
Not the laundry detergent revolution I’d hoped for
Pro
- Only uses very little detergent
- Good price
Contra
- Ineffective on stubborn stains or odours
Painting the walls just before handing over the flat? Making your own kimchi? Soldering a broken raclette oven? There's nothing you can't do yourself. Well, perhaps sometimes, but I'll definitely give it a try.
