Washing with laundry balls and soap nuts isn’t new but these detergent-free methods continue to have a loyal following so we decided to take a closer look at how well these products perform. We put 4 laundry balls and soap nuts to the test against 10 common stains.
Our test
For our test we used a front loader on a cold wash cycle. We followed each manufacturer’s recommendations for the number of laundry balls and amount of soap nuts for our 3.5kg test load. We also ran a wash cycle using only water and another using the recommended dose of Persil front-loader powder – one of the top performers in our laundry detergents test.
The results
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Wacky claims
One of the laundry balls in our test – the Miracle II Laundry Ball – is filled with “Miracle II soap and neutraliser” rather than pellets.
The small rubber ball with “209 rounded spikes” is sealed so none of the soap or neutraliser is released during a wash cycle, but its manufacturer claims it “emits a strong negative-ion field and breaks up water molecules so they can reach further into fabric and clean better”.
The manufacturer also suggests soiled or stained clothes may require pre-treatment and the addition of extra “Miracle II soap”. We only used the laundry ball in our test.
At $119 for a single ball, you’d expect it to work miracles. Become a paying Consumer member or log in to find out how it rated.
