@hchavers it may be weird, but it works.

@awk these do work. See my comment below.

@craigcush dont worry. Its so bullshit it wont leave any soap residue behind youd need to worry about.

@ColeSloth @craigcush It says it contains surfactants, so I imagine it’s like putting a squirt of dollar tree dishwashing liquid in the wash cycle and then another squirt in every rinse cycle. Plus some chunks of rock salt to simulate the pellets not dissolving.

@ColeSloth @craigcush this does work, I’ve been using it for more than a year and a half with no issues at all. See my comment below.

To be clear, this doesn’t contain soap.

@craigcush @haydesigner your post reads a lot more like an advertisement than a user opinion and youre stating company stuff that you also can’t actually know yourself, like the dark pellets lowering surface tension that helps the white pellets remove dirt.

It all sounds like a cut and paste from the company. I particularly like the bit about it containing no microplastics, while the entire thing is a plastic egg made to get tumbled around in the wash. Where do you think microplastics come from?

$5 says that if you used this up against just water, youll get the same results. The one big review I found that read like a normal person that had been using it said it didnt do well with stain removal and that they had to add softener to the loads because the egg didnt leave them smelling freshly washed as they liked. They still liked it though and had been using it for over a year.

@ColeSloth

your post reads a lot more like an advertisement than a user opinion and youre stating company stuff that you also can’t actually know yourself, like the dark pellets lowering surface tension that helps the white pellets remove dirt. It all sounds like a cut and paste from the company.

Because I did just and paste it? I mean, I even helpfully provided a link to the company page where I got it from.

I mean, I’m brainy, but I am no scientist… so I let them describe it. I’m just saying I have it and it works, unequivocally.

I particularly like the bit about it containing no microplastics, while the entire thing is a plastic egg made to get tumbled around in the wash. Where do you think microplastics come from?

Again, I am not a scientist, but I do know there are different types of plastics, and that some that are intended to “dissolve,” a la Tide pods. This egg is not the dissolving type.

(And by your logic, your existing detergent comes in a big jug of plastic… does that mean your washing loads are swimming in plastic, too?)

$5 says that if you used this up against just water, youll get the same results.

You’d almost certainly lose.

The one big review I found that read like a normal person that had been using it said it didnt do well with stain removal

I’m guessing that’s mostly true of all detergents
I mean, most people soak/pre-treat stains, so not sure why you’d expect this to be different?

and that they had to add softener to the loads because the egg didnt leave them smelling freshly washed as they liked.

Perhaps they bought the unscented? That’s what I have.

They still liked it though and had been using it for over a year.

And I’ve been using it even longer than that. And I also like it.

Honestly, it sounds like you’re going out of your way to hate on this for some irrational reason. Why not put some belief in the word of someone who has used this for a prolonged period of time, and is happy with it? (And has saved oodles of moolah.)

@Kyeh yes, and it is calorie free.

@OnionSoup AND gluten free.

@Alereon The egg comes with consumable pellets. You don’t just chuck the dumb egg thing in, you fill it each time. The product sucks because its pellet detergent with a completely pointless plastic doodad, not because it doesn’t contain detergent.

@winfield To be fair, their claims about no microplastics are probably a complete lie even if we ignore the fact that the egg thing is going to produce them like crazy with the pellets grinding around in there. I doubt they even attempt to exclude them from the production process, much less succeed.

@Alereon @winfield do you eat the pellets before or after doing the laundry

@winfield: You don’t just chuck the dumb egg thing in, you fill it each time.

Not true. You only fill it once. You do have to take it out of the machine each time, but that’s the extent of inconvenience of it. (I own this.)

@PooltoyWolf me* not my…didn’t catch that one until after the edit window.

@PooltoyWolf It’s fairly common. What is so vomitrocious about it?

@PooltoyWolf

Some people use fabric softener as a fabric softener, which apparently is some kind of scented wax or grease that gets put back on perfectly clean clothes (and the inside of washing machine).

But seriously I use vinegar with my kitchen towels. It’s food safe and the acidity helps rinse away the (alkaline) detergent residue. And maybe creates a more hostile environment for bacteria. It doesn’t smell that strong, you really have to stick your nose in the towels right after they’re washed. Citric acid works as well.

I don’t know if it softens the clothes, I haven’t noticed a difference. I suspect less detergent residue is what makes them softer for some.

@Telanis Not sure about you, but the smell alone of vinegar is enough to make me leave the kitchen if it’s being used. I would never want to take a chance of my machine, or worse, my clothes, even lightly smelling of it. Vinegar is an acid. In a washing machine, it might cause long-term damage over time to rubber seals and gaskets, and it’s likely to just rinse out of clothes rather than have any sort of beneficial effect.

I don’t always need to use a softener but when I do, you won’t catch me reaching for vinegar.

@PooltoyWolf @Telanis I use vinegar in my fabrics softener dispenser for almost every wash. There are so many benefits.

For one, I have a front loading machine, and the vinegar keeps detergent build up to a minimum. That reduces the gross smell that can happen with front loaders (I’ve never had a problem with the seal getting smelly ). Another think it does is set dye colors, so my bright clothing and jeans don’t fade as quickly (the down side is that vinegar can also ‘set’ a stain making it harder to get out…but that’s been rare). And I think that it acts as a mild sanitizer too, although I’m not positive on that one.

I mainly use it for the clean washer smell though. I don’t use a lot, and my laundry never comes out of the washer smelling like vinegar. I would never have tried it had I not read about it in a FB cleaning group years ago, lol! Now I love it!

@awk I agree…I haven’t noticed my clothes being softer because of the vinegar. I use wool balls in my dryer and I think they help soften the clothes more (and make them dry quicker too!)

*edited to add that I just read the above comment, lol! You are correct that too much can hurt your machine. Maybe I’ve been lucky, but after 12 years, my machine is still ok (lord I hope I didn’t just jinx myself! ). But yeah…if you don’t like vinegar, then you shouldn’t use it. It’s not like it’s magic or anything…it’s not.

@awk @k4evryng @PooltoyWolf @Telanis
And we might want to specify that the vinegar used is 5% white vinegar, which has very little smell even in the bottle. (No cider vinegar!) And it only takes about 3 ounces in the fabric softener cup for a load of laundry. It helps clear any remaining soap and prevents static. Wool dryer balls also help against static and let the fabric dry more easily. (Lowest dryer heat setting, because fabrics need to air dry, not be baked to death.)

@awk @k4evryng @rockblossom @Telanis I must be overly sensitive to the smell then, because we definitely use standard white vinegar to cook from time to time and I have to leave the kitchen when it is in use!

@PooltoyWolf That’s interesting! I sometimes use white wine vinegar (from grapes) in food, but I’ve only used distilled white vinegar (from grains, usually corn) for cleaning, laundry, and to kill weeds. Since none of those uses require it to be heated, I didn’t realize that it might be more odiferous when hot. The generic brand I use for laundry just has a faint smell of sweet corn which disappears completely in the washer.

@PooltoyWolf I totally get it! If it’s a scent that grosses you out, then no matter whether it’s faint or strong it’ll still be off putting!

Random vinegar story that you didn’t ask for :
I grew up going to Ocean City MD, where there is a French fry place on the boardwalk called Thrashers. They serve their fries with (apple cider) vinegar, and the scent hung heavy in the air for a good distance. The line was always super long, but I also remember hearing people say it was gross as they walked by, lol! But to me it was wonderful. To this day, the smell of vinegar reminds me of the beach…which is probably kind of weird.

@awk @k4evryng @PooltoyWolf @rockblossom @Telanis You’re not alone, white vinegar has a strong smell to me as well. I’ve been sensitive to scents for most of my life. I have to use scent-free laundry detergent, otherwise the small from the detergent will make me sick after smelling it on my clothes for several hours. (Tide is particularly awful, since it has a very strong scent.) I also can’t use cologne or scented deodorant. They’ll make me sick as well.

@awk @k4evryng @KevinS10 @PooltoyWolf @rockblossom @Telanis If vinegar wasn’t volatile, you wouldn’t smell it. But it is. And volatility increases with temperature for most such substances.

@awk @k4evryng @KevinS10 @rockblossom @Telanis I’m weird though, because I love the smell of diesel and kerosene…though I would NOT suggest putting those in your laundry! Haha

@awk @k4evryng @KevinS10 @PooltoyWolf @rockblossom @Telanis They do make this…
/image Deisel cologne

@awk @k4evryng @KevinS10 @rockblossom @Telanis @ybmuG Something tells me that doesn’t actually smell like hydrocarbons. LOL

@awk @k4evryng @KevinS10 @rockblossom @Telanis @ybmuG
@PooltoyWolf

diesel and kerosene

EWWWWW! I mean, I get it - you associate those smells with something you love, i.e. trains; but those are the kind of smells that make me feel ill. Or jet fuel - ugggggh.
(But I like the smells of printing ink and type wash, which is basically paint thinner, because I like activities that use those things.)

@awk @k4evryng @KevinS10 @Kyeh @rockblossom @Telanis @ybmuG Isn’t it funny how our brains work? See also: the scent of fresh vinyl! Heh

(Also, fun fact: jet fuel is basically kerosene. Just a more highly refined version of it. In fact, I use it in my kerosene heater!)

@awk @k4evryng @KevinS10 @Kyeh @PooltoyWolf @rockblossom @Telanis
Do you remember
/image smelling ditto

…papers

Stupid image bot

@awk @k4evryng @KevinS10 @PooltoyWolf @rockblossom @Telanis @ybmuG
Yes. We are officially old.
That’s actually a pretty accurate image!

@k4evryng @PooltoyWolf
I love, love, LOVE vinegar on my fries, I usually use it on the big steak fries, ketchup is used for the skinny McDonald’s and Burger Doodle/King size fries.
My mom introduced me to that when I was a little girl, she grew up in Massachusetts too, right on the border of Mass. and Providence RI.

Proof of ownership

@haydesigner If it’s supposed to be good for 210 washes, why do the pellets need to be replaced after 70?

@haydesigner @katbyter 3 refills per egg? Just spitballing here

@katbyter… @sagergen is right. There are more pellets than can fit in your egg.

@haydesigner @katbyter @sagergen I haven’t looked into it, but I’m guessing that the detergent fraction is encapsulated in a somewhat frangible matrix that gets abraded as the egg tumbles. It would be interesting to find out exactly what they’re using for that matrix.

@haydesigner @katbyter i’m assuming but 210/3 = 70 so i guess there are refills?

@MrMikenIkes I’ve been using it for a year and a half, and I’m still using the initial packet (haven’t refilled it yet), so I guess I might be on track for 4-4.5 years? (And this is 2 packs, so you’ll almost certainly get more than a year out of both!)

Of course, it is only me (and my son half the time), so if you are doing family loads it certainly won’t last that long. That’s probably why they list the number of loads as the big factor.

Also, 210 loads equals 4 loads a week for a year.

@MrMikenIkes I had the opposite thought. Even if it works as well as the company claims, it’s still slightly more expensive than 420 loads worth of using my regular detergent.

@brennyn I’m truly curious which laundry detergent you use!! Because our normal selection can’t even come close to the cost of the ecoegg!

@JWhirly Xtra. The 210 load bottles are typically $8.49.

It seems to be the same stuff as Arm & Hammer because the packaging, ingredients, and directions label are identical.

This is laundry voodoo. Hokum. Bunk. Hooey. Malarkey. Nonsense. Hogwash

Based on what?

@haydesigner A hunch, I’m guessing.

@haydesigner @kevo152 The lack of explicit “this is how and why it works” details has me doing a lot of headscratching as well. I am inherently distrustful of any black-box approach, be it household products, automotive tech, or most anything else. If they want to make me confident that it works, I need transparency about the process, not third-rate “Trust Us!” propaganda. So far, the only info that has been at all persuasive is the open endorsement from one of the other users whom I have no reason to think is being misleading. And even that gets tempered by the silent self-admonition that something which works well for one may be entirely unsuited to use by another.

@haydesigner @kevo152 really though, isn’t the whole “laundry” and “cleaning” industry just a bunch of?..

voodoo. Hokum. Bunk. Hooey. Malarkey. Nonsense.

Because what’s the smell of “clean”? Should be the absence of all odors/smells. But we’ve been led to believe that “clean” should have a “fresh” scent or an aroma of something else incongruent. But that’s just artificial fragrances going back onto things, most likely as a cover-up. So then is it still “clean”? As @awk said,

Some people use fabric softener as a fabric softener, which apparently
is some kind of scented wax or grease that gets put back on perfectly
clean clothes

Our modern living has a misguided notion as to what clean really is. Probably shouldn’t smell like a fresh meadow unless you’ve pulled a full Laura Ingalls.

@JWhirly “Fresh meadows” often smell like rotting vegetation and ruminant manure.

@awk @haydesigner @JWhirly @kevo152
I DETEST that “fresh scent!” I don’t want to smell artificial “meadows” or “ocean breezes” on my clothes and sheets and towels. Bleah.

@JWhirly @werehatrack
/image meadow muffins!

@JWhirly @werehatrack @ybmuG And then there are dried cow pies you can use as frisbees (which we have done when kids on the farm).

@JWhirly Ha! A foretelling? Stay tuned to see if ecoegg can handle a spill of the giphy!

@JWhirly agreed!
And thanks to @haydesigner for honest commentary.
/giphy pale-bumpy-firefly

Happy to help, @wooterondo… it isn’t often I’m able to give a hands-on review of something sold here, especially one that I’ve been happy with for a while.

@IAMIS There is typically enough residual detergent on fabric that has been washed with detergent to get through at least 1-2 washes without it. This is helped along by having something in the wash that rubs against the fabric (like, say, a plastic egg) to release the residue. There is also a simple mechanical action of knocking dirt out of the fibers that is involved. This combination of factors is the basis for the totally inert “cleaning balls” you’ll occasionally see advertised – rather than banging your clothes against a rock you are banging a rock against your clothes.

It’s not 100% clear to me whether this product is simply that in fancier clothing or whether one of the pills is actually some form of compressed soap. But the weird hand-waviness over what the product actually is (“minerals” can mean a lot of things).

@IAMIS @Sardinicus valid points. And disappointingly, too many washing machines removed the agitator (similar to banging against a rock) in favor of larger capacity. However, you’re starting to see a resurgence in said agitator because some are realizing its purpose in cleaning.

@IAMIS @JWhirly @Sardinicus This is why my 50-year-old Maytag got an overhaul this past year. I replaced various bits that were worn or worn out, and it’s pretty much working like new.

@IAMIS @JWhirly @Sardinicus @werehatrack I like the large capacity of my front loader, but I miss having an agitator. I do love my machine, and it does a good job, but I think next time I will go back to a large capacity top loader with an agitator because I just feel like they get the clothes cleaner. Plus…the whole front seal grime is gross, and I hate always having to make sure the door stays ajar so it doesn’t stink.

Using less water for the environment (like with a FL machine) is a good thing, but so is having plenty water to effectively soak and rinse the clothes. I’d love to find a happy medium!

@IAMIS @Sardinicus @werehatrack 50 years!! Quite impressive! I nursed a fellow Maytag washer for 22 years. It was a front-load. I replaced the front seal twice, out of necessity. Also replaced the rear drum bearings twice, partly out of necessity (we have really hard water that wreaks havoc) and partly for the challenge of doing it (all work done myself!). It’s more fun to tinker and repair than to buy new all the time! But finally was sick of fighting all such issues that come with the front-load and switched back to top-load with an agitator. Very pleased with that decision!

@IAMIS @JWhirly @Sardinicus @werehatrack I have a Kenmore washer and dryer. It is 41 years old. Only had to fix each once. Of course I was a family of 2 (although the kidling thought it was ok to use the washer for, oh say, 3 shirts.). Haven’t used it for the last 8 years due to no hookups where I live but I am hanging on to it.

@sarahsandroid I just looked up soap nuts and I’m intrigued!

@MrMikenIkes update: still no scent on the clothes at all but I will say this works just as well as the free and clear detergent I’ve used in the past. Stains that are truly set in will not come out like with the other one I’ve used but we had baked beans the other night and my kids got them ALLLLL over the clothes and the eco egg got them nice and clean and looking fresh again. Overall I give it a 9/10 because there’s no scent at all but otherwise it’s a winner. Happy I bought these