Our washing machine never stops. Before Little I was born we averaged two loads a day and I have been told once or twice that I am OCD about my laundry. I always sort washing into eleven different loads:
1. Darks
2. Colours
3. Whites
4. Bedding
5. Towels
6. Little E colours
7. Little E whites
8. Delicates
9. Woollens
10. Football kit/sports gear
11. Jeans/denim inc. Little E's
I've always washed Little E's clothes separately for two reasons; I don't want the perfume, deodorant, hair gel etc from our clothes to pollute hers and it makes sorting the clean washing back into the right rooms so much easier. Now we have Little I she has her own load (mainly muslins and babygrows) which goes on every other day. So now we are in excess of 2 loads a day. As you can imagine we go through a fair amount of washing products! I'd say we are the perfect household to test out the Ecoegg range of laundry products.
The Ecoegg completes replaces normal washing detergent - no liquid or powder is required. You simply fill the egg with washing pellets which are scientifically proven to lift dirt and stains off your clothes as they bang against them during the washing cycle. You pop it in the drum with your clothes and let it do it's job. Don't overfill the machine as the egg needs room to work. You don't need to add fabric softener as the pellets soften clothes too but if you choose the fragrance free egg like me, you may wish to add fabric softener to give a nice smell to your laundry as the pellets do not fragrance the wash. Approximately every 50 washes you need to replace the washing pellets but they can easily be bought from Tesco or online.
We only use non-bio washing products because Little E and I have sensitive skin. The Ecoegg is fab because it doesn't contain chemicals so it is super sensitive and the fragrance free version is approved by the National Ezcema Society and Allergy UK. This means I am confident washing Little I's clothes with it. It is super cost effective too. I was sent the 720 wash pack which is approx 3yrs worth of washing for the normal household (2years if you are OCD like me). At £20 that makes it less than 3p a wash. And if that wasn't enough the laundry egg case is guaranteed for ten years! Huge financial saving plus you are helping the environment by using less packaging and expelling less chemical pollutants in the waste water.
What did we think? Well, mixed results. The lightly soiled clothes were cleaned really well and I was especially pleased with how our purple towels came up but it wasn't as effective on the whites or stained toddler/baby clothes. The whites looked dull after a couple of washes with the egg and really lost their brightness. The tough stains I pre-treated with the Ecoegg stain remover which uses minimal chemicals but often the stains (especially the exploded nappy vests) did not come out. When I repeated the wash with my usual detergent it worked.
So to sum up I will be using the egg on my general, coloured and dark washing but will be reverting to my usual non-bio detergent and stain remover for whites and stubborn stains. It will save us a lot of money as the majority of our washing will be cleaned with the egg.
One product I particularly liked are the Ecoegg detox tablets. They are clever little chaps. Because the Ecoegg doesn't use chemicals the smells from the build up in your machine aren't masked and you start to notice it more. One of these tablets cleans your machine for six months, ridding it of unpleasant odours. I really noticed a difference to my machine after using these.
The Ecoegg 720 wash pack, £20, Ecoegg stain remover, £3.99 and Ecoegg 6 detox tablets, £3.99 can be purchased from Tesco, Lakeland or online.
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