Gadget of the month: Biowash Ball

Washing your family's clothes is becoming increasingly expensive and it's not doing the planet any favours either. Completely soap-free, the hypoallergic Biowash ball (www.biowash.co.za, R395) is specifically designed for automatic washing machines and uses ceramic ionisation to clean your clothes. It needs no hot water and lasts for 1 000 washes or three years. Because it uses no detergents, the Biowash Ball produces grey water that you can drain into your garden.

The Biowashball is a unique device that removes the need for using detergent for washing your clothes and linen! This means that you will not need to buy detergent powder or fabric softener. It also means that the water from your washing machine can be used to water your garden without any risk of polluting the ground water!! What is more, when using a Biowashball you will not need hot water because cold water is all that is needed.

How does Biowashball work?

Inside the plastic sphere the different types of ceramics consist of TM or Effective Micro organisms which are beneficial to nature. It is these micro organisms which naturally promotes the decomposing of organic material and therefore helps our soil to re-energize itself and at the same time help to clean our groundwater system from pollution.

The ceramics have the ability to break the water surface tension so that water which is the solvent (natural cleaning agent) penetrate easily in between the fibres of laundry and can be effective as the cleaning agent.

The ceramics emits negative ions into the water which attach to the dirt particles which is a positive ion. This then get washed out during the washing process of the washing machine. Therefore this water can be recycled and is beneficial to our gardens and soil.

How does the Biowashball do this?

Drops surface tension of the water

Just as chemical surfactants found in detergents do, resulting in wetting of fabric fibres so that dirt can be removed.

Emit negative ions

Negative ions in the water attach to dirt particles (positive loaded) and make them easier to rinse out of the fabric.

Biowashball is hypoallergic

After washing with the Biowashball clothes come out of the wash really clean with brighter colours, smelling fresh and detergent free, with no trace of artificial chemical perfumes.

The absence of chemical residues also means the Biowashball is hypoallergic and is registered as a medical product in Switzerland.

The Biowashball is safe to use in any washing machine, front loader or top loader. A Biowashball can be used for 3 years on the basis of one 4kg laundry load per day. Expressed another way, each Biowashball will work effectively for about 1000 loads of washing.

For loads over 4kg, it is recommended that two Biowashballs should be used for best results.

Downside?

Hmm.. Can’t think of one! Except they can fall apart if you use them in high temperature washes too often. A maximum of 80 degrees is recommended by one manufacturer.

I don't use them with very low temperature washes (15 degrees or below) as they sometimes don't clean quite so well with cool water - so perhaps they don't score so well in terms of carbon reduction. A 30 degree wash is generally OK for most items.