Recently, my mother was given some oxy laundry balls. Link to product. This particular product is a rigid plastic ball with holes in it, inside are around 70 hard, rough 1 centimeter diameter balls.
It promises wonderful things, namely the ability to wash clothes without soap, using just this reusable ball. I was initially dubious about these claims, after all it is a bold. Naturally I wanted to know the science behind it. A google search unfortunately revealed a tangled mess of pseudoscience and hype, I had to search further.
My mother was similarly curious so used the balls to clean a few loads. The washing was surprisingly good, didn't smell of much at all. There were a few problems however as things like socks and armpits still had a faint smell. However, they appeared to be doing something. A solid explanation was needed. Some websites talked about raising the pH or turning the water alkaline. This gave me a few possible ideas. These balls could be an alkali and may dissolve slowly in the water to increase the pH. However, after a long test, I discovered they are not soluble in water, or atleast not in a way to significantly change the pH by entering solution.
The most compelling evidence of their use came from the name, the idea of oxygen. However much I believe in 'oxygens natural power of cleaning' I still needed more evidence or at least a reasonable explanation. Another google search revealed an interesting academic article on the affects of oxygenation of water. Please read it yourself but I will sumarise. 'scrubbing action' (turbulence on the surface) allows a large area for diffusion of air into the water. Obviously this will mean some oxygen gets dissolved into it. Water with a high amount of dissolved oxygen has some interesting qualities. Some metals and organic volatile compounds will oxidise and precipitate out.
The 'natural power of oxygen' is severly limited. Ruling out the supernatural, more higly oxygenated water is not enough to provide a complete wash. I can see no mechanism for the removal of fats or proteins that have become attached to clothes.
Verdict: there is insufficient evidence or even a plausible theory to suggest oxy balls could provide the same wash quality as soap/detergent, especially when dealing with fats and proteins. I suspect that normal water would acheive almost the same "oxygenated" results (tap water is naturally high in dissolved oxygen, even if it did make a difference). The burden of evidence is on the oxy balls to prove they work, rather than using fanciful scientific words which mean very little. IF water/balls for you achieves adequate results, perhaps the moral of the story is instead to use less washing powder.
Sources: myself (GCSE sciences, A level physics), Mountain Empire Community College
NB: if you notice a mistake, or can offer more information or expertise, please comment
It promises wonderful things, namely the ability to wash clothes without soap, using just this reusable ball. I was initially dubious about these claims, after all it is a bold. Naturally I wanted to know the science behind it. A google search unfortunately revealed a tangled mess of pseudoscience and hype, I had to search further.
My mother was similarly curious so used the balls to clean a few loads. The washing was surprisingly good, didn't smell of much at all. There were a few problems however as things like socks and armpits still had a faint smell. However, they appeared to be doing something. A solid explanation was needed. Some websites talked about raising the pH or turning the water alkaline. This gave me a few possible ideas. These balls could be an alkali and may dissolve slowly in the water to increase the pH. However, after a long test, I discovered they are not soluble in water, or atleast not in a way to significantly change the pH by entering solution.
The most compelling evidence of their use came from the name, the idea of oxygen. However much I believe in 'oxygens natural power of cleaning' I still needed more evidence or at least a reasonable explanation. Another google search revealed an interesting academic article on the affects of oxygenation of water. Please read it yourself but I will sumarise. 'scrubbing action' (turbulence on the surface) allows a large area for diffusion of air into the water. Obviously this will mean some oxygen gets dissolved into it. Water with a high amount of dissolved oxygen has some interesting qualities. Some metals and organic volatile compounds will oxidise and precipitate out.
The 'natural power of oxygen' is severly limited. Ruling out the supernatural, more higly oxygenated water is not enough to provide a complete wash. I can see no mechanism for the removal of fats or proteins that have become attached to clothes.
Verdict: there is insufficient evidence or even a plausible theory to suggest oxy balls could provide the same wash quality as soap/detergent, especially when dealing with fats and proteins. I suspect that normal water would acheive almost the same "oxygenated" results (tap water is naturally high in dissolved oxygen, even if it did make a difference). The burden of evidence is on the oxy balls to prove they work, rather than using fanciful scientific words which mean very little. IF water/balls for you achieves adequate results, perhaps the moral of the story is instead to use less washing powder.
Sources: myself (GCSE sciences, A level physics), Mountain Empire Community College
NB: if you notice a mistake, or can offer more information or expertise, please comment
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