Message-Id: <v01510100b00eb68f9b0d@[205.134.245.84]>
Date: Wed, 6 Aug 1997 15:19:25 -0800
To: pinhole@exploratorium.edu
From: bcomet@sirius.com (Burt C. Kessler)
Subject: Re: laundry globes
Consumer Reports tested these laundry discs, not globes at that time, last
year. They found that they clean no better than plain water.
Burt K.
>re the question about the laundry globes (see the end)
>
>Curt Gabrielson's great Aunt asked him about these over a year ago.
>Curt got several to experiment with.
>They seem to be filled with rocks.
>
>Placing them in water we measured known properties of water that would
>cause clothes to get clean:
>They did not change the surface tension of water as soap does.
>They do not change the pH of water.
>They do not change the dissolved oxygen concentration as one of the
>manufacturers claimed they do.
>
>Scientific double blind experiments need to be conducted.
>Use a laundry ball for 100 washes until it is well along in its life.
>Wash dirty clothes in plain water,
>wash dirty clothes with the laundry ball.
>Wash dirty clothes in soap.
>ask a panel of judges to rate the cleanliness of the clothes (they must not
>know which load was washed in which product.
>repeat a scientifically valid number of times.(In physics this means until
>the results are good to 5 standard deviations.)
>i.e. thousands of times.
>
>Since the likelihood that the laundry balls actually work any better than
>plain water is low. No one is willing to conduct a scientifically valid
>series of experiments.
>The manufacturers know this.
>Does any one know of a consumer reports study or one by a similar organization?
>
>Paul D
>
>>Pinheads,
>>
>>I just spoke with someone who is thinking about buying a laundry ball
>>(or "Super Globe"). They asked me if they should buy one.
>>
>>Laundry Balls are disk shaped plastic containers filled with white
>>pellets. You drop it in your wash machine and it’s supposed to clean
>>your clothes without detergent. According to the advertisement the
>>device acts as a "dirt magnet" and will last for several thousand
>>loads, but they cost around 50 bucks.
>>
>>Here's a quote from http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/2392/ls.html
>>
>>"The Super Globe" activates your laundry water naturally through a
>>confidential process which changes the molecular structure of your
>>water. It forces the dirt to leave the fabric because dirt is positively
>>charged and "The Super Globe" is negatively charged, thus creating an
>>electronic release of dirt."
>>
>>I told her I had no idea how they work.
>>Anybody out there know of these things?
>>Are they just a rip-off?
>>
>>-Eric
"Whatever you can do,or dream you can,begin it. Boldness has
genius,power,and magic in it." Goethe