The highlights:
What is it?: It's an egg made of reusable and recyclable plastic that you fill with these little beads and it replaces the bottles of washing powder/liquid and fabric softener
Cost: £9.99 for the egg itself and enough little cleaning and fabric softener balls for 70 washes
Does it work? Yes, but with it struggles with tough stains
Would I buy it again? Yes, definitely - although check out the update at the end of this post - in a year I have not had to buy any more of this because the same little egg is still going strong! Bargain for a tenner!
Other options?: None that I have seen like this Where to buy: I got it from here but I have also seen it on Amazon and in Dunelm on the highstreet and there are probably lots of other options if you give it a google
I love this little egg! It is a plastic egg that you unclick to open, pop all your beads inside (which are your washing powder and fabric conditioner) click it closed and chuck it in with your washing.
The beads inside the egg need to dry out for a day or so between wash days once you are done using it for the day, but I just pop mine on the windowsill and it does not look too bad...in fact it kind of looks like some sort of air freshener. It has significantly increased the amount of space under the kitchen sink as it replaces the big bottles of washing liquid and softener.
You know when to change the washing beads based on flipping the egg upside down and checking where the beads sit in comparison to a line across the egg.
Once the beads inside the egg drop below that line, you bin your beads and buy some new ones. The refills then come with 50 washes per refill and cost £4.99. The egg also comes with a 10 year guarantee, so no need to fear it falling to pieces within a few uses and having to buy a new one! Also, see the update at the end of this blog post re: saving money!
The down sides are as follows:
I ordered the one which was Spring Blossom fabric softener, but it is not particularly strong smelling, so I couldn't really smell it all, although this may be because I am so used to strong smelling fabric softeners. However, I like my washing to have a lovely just washed smell so this means I still have to top it up with softener, which is a bit disappointing, but I am on a hunt for a really good sustainable fabric softener, so will update this post when I find one with those details.
The cleaning part, whilst fine on everyday wear, struggled with stains such as mud or grass so that they needed pretreatment, which some washing powders would require regardless, I know, but I feel like this was more so the case than other washing powders / liquids I had used in the past.
You can only use the egg in washes with temperatures from 15 - 60 degrees C, so if you want to do a hot wash you will not be able to use this. That said, it works with the handwash option on a machine too, to that's an up side!
All in all I am impressed by this little egg; it does the job and takes up much less space under my sink than the bottle or boxes of washing powders and liquids I had before. Also, I love that it is reducing my carbon footprint which, if you've read any of the other blog posts on here, you will know is important to me. I won't be going back to other options now, so it must have impressed me well enough to impact on my buying choices - that in itself is indicative of a thumbs up from me!
UPDATE - I first wrote this blog in October 2021 and I am still using the same egg and beads now in September 2022! Talk about value for money! Sure I am only one person, but I still do at least 3 washes a week...I didn't realise it at the time of purchasing this, but this little egg has managed to save me quite a lot of money in the long run and in our current economic climate that is so important! Using normal washing powder or liquid I definitely would have had to buy more than one bottle in a year! Love this little egg!
With love
Rebecca
xxx
P.S. Please note that this blog post may contain affiliate links. When you click on the link and purchase the product, I receive a small commission.