Magnets for clothes washing?

[RollerCoasterMama]

My sister in law's friend sent a link a while back about these magnets she's been using in her washing machine---eliminating the need for regular detergent completely--just clothes, water, magnets, and occaisionally stain treatment. I thought they sounded interesting, but they're about $50 (granted that's a lifetime investment) and I wanted to see if I learned anything else about them before trying something like this. As we try to make small improvements in our lifestyle, I keep going back to the thought of those magnets.

One of their big selling point was eliminating the need for chemically based detergent, so I thought maybe someone here had tried them? Just curious.

Thanks!

[hibana]

How are they supposed to work? I don't get it.

I do know that the vast majority of clothes will come clean from just plain water-washing. Unless something has sweat or B.O. on it, or something oily or greasy, you can run it through a rinse cycle and it will come out fine.

[RollerCoasterMama]

Originally Posted by hibana

How are they supposed to work? I don't get it.

I do know that the vast majority of clothes will come clean from just plain water-washing. Unless something has sweat or B.O. on it, or something oily or greasy, you can run it through a rinse cycle and it will come out fine.

I'll go look for the link again. In theory, they're specially calibrated to enhance water's ability to disolve the dirt. Just taking what you just said about plain water-washing and giving it a little oomph. My one concern was that the reviews all said how soft the clothes came out and I'm wondering if the magnets are breaking down the fabric more quickly? Not that it REALLY matters---I don't exactly have heirloom clothes or anything! But if we could use the magnets in the washer and just throw in a couple felt balls into the dryer, that would at least make one part of our housekeeping green! (I can't line-dry---not an option according to our association even if there were room on the tiny deck.)

[RollerCoasterMama]

http://www.lifenatural.com/laundry.htm

This is the set my sis in law's friend tried. A random google looked like there's more than one company doing these now. I didn't look closely at any others.

[peacefullone]

has anyone ordered and tried these?

[RollerCoasterMama]

Originally Posted by peacefullone

has anyone ordered and tried these?

When I didn't hear anything, I did some more online googling...turns out it's most likely a waste of $50. No better at washing your clothes than just swishing them around in water for a half-hour.

[peacefullone]

I found this site here:
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art53656.asp

she sounds like she likes them

[RealityBeliever]

If adding magnets to your wash was REALLY going to somehow make water dissolve dirt better ... the magnetic field form the motors that ALREADY power your machine (by magnet fields!) would already be doing that.   Don't fall for another scam (even if some of the sellers really do believe in their product).  Save your money.