eco-scams.com

After finding out about EcoBalls, a friend pointed out to me that there were a number of similar magnetic laundry scams. For example the Life Miracle Magnetic Laundry System, but there are many man others. And, of course, there is Ecozone’s Magno Ball, which in all fairness claims to soften the water thus reducing to need for detergents rather than replacing the detergent, but bullshit none the less.

Magnetism being used for washing clothes has been thoroughly debunked over the years. This guy went as far as to purchase a pair of Life Miracle’s Laundry System’s balls in order to test them – surprise-surprise, he found them to be totally ineffective. He did, however, mange to annoy Life Miracle enough to get them to respond which is considerably more that I tend get from these people. Well worth a read also is his response to their response. in which he pretty much proves that Life Miracle know their product does not work, which makes them not foolish but fraudsters.

Magnetism in relation to water softening (magnetic water treatment, or MWT) as in Ecozone’s Magno Ball, has been almost totally debunked too, but the idea still manages cling on by it’s fingernails. (the following list was taken from here and altered a little)

• Most of the reports (and there have been many) of the successful use of MWT have been anecdotal and lacking in quantitative data and proper controls.
• Most scientists who have looked into MWT remain very sceptical.
• Most water-treatment engineers who have investigated magnetic water treatment (MWT) in controlled industrial settings report negative results.
• There are very few scientifically validated reports of successful MWT installations in the mainstream scientific and engineering literature.
• Many of the reports supporting MWT seem to be in rather obscure journals and conference proceedings.
• Manufacturers of MWT devices commonly offer simplistic or scientifically untenable explanations of how these devices work.
• Although MWT appears to be effective in some cases, closer study often reveals that other factors (such as pH change) could account for the improvements that might otherwise be attributed to MWT.
• Commercial promotions of MWT devices tend to make excessively optimistic claims without offering credible supporting performance data.
• When they do offer “case-studies”, they are rarely thoroughly researched to engineering standards, and are frequently difficult if not impossible to verify.