any good? oxygen ions for washing £11 for 80 washes

[JWH]

Hi, recently in the saturday Times, i saw advertised a 'lakeland limited catalogue'; 'wash-it laundry ball' at £7.99 plus 2.99 postage. it says you can use it 80 times. apparently it causes the water molecules to release 'charged' oxygen and hydrogen ions which then attract the dirt so it ends up in the water.

the Times journalist says that it works well for her. (but she misses the smell of fresh washing, so she then adds a little fabric conditioner to give a clean washed smell).

does such a thing really work? obviously at £11 for 80 washes it could save a lot of money. is this a good thing to get please ? Or are there even better and/or cheaper versions of the same thing that are worth buying? thanks for any advice.

[Phil Anthropist]

According to reviews on the internet it does work although some people say it is not all that good with washing white items and does seem to have some problems with stains, hence the 'free' stain removal stick.

[Beloved Leader]

These are universally regarded as a hoax.

Water works as well.

[Phisherman]

No. These claims are false. You can follow the directions without the "magic ball" and get the same result. Soaking laundry in plain water will clean your clothes too.