We have the ecoballs, and I agree that I'm not sure they do much more than just water would. On the other hand, they are fine for normally dirty things (towels, shirts, undies, even muddy gardening clothes). One day I should do a control of a load with balls against a load with just water! You need to use a short, low temp., economy cycle with them. I've had a lot less eczema-type problems since I stopped using normal washing-liquid (I've never been able to tolerate softeners; since I was a baby they'd bring me up in a rash). Occasionally I'll do a load of cleaning rags with normal detergent on the hot cycle, which seems to help keep the machine clean, though. We are in a hard water area, and using a new-ish side-loading machine, for comparison purposes.