I’ve recently received a number of emails wondering how the Laundry Ball and Zorb are performing after repeated uses.
The Laundry Ball: When I first received the the Laundry Ball I was amazed at its ability to remove odors. I could wash a load of diapers with nothing but Oxyclean and they came out smelling completely clean. I purchased the Laundry Ball in the beginning of July. 3 months later the Laundry Ball still remains in my washer for every load but I don’t think it is doing anything. It still has all the liquid in the ball it started with and looks just the same. But it isn’t helping with any odor issues. I received an email this morning from a reader who has had her laundry ball for less time than I and her ball is missing almost all its liquid. She has contacted the manufacturer, Renewal Enterprises, and is waiting to hear back from them.
My verdict: Not worth the investment. For $40 it needs to perform longer than a couple of months.
Zorb: I have not used Zorb for a long period of time but I will give you my review up to this point. My doublers are fully prepped and have been used 3 or 4 times beyond that. I am able to put one doubler in a pocket and it safely holds one pee. Paisley tells me when she pees so I am not sure how much more a single doubler would hold. Doublers are meant to be used in addition to the soaker present on a diaper. So using it alone will not be a substantial insert. However, I have been blessed to be a tester for Baby Be Blessed’s Zorb inserts. They are significantly more absorbent and will hopefully be fully tweaked and available soon. By doubling up the Zorb doublers I am able to feel confident when we are out shopping for the day and a diaper change may be delayed.
My Verdict: A definate GOOD buy! Zorb can be purchased directly from Wazoodle or doublers can be bought from Baby Be Blessed.
Please add you personal experience in the comments section. I love hearing how the products work (and don’t work) for families. If you have a product you’d like me to review please let me know. I love spending money in the name of research ;)
Autumn is a wife, mother, homeschool teacher, friend and most important a follower of Christ.
stephka says
hi autumn, i already wrote another comment today but that was before i discovered this post. first of all i am so thankful for all the information you do provide. thank you from the bottom of my heart.
i writing you because i am in the process of designing my own diapers (all-in-three, hybrid-able) and i need to sew inserts too. i tried so many fabrics but until now, zorb seems to be best. but, i have not long-term-used them. what do you say by now about them? would you still say bamboo is better? and if you have zorb inserts, are they really covered by another fabric on booth sides? i plan to stack a liner on top of two sheets of zorb. does this sound enough?
thank you a lot for answering my questions in advance. thank you, really, even if you dont find the time to answer, for all you did for me without even knowing of my existence! you rock for cloth diapers!
Autumn Beck says
i wish i could help! i would recommend finding a wahm that makes diapers using zorb and pick their brain. most wahms i’ve spoken with are more than happy to help! maybe ask on a page like this https://www.facebook.com/DiaperSewingSupplies
Tara says
I’m researching what to use to make new inserts for my fuzzi bunz my main concern with Zorb is the durability how long will it last and will it have stink issues down the road like microfiber does?
Autumn Beck says
Kris, I am skeptical but please let us know in 3+ months how it still performs. My skepticism comes from my experience with the Laundry Ball.
Kris says
My discovery: Green Wash Ball—a no detergent laundry ball!
Let me tell you about my latest discovery. I was ease dropping on two very chatty women in line at the local market the other day. They were discussing a new way of doing laundry- a non detergent laundry ball! They mentioned that this “ball” changed their laundry lives. What a cheaper, greener alternative to doing laundry? I was extremely skeptical. How can a plastic ball without detergent clean my clothes? The concept to me was unreal!
I decided to take the women’s advice and take one home instead of my usual (heavy and not so eco-friendly) detergent. What the heck? I’ll try it out! In the long run, if this thing worked I would be saving some money. Who isn’t up to saving money in this economy?
That same evening, I started a load of my husband’s grimy gym clothes. I was bound and determined to prove the ladies from the market wrong. The outcome was amazing and against anything I have ever believed! The Green Wash Ball cleaned the gym clothes I think cleaner than I have ever seen! Okay, so the product worked for the gym clothes but I was still not 100% sold. I then tried my one year old’s formula covered, foul and dirty laundry. At this point, the product cleaned the clothes beyond my wildest dreams! I was blown away! Whatever the technology behind this little Green Wash Ball was- it worked and I was sold and amazed!
Today when I go to the market, I will be the one running around talking to any woman that would listen about this new way of doing laundry. Hopefully, I opened some skeptical housewife’s eyes to my new discovery. Please, check the product out- it changed my laundry life! In over one year the ball will have saved me over $100!
Crys says
Now that I have been doing this a bit longer, I should update what I wrote earlier. I have also used microfiber now, and it seems to work just as well as zorb, but is thinner. microfiber is cheaper and also easier to get a hold of. They sell it in the automotive section at places like Target. All in all I like the zorb, it has held up well, but I like Microfiber a little better.
Autumn Beck says
In order for Zorb to withstand washing it needs to be sandwiched b/w two materials. When that is the case it can be against the skin. The doublers I have are b/w bamboo. I put them against Paisley’s skin if using them as doublers.
Anonymous says
I’d like to know your thoughts on using microsuede rather than the bamboo to sandwich the Zorb. Do you think it would work just as well?
Do you use 1 layer of Zorb or 2?
I saw that Amazon sells “zorb” at a better price and I wonder if it is the same as Wazoodle’s. What are your thoughts on that?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001Q8IXNQ/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER
Ashley says
is it okay if it is in contact with skin? everyone seems to be using it as an insert for a pocket or as a doubler. I need to make more inserts for my dipes, but the insert is up against the skin in our diapers. I don’t want to use it if that is the case!
Michelle says
I was on the fence about buying a laundry ball. I think I’ll wait a little longer now.
Krysta says
I am a WHAM that is licensed to sew Little Comet Tail patterns and I recently switched to using Zorb in all the diapers I sew. LCT patterns are very narrow through the crotch and I have to cut soakers narrower than most, so absorbency for the thickness of the material is really important. I did tests measuring the absorbency and was blown away. It even outperformed the same thickness of microfiber without the compression issues.
So then my sister and I tested it and we both fell in love. If we do two inserts of one layer of Zorb sandwiched by bamboo fleece we get at least four+ hours out of our diapers. My sisters contour soaker in a large size pocket was still not totally saturated after 6 hours. Not that we leave our kids in dipes this long, but we had to test right.
I was really hesitant to try Zorb, but I am oh so glad I did. You won’t be sorry if you try some…I have yet to see someone say it didn’t live up to their expectations.
Happy diapering…
Crys says
I have only been cloth diapering for about a month now and am using pocket diapers and inserts I made myself. My inserts are made of 3 layers of zorb with flannel on the outside and have held up very very well to my heavy wetting 2 year old. I did a very unscientific absorbency test comparing just one of my inserts to a pampers and the disposable only held about 8 more tablespoons of water than the insert. I would imagine if the insert had been in one of the pocket diapers it would have held at least as much as the disposable. As far as cloth diapering goes, I have only used these, so I have nothing to compare it to, but the zorb really pulls liquid in and keeps it away from my daughter’s skin. I usually can’t tell if her diaper is even wet until I pull out the insert. I am thinking that maybe 2 layers of zorb would have been plenty for anyone else who decides to make their own.
Rachel says
My concern is not the absorbency of Zorb, but the overall durability. How does it do after about 3 or 4 months of washing? I wash every other day. I use pockets and g diapers and I would love to find out that Zorb is very durable. I would be happy to be a tester, but other than that I will wait until it has been out long enough to stand the test of time so to speak.