My money saving tip to Jumbletown is washballs! I bought eco washballs at Christmas. You use them instead of washing powder. I have found them very good for washing all types of clothes except whites. I continue to use washing powder for whites as the wash balls contain no bleaching agents so the whites appear dull. If you have obvious stains you are better to pretreat but I got into the habit of doing that years ago! I find them excellent and at €37.50 see
www.ecoshop.ie, I haven't needed to top up the balls with refills given yet - washing for a family of 4. The other brilliant thing is they are very good at prolonging the life of your clothes as they do not wash out the dye and also they are good for people with allergies. I have found less need to iron and you can shorten the wash cycle thereby cutting on water consumption win win!!! I bought my Mother some for Christmas and she too is delighted with them.