Have you been advised to use a dosing ball to measure out your liquid laundry detergent in your washing machine? You might be having a hard time finding such a tool!
Sadly, these helpful measuring devices aren’t readily available in every shop, so they can be hard to come by.
But instead of wasting time and worrying about dosing balls, here are some alternatives you can try out in the meantime.
What You Can Use Instead of a Dosing Ball
Tip: You must measure out liquid laundry detergent before you use it. Too little or too much detergent can impact how well your clothes are washed.
Option 1: Pour the liquid into the detergent drawer
If you don’t have a dosing ball at hand, you could pour your liquid detergent directly into your washing machine’s detergent drawer.
You can use the line in the drawer to guide you on how much liquid to pour in. And you can also follow the guidance on the detergent’s packaging.
In this case, you just add your dirty laundry to the washing machine’s drum, put the detergent in the drawer, and select the correct cycle.
Nothing else gets added to the drum! And you can skip the whole dosing ball idea.
Option 2: Use the lid on the detergent’s bottle
Some detergent bottles come with a measuring cap, and you can use this cap to measure out your detergent.
By doing this, you can pour the correct amount of liquid into the washing machine. In turn, you shouldn’t waste any cleaning product or use too little of it.
However, you might not be able to put the cap in the washing machine as you would do with a dosing ball.
Check the instructions on the package—sometimes it will recommend putting the cap itself in the washing machine drum, while other times it will recommend against this.
Option 3: Use a measuring cup
As a backup, you could use a regular measuring cup to measure out your dose of detergent. You could then add the detergent to the washing machine.
You cannot put the measuring cup inside the washing machine because it won’t be able to withstand the heat and pressure of the machine.
But this option does allow you to accurately pour a measure of liquid laundry detergent so you’ll be able to clean your dirty washing effectively.
Just check the label on the liquid laundry detergent’s packaging and only pour the dose stated in the instructions!
In addition, make sure you wash the measuring cup out after you’ve used it! You don’t want to start measuring ingredients for a cake only to find them coated in detergent – that wouldn’t be a chocolate sponge you’d want to feast on! Yucky!
Option 4: Use a measuring jug
A measuring jug works in a similar way to the cup method above, in the sense that you pour a measure (in ml) of detergent into the jug and pop the liquid detergent inside the washing machine.
In this case, you can either pour the detergent into the washing machine’s drawer or into the drum (make sure the detergent won’t stain any material beforehand).
And as mentioned above, you’ll need to read the instructions on the detergent’s packaging to find out how much of a dose you need based on the size of the load you’ve added to the machine.
However, you cannot put the actual measuring jug into the heart of the appliance because it won’t be able to withstand the heat and agitation that the machine throws at it (this is especially true if your jug is made from glass!).
Plus, the jug’s handle would catch on to the different materials and damage them!
When you’re done, you’ll need to rinse the jug out before you use it again.
Option 5: As a last resort… Use another kind of detergent
As a final option, you could always consider getting a different type of detergent if you’re not comfortable using the alternative methods above and you really cannot be without a dosing ball.
You could, for example, look into powdered formulas that come with a measuring scoop, pre-measured capsules, laundry sheets, and laundry balls.
If you were to buy capsules, for example, all you’d need to do is read the instructions on the detergent’s box and add the correct number of capsules to the washing machine’s drum.
You wouldn’t have to think about pouring detergent because the capsules are already filled with the correct amount of detergent for you. They’re arguably a far simpler and quicker alternative to liquid detergent.
Similarly, if you were to use laundry sheets, you could just add the correct number of sheets to the drum (based on how much laundry you’ve added to the machine), choose a cycle, and start the cycle.
There’s not much fuss involved, it’s cleaner, and you don’t have to buy extra ‘tools’ like measuring tools.
When treating stains…
It’s not unheard of for people to use the bottom of a laundry dosing ball to rub detergent into a stain to pre-treat it.
If you haven’t got a dosing ball, you can still pre-treat stains, but you’ll have to be a little more creative with how you apply your treatment.
You can, for example, use your hands to work the detergent into the blemish (pop gloves on) – this is the most straightforward way. Or you can use a soft toothbrush, a cap from a detergent’s bottle, or another soft surface like a cloth.
Do You Need a Dosing Ball to Use Liquid Laundry Detergent?
No, you don’t have to use a dosing ball to measure out your liquid laundry detergent. You can use any of the alternative methods listed above.
A dosing ball simply serves as a helpful measuring device that can be filled with liquid detergent and placed directly inside a washing machine’s drum.
It’s not an essential tool that you must have at home, though. There are other ways you can measure and add detergent to an appliance ready for a washing cycle.
It is, however, imperative that you measure your detergent out properly so that you use the correct amount of cleaning liquid in your washes.
As noted above, you can measure out a correct dose of liquid laundry detergent in several ways – choose the most straightforward method for you.
Why do you need to measure out detergent? In short, if you use too little liquid, your laundry may not be cleaned effectively.
In contrast, if you use too much liquid detergent, the detergent might not be washed off the clothes properly, and you’ll end up with a detergent residue on them.
Bethan has a passion for exploring, reading, cooking and gardening! When she’s not creating culinary delights for her family, she’s concocting potions to keep her house clean!
