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---
  layout: post
  title: Does the Magnetic Laundry System work
  author: Joe Schwarcz
  source: McGill Blogs
---
  HYPERLINK
"http://blogs.mcgill.ca/oss/2016/07/25/you-asked-does-the-magnetic-laund
ry-system-work/"  You Asked: Does the Magnetic Laundry System work? 

  Magnets are fascinating. Imagine the amazement of the ancient Greeks
who discovered that some naturally occurring stones, later named
magnetite because they were found in a region of Greece called Magnesia,
attracted iron. The stones also quickly attracted superstitious beliefs.
Magnetite was said to have had magical powers, the ability to heal the
sick and frighten away evil spirits. Archimedes, in an undoubtedly
apocryphal story, is said to have used magnetite to remove nails from
enemy ships and sink them. Magnets never sank ships, but they were used
to guide them. We are talking about the compass.

Thousands of years ago the Chinese also noted the properties of
naturally occurring magnetite. When made into the shape of a needle and
floated on water, the magnetite always lined up in a north south
direction! By about 1000 AD, the Chinese had developed the compass that
became the key to navigation. But magnets have also been used to
navigate people away from reality. In the 1800s physician Anton Mesmer
had people hold onto magnetized rods to attract disease out of their
body. Mesmerism, as his antics came to be called, often worked. The
success of the treatment had nothing to do with the magnets, rather it
was based on the belief of the patient. Magnets are great placebos.
Today, magnetized bracelets can be purchased to energize the gullible.
And you can buy magnetic laundry disks for insertion into washing
machines to allow laundry to be done without the use of detergents. The
claim is that the magnets ionize water and thereby increase its cleaning
ability. Nonsense.

Advertising for these products often attacks commercial detergents
accusing them of containing cancer causing chemicals and hormone
disruptors. The claim is that the magnetic disks reduce health risks by
eliminating exposure to these substances while also saving money since
there is no need to purchase detergents. Furthermore, use of the disks
prevents the release of toxic substances into the environment. That all
sounds very “green.” References are given to a patent for the
laundry disks, as well as to a study supposedly demonstrating their
cleaning efficacy.

It is important to understand that the only requirement for obtaining a
patent is novelty. In this case, since nobody before had the idea of
putting magnets into a washing machine, the patent was not hard to get.
When it comes to the patent, there is no need to show that the magnets
actually do anything, just that their use in this context is novel. How
about the study carried out by a testing lab that examined the cleaning
efficacy? Technicians actually took bundles of clothes, washed them in a
magnet equipped washing machine and demonstrated they came out cleaner
than they went in. Surprise, surprise! Water is an excellent solvent and
cleans remarkably well even without any detergent. The “study” had
no control. That is, there was no comparison between laundering with
just water and laundering with the magnetized water.

Is there any rationale that the magnets can actually do something? Water
is diamagnetic, which means that it will be repelled by a magnet. But
the effect is very, very, small. If a vial of water is placed on a piece
of floating Styrofoam and a strong magnet is brought close, it will
slowly move away from the magnet. An interesting phenomenon, but nothing
to do with cleaning ability. But there is something about the
advertising for the laundry disks that is not contestable. They are
guaranteed to last for fifty years, a guarantee that is indeed safe
since magnets do not rot. That is more than what can be said about the
claims of their miraculous cleaning properties.

Joe Schwarcz PhD – July 25th/2016