I started a “laundry capsule” thread a week or two ago after I could not find a search that would bring up Cecil’s “laundry ball” columns, which used to be accessible by the simple search “laundry balls”. Were they lost somehow during the recent revamping of the Archives search engine? I was able to find a copy of the columns offsite at http://www.worldwidescam.com/cecil.htm. Can anyone come up with an onsite search that will bring those columns out of the archives?
I can’t remember now if I ever saw the laundry column online. However, it can be found on pages 7-10 of Cecil Adams’ book «The Straight Dope Tells All».
You might be interested in also reading this Staff Report:
How do Downy laundry dispensers work?
I think alonicist is right about the column being online at one time. I always try an Internet search when the SD search function is slow or isn’t working right. A Google search for “straightdope” and “laundry ball” turns up a broken link: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/970926.html
Clearly it was online here at some point: Google’s Cached Copy.
That’ll get you the original column and illustration.
And “laundry balls” plural turns up another broken link.
Still, if you’re just looking for laundry ball info, Cecil’s not the only one who has the Straight Dope.
http://www.flimflam.com/scam12.htm
http://skepdic.com/refuge/laundry.html
http://www.choice.com.au/articles/a101284p1.htm
http://www.syntac.net/hoax/Laundry/index.php
http://www.stretcher.com/stories/971106a.cfm
And not surprisingly, the Soap and Detergent Association says they don’t work either. 
http://www.sdahq.org/sdalatest/html/lda/
Slight mixup, sorry. The laundry ball column should now be visible at http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_007b.html
Thanks, everybody!