Questions about ecological laundry/clothes washing

I happened to find Japanese or ceramic laundry discs on a site, where they claim you can use less detergent and have clean clothes. Since I have eczema and seasonal allergy, I would be grateful to know if they are found easily (I don't know of them in my country) and if there are "home-made" techniques to make them; does anybody knows exactly how to possibly make them? Are they effective? Thanks a lot

the site where I found their best description is : www.care2.greenhome.com