Smart Sheep Brand Dryer balls |
Recently I have been hearing about an all natural dryer ball option made of wool. Wool would certainly be quieter than hard plastic and, I assume, gentler on clothing. They supposedly will help control static as well. Now I have always found wool to be a static-ridden material, so I am not thinking it will really control the static thing, but I don't really worry too much about static. I just use a tightly wadded ball of aluminum foil in the dryer to take care of that issue. So, the real issue is two-fold: 1) do the dryer balls actually help shorten the drying time of the load and 2) do they really help reduce wrinkling too.
I ordered two 6 packs of dryer balls from Smart Sheep via Amazon. The balls are a little bit larger than tennis balls. They are solid and felted, so the fibers will not shed onto clothing. The description on the Amazon site describes them as:
- Wool
- Set of 6 100% New Zealand Wool Dryer Balls
- Softens Laundry Naturally--- No Chemicals or Synthetics Used (great for those with sensitive skin & babies)
- Shortens Drying Time (use 3 balls for small/med load, 5-6 for large)
- Large, Handmade, Eco-friendly, Saves Energy
- Lasts for a Thousand-Plus Loads, Replaces Dryer Sheets & Liquid Fabric Softeners, Saves Money
If you like a scent in your dried clothing, you may want to consider adding a drop or two of your favorite essential oil to each ball. I use lavender. I like the clean fresh smell. Just a drop goes a long way, so start out with a single drop and then build up as your see fit.
I am going to test the dryer balls with two loads of laundry. They will be the exact same clothes just to keep the test samples equal. I will dry each the same and see which, at the end of the assigned time, is dryer and less wrinkled. Following the instructions, I will add 5-6 balls for any large loads and 3-4 for smaller loads. Since I only do large loads, I will be adding all 6 to the dryer. I will drop one drop of lavender oil onto 3 of the balls for scent. Here we go!
Test 1: Towels and a mattress pad cover: I chose to wash a mattress pad cover and set it in the dryer until the towels were washed. This way I would save energy and dry them together. Plus, this mattress pad has a high poly content which makes for lots of static.
Results: Drying time didn't seem to be any shorter, but static was non-existent! Whoot! The towels were nice and soft and there was no static cling of the mattress pad to the towels.
Test 2: Clothes: I washed and dried one load of darks and one load of whites.
Results: No sign of static cling. Drying time didn't seem to be any shorter, but the clothes smelled wonderful since I had added a drop of Lavender oil to three of the six balls.
Smart Sheep Dryer Balls |
Want a set of your own? I found the best price on Amazon here: Smart Sheep 6 Pack These are sold in a pack of six for $16.95 at the time I purchased them. I bought 2 packs since they were such a great price. The information from the company says they will last for over 1,000 washes. I figure I won't need to replace these for almost 5 years.
I love anything that helps me to cut chemicals out of the equation as well as helping me save money. What do you think? Do you use dryer balls?