Dryer Balls c/o Woolzies
Energy waste has been a pretty hot topic the past 10 years or so. From CFL light bulbs and timers to better insulation and energy efficient appliances, many people have jumped on the energy reducing bandwagon. The government even gives you perks for some your efforts! Saving energy is one of the most popular facets of ‘greening’ your home.
When we moved into our house, I nearly choked when I saw our first electric and gas bill. We have the same lamps and small appliances as before, but the combination of having a washer and dryer of our own finally, and running a window air conditioner has been a hard pill to swallow bill-wise. I cannot control the weather, heat and humidity, but I can reduce what we use for our laundry. I decided against HE machines for reasons from past experience. Instead we have a cheap and simple gas clothes dryer. Our gas company charges A LOT for transferring gas to our home. In fact our city has been talking about bringing the gas and electric into internal management. Since I cannot hang very many clothes on our clothesline outside (small area!), I still need to use a dryer. One way to make it more effective is with dryer balls! Specifically wool dryer balls like Woolzies.
There are plenty of plastic balls for your dryer on the market, some people even use tennis balls, but often these versions can leach chemicals when they reach high heat. Plus, plastic balks often cause even more static. since so many of us are trying to reduce the plastic in our lives, why not go with wool?
Wool is a great material for dryer balls since it is renewable, natural, and absorbent. Wool can absorb up to 30% of its weight in water so as the balls aerate your clothes they also absorb a lot of moisture from your fabric. Depending on how many balls you use, you can reduce your drying time by anything from 20% to half. I know if I add 12 wool balls to my diaper loads, they dry in less than half the normal time on low heat. Dryer balls also gently pummel your fabric, softening it. This is great for hard water. You can also add drops of essential oils to your balls to add a light scent and even cut down on static.
This is helpful in that I would can:
- Dry on low (save energy)
- Dry in half the time (save energy)
- Forgo dryer sheets and fabric softeners (fewer chemicals and expenses)
Not only am I using half the energy to dry clothing , I can skip the chemical laden softeners and dryer sheets. We don’t have a water softener since we are on city water, but our water is pretty hard. When I line dry our fabrics it is beneficial to pop them in the dryer for just 5-10 minutes on low with a dozen dryer balls to soften up our crunchy fabrics.
I only wish I Had used wool dryer balls like Woolzies when we gad to use coin operated dryers. Having to add more quarters because there was no room in a tiny apartment to line dry was simply painful.
Woolzies wool dryer balls are especially nice since they offer a lot of “ball” for your buck. You can get a six pack of Woolzies dryer balls for $35-$36 which is around a dollar less per ball than most brands. Also, as you can see in my picture below, Woolzies are much larger than most other brands too, so they work even better!
Since they can save you time on drying, charges on your energy bill, and save you even more money on softeners and dryer sheets without chemicals, I would suggest anyone consider using wool dryer balls for their laundry needs. Wool dryer balls are even safe to use on cloth diapers. They work great with heavy loads of jeans or towels. My only caution would be for laundry loads consisting of delicate fabrics. Dryer balls can cause pilling on some fabrics. I also don’t use them with our Smartwool items since they rough up the fabric. Otherwise, I love adding a dozen wool dryer balls to most of our loads. It is amazing how dry a large load can get in 20 minutes on low!
Woolzies are hypoallergenic for people with wool sensitivities and chemical free. They can last up to 1000 loads. made in New Zealand.
*Dryerballs c/o Woolzies.
We have a couple dryer balls, but could use more. I love how big these ones are!
We would love to have dryer balls especially now that we are going into the yucky weather season and can’t line dry outside!
I would love to give these a try! They look awesome!
I would love to try some wool balls to cut down drying times!
We love our dryer balls. They are awesome at getting things dry quicker.
I have been using dryer balls recently, and would love to get some wool ones!
Have been dying to try these. I need to check if our local laundromat is cool with me using them first.
I have 6 dryer balls in my dryer. I would like to try some with some scent and not use dryer sheets.
I’d love to try them!
These look wonderful! I love that they reduce drying time! I would also love to throw my prefolds in after drying most of the way on the line to get them softer for my little ones! These look great I would LOVE to try them!!
I love our dryer balls and need more! In addition to being useful… they are really fun to throw at each other! (Or put some in a big metal bowl and let my baby play with them)
My kids love playing with them! And since they are soft, i don’t have to worry about them breaking anything. 😉
I am willing to give them a try if they cute your time and get done in 20 mins I will try them thanks for the review
I have only 2 now, and need more! These are great!
I love using dryer balls for this reason. When I throw 6-8 in a load of jeans, I pay 25 cents less than when I don’t use wool dryer balls.
I have stopped using dryer sheets for some time time now. I love that the dryer balls help reduce drying time and are safe for cloth diapers.
I love these dryer balls! They work great and then my kids play with them when I’m done using them!
I like dryer balls because they reduce the amount of dryer time.
I will be getting mine in the mail any day I hope so we will see if they really work I no all of you say they do but I like to see for my self
I would really like to try some wool dryer balls. Winter is coming and our electricity bill always goes up. So I’m constantly on the look out for ways to save. I think these would be a great start!
I never heard of these until just recently. I’ve been using plastic dryer balls because I’m sensitive to fabric softener, but wool makes much more sense–safer and more natural.
I use a different type of wool dryer balls and would like to see how these ones compare. I like the well felted look of these.
These sound great! I would love to get some of these!
I would love to try some dryer balls and decrease my drying time!
I really need to get some of these! Our dryer needs some help!
i am very impressed that they cut dry time by so much! i thought they just helped soften clothing!
Woolzies definitely cut drying time. All my drying times have been cut down by 15 minutes with my dryer balls.
I love that I can dry my loads faster now with dryer balls. I want to get some more and start giving them out as gifts!
I have been trying to win dryer balls forever! well, it seems like it anyway… I think they are genius and I love saving money and TIME! The dryer always seems to take so long…. Thanks for the post and great info! Makes me want to have them more!
I can’t wait to make the switch to wool dryer balls. We have several loads of dryer sheets left but once baby gets here we will be switching to the wool dryer balls no matter what. I love that they do not have all the added chemicals!
I love dryer balls. They really have made a difference in how long I use my dryer. I’ve also noticed that since I don’t use dryer sheets anymore my lint collector doesn’t get gummed up anymore.
I bought a set of these for my mom for christmas and she LOVES them! I’d love to try a set now!
I have really been wanting to try out dryer balls.
I’ve almost used my first set to the point that they are nubs. New baby = new balls!
i would love to get the chance to try these!
i love that they save on drying time and will save me money!
I had never heard about the pilling issue before. But good to know. I have a half dozen but now I’m thinking I need to get another half dozen. Drying a full load in 20 minutes!?! Loving that!
We DO use dryer balls, and I’ve noticed that they cut my baby clothes drying time in half! How awesome is that? They’re dry in just twenty minutes.
WIN!
We use cold water only, we hang dry whenever we can, but when we cant we use a dryer and it would be nice to have dryer balls of the wool variety. I hate static and I won’t use dryer sheets – ick.
I’ve never used dryer balls but I’d love to try them!
We don’t have any dryer balls. We actually tend to dry clothes on a rack to save energy costs. I like how the balls cut down on drying time and save energy.
in winter, we drape stuff over the radiators.
Wow! That is impressive drying time! I didn’t realize people used that many in one load, I had hoped to purchase just two of them! I wonder how much noise they make.
Is your dryer on the same floor as your living area? I can here the thunder drumming of the balls in my dryer through the floor if i am in the room right over the laundry room. on the plus side, I know when it finishes the cycle!
I have 8 small ones now and I think I need a few more to really get the benefits!