Celebrating Wool Dryer Balls

Published by

Peggy Rowland

February 1, 2011

I’m happy to say that the wool dryer balls from Rockin’ Green do actually rock! After the disintegrating Nellie’s dryer ball experience, I’m relieved. I also gave Rockin’ Green’s detergent a whirl, so look for that review coming up soon. (Disclosure: I received free detergent samples and a couple of dryer balls from Rockin’ Green.)

What I love about the wool dryer balls available from Rockin’ Green:

Produce minimal noise. The softness of these balls makes the low noise level possible. I found Nellie’s balls to be super loud compared to these.
Soften fabric. You can skip fabric softener and still end up with soft clothes. That saves you money and helps prevent waste. Since using liquid fabric softeners may interfere with the absorbency of cloth diapers, these dryer balls are extra handy for mothers.
Handmade in USA with 100 percent wool. Plain and simple!
Wool stays off clothes. For the most part, the wool is staying on the ball, not clothes, though I’ve found a rare strand of wool on a towel.
May be OK for allergies. I’m not a doctor, so I can’t guarantee these won’t bother you. Wool typically makes me itch and sneeze, but these balls haven’t bugged me.

Some things to consider when trying out these dryer balls:

Some static remains. The wool dryer balls will help reduce static, but you’ll still experience static on some clothes.
They go exploring. You might have to hunt down a ball or two when emptying the dryer. Often, they’re just hanging out in easy sight, but I sometimes find a shy ball inside a sleeve.
They’ll pick up lint (pictured ). Not that it’s a problem, but when you dry a new fabric, you’ll find some lint from said fabric stuck on the dryer ball. However, you don’t have to pick it off. It falls off itself later on and makes its way into the lint trap.
Pilling occurs. This is natural, but some materials like Velcro may cause worse pilling.

But do they reduce drying time? Word around the Internet is that the more dryer balls you use, the lower your drying time. I used just two balls. I’ve noticed a small decrease in drying time, but nothing super dramatic.

Cat lovers will note how my kitty Oscar (above) wants to use these balls for playing. Just be careful kitties don’t follow them into the dryer.

Finally, what about scent? These balls come unscented, but it’s possible to scent your own dryer balls.

How many wool dryer balls do you use?

12 responses to “Celebrating Wool Dryer Balls”

Slee

February 1, 2011

I was using 5 until my toddler made off with them. Now I can’t find more than one at any given time.

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Katie

February 1, 2011

I just received my (4) dryer balls last week and all that you said is so very true!!!! They are quiet, I have to hunt them down in the clothing, lol…they are wonderful, I hope that they will decrease drying time, I do lots of laundry.

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Melissa

February 1, 2011

I love the dryer balls from Rockin’ Green’s website too! 🙂 They’re made by the fabulous WAHM behind a brand called Buddha Bunz. If you buy through her website you can even get colored and scented balls. I have 5 Buddha Bunz dryer balls and have noticed a big reduction in dry-time, and I’d eventually like to get a couple more. And I also wanted to chime in and say that the PVC-free dryer balls from Nellie’s did the same thing to me! I went to clean out our lint trap once and found bunches of little “decapitated” green little nubbies in the lint! 😦 Thankfully they will give a full refund if you email them and tell them that you would like to return them… I did this and used the money to get more wool dryer balls!

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Simone

February 1, 2011

We have about 8 now, but I am in the processing of making a few more. I’d like to have 12. So far, we’ve reduced our drying time by 10-15 minutes. 🙂

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esra aytul

February 1, 2011

I have 6 wool dryer balls and I am pretty happy with them. I made my own from a tutorial that I have seen online. Used some coupons for Michaels so they cost very little per a ball and very efficient also very green. It took me only n hour or so to make.I washed and dried on hot with my towels.Since mine is from 100%yarn I did not have that much pilling.

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Peggy

February 2, 2011

@Slee, Sounds like you need a dryer ball vault! 🙂

@Katie, Thanks. I tried to keep up with all the little comments that kept running through my head about these as I’ve used them over the last few weeks.

@Melissa, I ended up taking back the Nellie’s pvc-free dryer ball to the store to get a refund. I wonder what they’re going to do about that product. We can’t be the only ones having trouble. I thought that these wool balls were the same as Buddha Bunz, but they didn’t mention it on the Rockin site. She sells them at a lot of places, right? Have you tried the scented balls from Buddha Bunz?

@Simone, 12! Wow. The dryer sheet people must really be nervous about people like you 😉

@Esra, I’ve seen those tutorials online. I might get brave one day, but I’d have to lock up my two cats for sure. They’d go nuts if I got out all that yarn.

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stacey

February 2, 2011

I also have ~12 (4 I purchased and the rest I made myself) so that I don’t have to hunt them down each time. I love them so much I even made a bunch as x-mas gifts.

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esra aytul

February 3, 2011

Yeah my cat was crazy about the yarn as well. I made 4 very small balls for him to play.When they are felted they are perfect little balls that he loved them. I say loved them because he already lost them and I have no idea where they are:)

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Peggy

February 3, 2011

@Stacey, Great idea for Christmas gifts. I might have to try it next year.

@Esra, Have you checked behind the refrigerator and inside closets? That’s where my cats’ toys always end up 🙂

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Claudia

February 5, 2011

Here’s my buzzkill question: what makes these dryerballs better than getting balls of large guage wool yarn ourselves from a knitting supply store, boiling the wool balls, drying them at high heat, and then using them? Boiling and then drying at high heat will shrink and compact them, rendering them dense and firm for this purpose. What is the cost of Rockin Green balls?

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Peggy

February 6, 2011

@Claudia, Looks like the balls are selling for $7 right now. Maybe someone who has tried your method will comment…

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Mandie

March 18, 2011

I bought my wool dryer balls at http://www.WoolDryerBalls.com 3 year ago and the same 6 are going around in my dryer right now! We love our dryer balls!

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