6 Benefits of Wool Dryer Balls
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Wool dryer balls have been used in laundry cycles for countless years on account of their affordability, longevity, and the many benefits that they offer. Surprisingly, however, lots of people are still unaware of just how great the benefits of wool dryer balls can be not only for your laundry, but also for your wallet, wellbeing, and the environment.
Here, we are going to talk you through everything you need to know about wool dryer balls and why they could become an integral part of your regular laundry cycle. We will cover the main benefits of using wool dryer balls and discuss why they are the best choice when it comes to choosing between dryer sheets, fabric softeners, or other dryer balls.
Let’s start off by looking at what exactly a wool dryer ball is and how it works…
Related: Household Toxins: Ways to Reduce Toxins in the Home
| Image | Product | Our Rating | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
Best Overall  | Handy Laundry Wool Dryer Balls
| 9.7 | Check Price on Amazon |
 | Moonbrook Wool Dryer Balls
| 9.6 | Check Price on Amazon |
 | SnugPad Wool Dryer Balls
| 9.5 | Check Price on Amazon |
6 Benefits of Wool Dryer Balls
Below are six of the ways you could benefit from using wool dryer balls within your laundry cycle.
1. Reduced Drying Time
The most obvious benefit of using wool dryer balls is the reduced drying time. By separating your laundry, the dryer balls enable more air circulation within the dryer which allows the items to dry out much quicker. The wool also pulls moisture away from the laundry items to further speed up the process.
Not only does this mean less time spent waiting for your dryer cycle to finish, but it could also help you to save a considerable amount of energy and money on utility bills. Some wool dryer balls are said to improve drying times by up to 25%!
Doing laundry is unavoidable and it can prove expensive, particularly if you have a large family’s worth of clothes to wash and dry every day. By using wool dryer balls, you can save yourself time and money and also prevent your dryer from wearing out prematurely due to overuse. Benefitting both the environment and your wallet; this is a really great feature of wool dryer balls!
2. Chemical-Free and Gentle on Your Skin
Most store-bought dryer sheets and fabric conditioners are typically filled with harsh chemicals and synthetic fragrances or preservatives, all of which can be super harmful to your skin and to the environment.
Wool Dryer Balls by Smart Sheep
Wool dryer balls cut out any unnecessary, unnatural chemicals, working exceptionally well without any added ingredients at all. This makes them great for anyone with sensitive skin or for children’s laundry and is our second benefit of wool dryer balls. It also makes them much more eco-friendly than dryer sheets or fabric softeners which can cause extensive harm to aquatic life when they make their way into waterways.
Wool dryer balls provide the same softening benefits but without any synthetic ingredients. The soft wool creates light friction within the dryer which softens and de-creases the laundry items.
Related: Laundry Detergent Rash: How to Treat and Prevent It
3. Reusable, Cost-Effective, and Eco-Friendly
As we have mentioned, a good quality wool dryer ball can last up to 1000 washes or five years of usage. When compared to disposable dryer sheets or fabric conditioners, there is really no competition here.
Because they are reusable and so long-lasting, wool dryer balls are extremely cost-effective, with no need to frequently repurchase or replace your dryer balls. This also means less waste and no excessive consumption, benefitting the environment as well as your bank balance!
Many wool dryer balls are also made from ethically sourced wool which further increases their sustainability while also increasing their quality.
Wherever possible, we should all be striving to implement more sustainable, reusable products into our daily routines, and wool dryer balls offer a great, easy way of doing this.
4. Reduce Static
Another excellent benefit of wool dryer balls is their ability to reduce static within your dryer. Dryer static can be super irritating, causing small unpleasant shocks each time you empty the machine.
Static in your dryer is primarily caused by low humidity and fabrics rubbing against one another and causing an electrostatic charge which makes clothes stick to each other and to you when you want to wear them.
Wool dryer balls work to absorb humidity at the start of the dry cycle and then slowly release it throughout the cycle, preventing over-drying and helping to balance the humidity levels within the dryer.
This feature is unique to wool dryer balls since plastic dryer balls or dryer sheets will not absorb and release moisture in the same way.
5. Remove Pet Hair and Lint
Wool dryer balls also work to lift pet hair and lint from your laundry by creating light abrasion within the dryer and then repelling the lint or pet hair so that it can be trapped in your dryer’s lint catcher.
Smart Sheep Reusable Wool Dryer Balls
This will even work with dry laundry in place of a regular lint roller. Simply toss the item into the dryer with your dryer balls and use a cool setting for around ten minutes to remove any lint or pet hair from your clothes.
6. Customizable Scents!
The final benefit of wool dryer balls is that they are super customizable. You can add your own choice of fragrance to your wool dryer balls simply by soaking them in a few drops of your chosen essential oils. You could also spray the balls with some diluted essential oils if you find this to be more convenient. Just make sure that the dryer balls are dried out thoroughly before you use them again to prevent oil marks from being left on your laundry.
Plant Therapy Essentials Gift Set
It is also important to note that if you are going to add essential oils to your wool dryer balls, then these should only be used on cool dry settings since essential oils can pose a fire risk at high temperatures.
We recommend keeping one set of wool dryer balls fragrance-free for use in your regular laundry loads and having a couple of essential-oil-infused balls to toss in at the end of your cycle on a cool setting to add a light, fresh fragrance to your laundry.
Related: Can You Add Essential Oils to Laundry?
| Image | Product | Our Rating | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
Best Overall | Handy Laundry Wool Dryer Balls
| 9.7 | Check Price on Amazon |
| Moonbrook Wool Dryer Balls
| 9.6 | Check Price on Amazon |
| SnugPad Wool Dryer Balls
| 9.5 | Check Price on Amazon |
What are Wool Dryer Balls?
A wool dryer ball is a small, compressed ball that is usually around the size of a tennis ball or slightly smaller and made entirely from wool. They act as an alternative to regular dryer sheets and are designed to be tossed into your dryer along with your laundry load to aid the drying process and leave your laundry soft, lint-free, and, in some cases, smelling super fresh.
You can make your own wool dryer balls by tightly binding the wool yourself, or you can purchase wool dryer balls at places such as Amazon.
You might have heard of plastic dryer balls, these are also a good option, but of course, Wool is much more eco-friendly than plastic and wool dryer balls are also much quieter than plastic dryer balls when they’re bouncing around in amongst your laundry.
For anyone who is looking for a natural alternative to regular, chemical-rich dryer sheets, wool dryer balls are an excellent option with a huge range of benefits.
Do Wool Dryer Balls Work?
Yes! Wool dryer balls work by getting in amongst your laundry items and separating them while they’re in the dryer to allow them to dry more efficiently and to reduce static.
Occasionally, the wool dryer balls might become less effective or they might start to look a little tired. If this happens, you can simply recharge them by running them through a regular wash cycle and drying them off again in your dryer. This will remove any lint build-up and restore the effectiveness of the wool dryer ball.
Handy Laundry Wool Dryer Balls
In most cases, your wool dryer balls should last approximately 1000 washes or up to 5 years. You’ll know when it’s time for a replacement once the ball starts to fall apart or the re-charge process does little to restore its effectiveness.
How to Use Wool Dryer Balls
To use wool dryer balls, you should toss them into your dryer with a small to medium-sized laundry load. Remember that the ball will need space to move around, so using wool dryer balls with a large load that is tightly compressed into the dryer will stop it from moving freely within the machine and limit its effectiveness.
Typically, you should use between three and six dryer balls with each load depending on the size of the balls, the size of the load, and the size of your dryer.
It really is as simple as just tossing them into the dryer! To learn more, check out our post How to Use Wool Dryer Balls, and Why You Should
SnugPad Wool Dryer Balls XL Size 6 Pack
Final Thoughts on The Benefits of Wool Dryer Balls
Wool dryer balls make a great addition to any laundry cycle, with numerous benefits that make drying your clothes quicker, more energy-efficient, and cost-effective. As well as this, they are super easy to use and will leave your laundry feeling soft and refreshed, and can be lightly scented to provide added freshness to your clothes, bed linens, or towels.
They’re all-natural, so are safe to use around pets and children, and will last much longer than typical dryer sheets or fabric conditioners. With so many benefits of wool dryer balls, we can’t think of a single reason not to invest in a good quality set of wool dryer balls.