Of Balls and Laundry

I had heard of wool dryer balls but didn't really plan to try them. Then, one day I got a wild hair and ordered some.

I love them. While I usually just dealt with static, during the winter when it was worse, I would buy dryer sheets to keep if from electrifying me. I just accepted it as a fact of life. It's gone now.

Recently, I washed several of the soft fluffy throw blankets that have become more popular in recent years. Anytime I have one of them in the wash, it makes the entire load static-y. I can usually hear it crackling when I open the dryer door. And everything sticks together. It's always a huge pain.

In the process of  cleaning out someone's room, I pulled 3 or 4 out to wash and put away. I think I may have thrown another one or two in as well. I had been pleased with my dryer balls but I didn't expect miracles so I wasn't really hoping for much with the blankets.

When I opened the door and started to pull out the first one, I heard a crackle. But that was it. No static. Nothing stuck to anything. The hairs on my arm didn't stand up. No getting electrified.

Even with all those blankets in there, no static cling. I'm sold.

Now, they are also supposed to keep your clothes from wearing out as quickly and reduce drying time. That may be true. I haven't really tested that because I've been excited about the no static thing. I can say that my dryer is ALWAYS done well before the washing machine. But I don't know that it is because of the dryer balls.

One other thing you're supposed to be able to do is add essential oil to the balls which will freshen the laundry. I keep meaning to add Lavender to them when I do our sheets but I never think of it because I am usually running to throw them in the dryer and get right back to doing school with Rugrat.

My friend has actually tried that but she doesn't really notice a difference I don't think. One thing I did find out from her is that if you have a lot of synthetic fibers, it doesn't work as well as with more natural fibers. Most of our clothes are cotton -- tshirts, jeans, button ups, etc. They have a lot of those moisture wicking workout kind of clothes - the ones that feel slick.

I'm pretty happy with my dryer balls though. The ones I ordered are here. I have also seen these at the children's livestock area at the fair and various other places as well. I'm sure there are lots of booths at farmer's markets that have them too.

More recently, I gave in and ordered these balls for the washing machine after reading a review of the brand name ones:

Apparently, everything laundry is in the form of a ball. These take the place of your detergent. Yes, detergent. I really didn't think they'd work. After reading the review where the woman was shocked to realize that they had removed the stink from her kitchen towels, I really wanted to try them.

I think something about the hardness of our water or some additive they put in has changed in the last year. Suddenly, all of my towels -- even the bathroom and washcloths - were developing this mildewy smell. Some of our clothes had picked it up too if they were pretty bad already when they got washed, mostly workout clothes and such. I tried everything I could think of to get rid of it but it was most persistent on the towels.

When she videoed her husband taking a tentative sniff as she asked him to, I knew hers were just as bad. And I knew it had really worked when he then buried his face in it with a smile. The surprise was evident on his face. Unfortunately, the ones she used were over 50 bucks. Yikes.

I wasn't going to spend $50 or more on something I wasn't sure would even work. I found these, once again, on Amazon. They were around $10. They are less now.

I could go 10 bucks for an experiment. So I gave it a try. There was no smell left in the towels after the first wash. I couldn't believe it. They are also supposed to brighten your clothes. I was just happy to get rid of the smell.

Chick has one pink work shirt that looks horrible. I just thought it was the fabric. It started out as a pretty pink but then it just got really dingy looking. After I washed it the first time, I thought it looked better but dismissed that as wishful thinking. After the second time, I showed it to Hubby and we both KNEW it looked better. Then, when Chick (who never even notices or cares about such things) said something about how much brighter and cleaner it looked, I couldn't pass it off as wishful thinking anymore. These things work! Call me impressed.

The one thing you have to do is place them in the sun once a month to 'recharge.' They work by raising the ph, I think it is, just like laundry detergent does with chemicals. Very cool.

So, I think I like doing laundry with "balls." Have any of you ever tried either of these?