Woolzies Wool Dryer Balls [Review]

A few years ago, I stopped buying dryer sheets. Cold turkey! I do not know what came over me because this occurred long before I started down the all-natural path. Maybe I wanted to see if clothes would feel different without the dryer sheets. The only difference I found was that synthetic clothes had more static. Of course, this is because dryer sheets coat the fabric and make it feel slick, which we feel as softness. For years, I dried clothes without dryer sheets, until I discovered wool dryer balls. Wool dryer balls are a natural and eco-friendly way to reduce the drying time and reduce some static build-up.

Woolzies Wool Dryer Balls        (6 balls, $34.95)
Rating: total green check marks out of 5.

The Good	The Not So Good
Eco-friendly and natural	Doesn't quite eliminate/reduce static
Replaces dryer sheets	Can deposit lint onto clothing
Reduces drying time

Woolzies wool dryer balls come in a pack of 6 large balls. You need at least 6 balls to noticeably reduce drying time. I loved that the balls are made of 100% pure wool. You can feel the high quality of the wool and the weight of the balls.

I was curious if the wool dryer balls would: 1) reduce drying time, and 2) reduce static. I have read mixed
review on reduction of static and finally realized the connection between drying time and static. If you overdry your clothes, they will have more static. The goal is to dry your clothes to the point where all of the moisture is gone, if not stopping right before that point. Of course, I do not have time to constantly check the dryer, nor do I have a way to measure how dry the clothes are. Therefore, we'll use time.

After the addition of the wool dryer balls, I started with the max time on the dryer and with each load, bumped the time down by 10 minutes to determine at which point the clothes were dry. The drying time will also depend on the amount and type of clothes that are in the dryer. I experimented for about 2-3 weeks with decreasing the time I set on the dryer. The addition of Woolzies wool dryer balls did reduce the drying time. I cannot stay exactly by how much since each load of laundry was different, but the fact that I saw a reduction in drying time means that wool dryer balls work!

Now, the question of static. The dreaded static. If I let clothes dry on the max drying time, static was definitely present. Wool dryer balls did not eliminate static for me. However, I did find that the static went away as I took the clothes out and folded them. Synthetic fabrics had more static than natural fabrics. Some ways to combat static is to not dry the synthetic clothes in the dryer (they will dry quickly if you hang them) or to take the synthetic clothes out sooner.

I love that wool dryer balls have replaced toxic dryer sheets and helped to reduce drying time. I will continue to adjust my drying routine to see how I can further reduce static on synthetic fabrics. Another thing to be aware of is that the wool dryer balls can take lint from one items (like a fluffy blanket) and deposit it onto another item (like a black shirt). I will need to look into this to understand why. I highly recommend Woolzies dryer balls for their high quality and their ability to make your drying routine more efficient. I have even purchased a box of them as a housewarming gift for a friend.

Disclosure: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.