Can you share your experiences with using dryer balls and/or the reusable static eliminator dryer sheets? What do you or don't you like about them? I'm trying to go "green", since we have sooooooooo many loads of laundry a week. Are these products worth the expense? Do they actually work? Thanks for any input!
I love my dryer balls! I have 5 that I use, have no idea what happened to that 6th one!! The first 3 I have had for going on 2 years. With the exception on my whites load, (socks, underwear,) I use them instead of fabric softener. When I do use fabric softener, I use a environmentally friendly liquid. I heard that's better for the dryer, whereas the sheets are bad for the dryer.
Good luck!
Instead of these, may I suggest putting vinegar in your "'fabric softener" dispenser in your washing machine? And, add a few drops of lavender essential oil to it. It works better than the other stuff. The dryer sheets coat your dryer and will ruin in it time. This is a much better solution. We have fresh smelling clothes, no stinky towels, no static cling. Love it! And, I suppose it is "green" if that is your thing.
Love the dryer balls...I have 5...don't know where that 6th one is...(probably folded in a sheet!) But when I dry the clothes late at night, we can hear them banging around a little. Of course, our dryer is in the garage & our bedroom is right over the dryer. We still sleep though.
I hate smells--pretty or otherwise!, so I use white vinager in the fabric softener cup & if I need a little extra whitening, I have started using Hydrogen Peroxide in the bleach cup.
My clothes have been coming out just fine, saved a ton of $$ on the softener, bleach, sheets, etc. Costco sells white vinager in 1 1/2 gallons for about $4, & the vinager helps brighten colors--elimating the need for Clorox 2 & softens clothes, elimating the need for both liquid & sheet softeners. Also saves on repair bills, the washer repair dude told me a long time ago to NEVER use liquid softener, as it gums up the insides of the washer & can cause really costIy repairs.
I bought a set of reusable static eliminator dryer sheets 2 or 3 years ago & I just leave them in the dryer with the balls. If I wash nylon or fleece, then if I've not re-charged them for a while, I'll notice some static, although not bad & I just wash the sheets with the next load. I think they are SO worth the $$.
BTW, if you have a front load washer, the vinager in the wash also seems to keep the mold problem away.
If ur tring to be green y not get a drying rack for ur clothes and let them air dry. I bought one for my baby's clothes bc they shrink waaaay too fast so I don't put his clothes in the dryer. I let his clothes airdry. Now I do that with all our clothes except socks and underWear. I got one from bed bath and beyond for like 10 dollars. The lady told me its the same as the 40 dollar one no difference... Go figure. And it folds up flat and really small.
I have been using dryer balls for about 2 years now. I have never had any problems with them cracking or making too much noise. But I only wash full loads, so maybe that's why I don't hear any noise? Also my laundry is in the garage...but even when I am in the garage when the dryer is going I don't hear any extra noise.
I love the dryer balls. The only time I have static cling problems when using them is when I dry a couple of our larger fleece blankets.
To cut down on our electric bill even more, I hang dry our sheets, towels, and blankets. By doing that and using the dryer balls I noticed a $50 decrease in our energy bill the first month I used them.
i love dryer balls, they are a little loud, but i have a toddler so, um ,,,yeah its hardly noticable. Plus i have a lot of things that contain down feathers, and those balls are just a lifesaver,
I dont know about the dryer sheets, but i heard of cutting them in half, sounds pretty green to me
Tennis balls work better than the plastic nubbly dryer balls. After a while they cracked on me from the constant heat and battery. I put white vinegar in the fabric softener space in my washer and use the tennis balls in my dryer and it works really well. I keep everything unscented due to allergies but like someone mentioned you can add a couple drops of essential oils to the vinegar if you want it.
We used the dryer balls for a while, after a couple months they split in half and were no longer useful, after that we switched to the bounce dryer bar.. the kind that lasts for either 2-4 months, at first we bought the 2 month ones and they lasted about 3 1/2 (washing clothes 3 days a week) they are AMAZING! I wouldnt go back to anything else to save my life.. i love those things
Awesome question i was wondering the same thing myself. don't tennis balls leave fuzz??
I did not like the dryer balls - they make so much noise! Considering I do the majority of the laundry when the kiddos are sleeping, they didn't work for me.
