Do Dryer Balls Work? The Pros and Cons

If you’re wondering if dryer balls work, this article is for you. We are going to discuss all of the major pros and cons of using them. This will hopefully help you decide if you want to use them or not as part of your laundry routine. Once we go through the pros and cons we will give you some simple tips for how best to use them when drying a load of laundry.

If you’re not aware, dryer balls are small (mainly woolen) balls that you put in your dryer with your wet laundry to help speed up the drying process. They work by helping to separate the laundry and stop static from occurring. Over the past few years, they have become very popular as they help people reduce their energy costs.

Here are the pros and cons of using dryer balls.

Dyer ball pros

Let’s start by discussing the pros of using dryer balls. After that, we will discuss the cons.

1. They help dry your laundry faster

The number one pro of using dryer balls is they speed up the drying process. Dryer balls achieve faster drying times by keeping your laundry separated which helps the hot air be more evenly distributed during the drying cycle. This means you will save energy costs and dry your laundry much more quickly. When you add up all the savings over a year this can be a significant amount of money.

2. They reduce static

Using dryer balls helps to reduce static. They do this by stopping your laundry from rubbing together during the drying cycle. This means that when you take your laundry out of the dryer after a cycle and wear it you won’t get any annoying static shocks.  

3. They help reduce lint

When you use high-quality dryer balls made from wool they will help reduce the amount of lint on your laundry items. This is because the balls help to keep your laundry items separate during the drying cycle which reduces friction and as a result creates less lint.

4. They are durable

If you purchase high-quality wool dryer balls you can expect them to last for over 1000 drying cycles. If you do a few loads of laundry a week you should get many years of use out of them! This makes them a great investment when you consider the reduction in energy costs you will achieve by using them.

5. They are environmentally friendly

Dyer balls (especially woolen ones) are very environmentally friendly as they don’t produce any waste. Once they have been used for hundreds of cycles and start to break apart you can dispose of them in your compost or rubbish and they will decompose.

Dryer Ball Cons

As you can see from our list of pros, using dryer balls is generally a good thing. However, there are a few cons to using them, including:

1. Dryer balls can be noisy

Dryer balls can be quite noisy when you put them in with a load of laundry. This is especially true if you use plastic ones as they will bounce up against the walls of the dryer drum. However, to avoid this happening you can use woolen ones.

2. Dryer balls don’t add any scent

Many dryer sheets (an alternative to dryer balls) let off a scent into your dryer when used. Dryer balls on the other hand tend to just be made of plain wool and don’t include any fragrance added to them. 

However, if you want your laundry to come out smelling nice after a drying cycle you can put a drop or two of your favorite essential oil onto them. When you put the balls in with your laundry the oil will release a lovely fragrance. Just make sure you let the oils soak and dry into the woolen balls before putting them in the dryer.

3. Higher drying costs

Buying dryer balls will add to the cost of using your dryer. However, over time this cost will pay for itself once you have used them for a few months. All major retailers like Walmart, Target, Amazon, and many others stock them so they are easy to find.

Do dryer balls work?

Yes. Dryer balls have been proven to work. This makes buying them a great investment to make. Here are the main reasons why you should use dryer balls:

• They will help dry your laundry faster
• They will reduce static
• They will reduce lint
• They will last a long time, and 
• They are environmentally friendly.

Tips for using dryer balls

Now that we have discussed the pros and cons of using dryer balls, we’ll finish by giving you some tips on how to use them properly.

• Don’t overload your dryer when using them. To be effective dryer balls need to have enough space to move around freely and get in between your laundry items.
• Use small or medium-sized dryer balls. For best results, it’s best to use small or medium-sized dryer balls as they can move more freely around the dryer drum compared to large ones.
• Monitor your dryer when using dryer balls. When you first start using dryer balls it’s a good idea to monitor your dryer closely as the balls will dry your laundry more quickly.
• Let essential oil soak into the dryer balls. For best results, it’s a good idea to let essential oils soak and dry into the dryer balls before using them.

Wool dryer balls are best. Wool dryer balls are more environmentally friendly and don’t make a loud noise when moving around the dryer drum.