The Amazing Dryer Balls

Has anyone out there tried these?

My mom was buying herself some and kindly thought of her daughter, the Laundry Queen. So I was the proud owner of the Amazing Dryer Balls.

The packaging states that these little blue rubbery nubby balls have the following features:

• Naturally soften fabrics without the use of harmful and irritating chemicals
• Made of PVC plastic to withstand high heat
• Cuts drying time by up to 25%
• Reduces lint and ironing
• Safe for ALL fabrics - jeans, towels, even your delicates

So I declared Thursday to be the Offical Greene Family Dryer Ball Testing Day(known in some circles as the OGFDBTD) with my laundry room serving as the Official Facility.

What do I think? Well, I think they work okay. I'll examine the above features:

1. "Naturally soften fabrics without the use of harmful and irritating chemicals." Well, they did seem to somewhat soften the fabrics. Everything seemed, well, kind of fluffy, and definitely less wrinkly. There is a picture on the packaging of a stack of towels dried with and without the fabric balls. I did two or three loads of the towels and they didn't triple in size like in the picture but they seemed a little fluffier and kind of soft.

2. "Made of PVC Plastic to Withstand High Heat." I didn't test what they were made of. They did seem to withstand the high heat just fine!

3. "Cuts Drying Time By 25%." This one was hard to test. My dryer just tells me when my clothes are dry, and if I happen to look at the time right when I start the dryer and right when it's done, I know how long it took. But since some loads take longer than other loads (towels and jeans take longer, large loads take longer, and cold wash loads take longer), it was hard to assess how much it cut the drying time. That said, I got about 2 more loads done total than I can usually do in a school day (I think I did 7-8 loads, when usually I do 5-6). So I'm pretty sure it was faster.

4. "Reduces Lint and Ironing." This, too, is hard to quantitatively assess (the lint anyway). I didn't really notice my lint screen looking particularly empty. As for the ironing, everything seemed much less wrinkly. I don't actually EVER iron ANYTHING . . . but that's another subject and I don't want to digress that far.

5. "Safe for All Fabrics: Jeans, Towels and even your Delicates." I didn't have that many delicates but I did use the balls in all the loads (and in all the loads I have done since then) and nothing was destroyed.

Other points:

• The dryer balls seem kind of loud at first, like you are drying tennis shoes, but the rubber softens as they heat up and then you can't hear them.
• Some online users complain that the balls got stuck in pants legs and sleeves, and even in large hems, stretching them into a round ball shape. I didn't have to search for the balls at all so this wasn't a problem for me.
• Use both balls at once. I saw the package and thought, "cool, I love 2-packs" and ran the first load with only one ball. Then I figured out that they are supposed to be used together. Darn.
• Since the point of the balls is to soften your clothes without using the chemical-laden dryer sheets, some people are comparing how your laundry comes out compared to the dryer sheets. Obviously the balls aren't going to make your clothes smell like Spring Blossoms or Mountain Springs since they are just plain rubber. So you might miss the fresh smell of dryer sheets. However, as a parent of Children With Eczema, I never use dryer sheets anyway.

I think that these balls work pretty well and would be a good buy. Using them would save money in several ways: (1) the cost of the dryer sheets and fabric softeners, if you use them (2) decreases your drying time, therefore reducing your utility costs. They are ecologically friendly and of course will not irritate my babies' or other childrens' skin.

I give this product a thumbs-up. I think they cost about $10 at drugstores.

Anyone else have any thoughts or experience with these Amazing Dryer Balls?