Sweet Summer Giveaway Hop
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From August 17-31, you can visit all the participating blogs listed below and enter to win their wonderful prizes to top off your summer in a sweet way. Each blog is offering a giveaway prize of at least $25.00 and you might be lucky enough to win them all!
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| "This set of six handmade pure wool dryer balls are special in several ways. They deliver the same benefits for laundry as conventional fabric softeners WITHOUT all the nasty chemicals. They save everyone a lot of money by eliminating the need to continuously spend on fabric softener liquid and sheets. They cut down on the time it takes to dry a typical load by at least 25% thereby saving everyone even more money and cutting down on fossil fuel usage. Finally, being as that they are handmade in the democratic republic of Nepal, they provide a steady source of income to the desperately needy women of that developing nation." |
After learning what dryer sheets actually contain (All D's & F's according to the EWG) and what they do to your clothing (animal fat anyone?), I stopped using them and looked to alternatives. I also stopped using fabric softener and replaced it with distilled white vinegar. Our clothes and towels were still soft and felt even cleaner! Perhaps it was in my head, but I loved knowing they weren't coated with toxins and gunk. I was noticing some static cling issues and would occasionally throw in a dryer sheet with the towels...while making an "eww" face.
First, I read that you can roll up a ball of tin foil and throw it in the dryer as a replacement for dryer sheets. And although the Woolzies product insert actually recommends doing that along with their dryer balls, I feel I need to do a bit more research first to see if anything comes off on the clothes at high heat. I'm sure it doesn't, but since the ball does wear down over time, I'm just not sold on it. In my mind Aluminum=bad (I'm a new mom researching vaccines...and deoderant). Then I started seeing ads for wool dryer balls.
My first thought? "Psh...I could make those and save a ton of money! I'm a super-wife!" But then I saw that a skein of pure wool yarn costs about $8, and you'd probably use almost a full skein per ball. Even if you only needed 4 skeins, that's still $32ish. Then you have to roll them and felt them which required a few runs in the washer and dryer. Woolzies will only cost you $35 and they're already made for you. Yay! So this is a case where I'd prefer to purchase over DIY (which is rare for me!). Since I'm newly a work-at-home momma, I'm also always looking for ways to save while reducing toxins and waste. These were a fantastic solution for us!
Woolzies sent me a box of their dryer balls (6) to try out and review (they were also awesome enough to sponsor this giveaway!). I started using them right away and took some notes on drying time since they claim to reduce it by at least 25%. I didn't do the math, but it did significantly reduce the drying time, even for towels. I was able to use the "less dry" setting on every load of laundry from clothing to towels to our comforter, and they came out dry, soft, and fluffy. I use low heat on clothing (which is better for them, too!) and they still come out dry on the "less dry" time setting. I'd occasionally find a thick collar or wasteband still damp, but would rather let those air dry than wear out the rest of our clothes.
Now let's think about this...if you have 6 balls rolling around in your dryer, they are going to break up the load. This allows more air to flow between your laundry. Hence the recommendation to throw in a few tennis balls with a large comforter. Guess what? Tennis balls stink. Bad. (Are they loud? Our laundry room is in the basement and our living room is right above it. We can watch TV without hearing them. When the house is quiet, yet we do hear them. But unless you sleep next to your laundry room, I wouldn't worry about the noise. It also depends on how large of a load is in the dryer). Woolzies dryer balls work very well for large bath towels, are awesome at breaking up large loads of little baby clothes, and are a HUGE help when I can't hang dry my cloth diapers and need dry inserts and flats STAT.
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| A couple of examples to give you an idea of the size. The hubby pointed out that not everyone would know what an Oball is. Though if you have a baby, you should. We love this thing. |
So do I recommend Woolzies dryer balls? Hellz yeah I do.
- Reduced drying time? Yes
- Left clothes/towels all snuggly soft? Yes
- Reduced static? Yes
- Save $$$? Yes (A box of 160 sheets will cost you around $11 for 240. Dryer balls last at least 1000 loads. So dryer sheets = $.05/load. Dryer balls = $.03/load. Woolzies Dryer Balls will save you $15 over those 1k loads. That adds up!
- Left animal fat and, let's just say crap, all over my laundry? No, no they did not. (If you do want a scent to your laundry, you can use some pure essential oil to put a drop on a ball or two).
(Woolzies sent me this product for free in exchange for my honest opinion and review. A positive review was not required.)
