What are tumble dryer wool balls, how do they work – and why you should care

Wool dryer balls have taken pride of place in recent years as a laundry staple of many a savvy homemaker.

Good quality dryer balls are made from 100% natural wool, felted to a round shape until a certain firmness has been achieved. You put them in your tumble dryer with your wet laundry to decrease drying time and fluff your clothes, saving you time and money. Neat, huh?

Read on to find out the many benefits of this fantastic laundry hack and how it can change your laundry life for the better.

Benefit 1: wool dryer balls are 100% natural (no chemical nasties)

I’m sure you’re tired of hearing the expression “natural” used everywhere. It’s a very yummy marketing expression, because it conjures up images of frolicking healthy baby animals in luscious Spring meadows. Or is that just me? Anyway, by claiming something is “natural,” it’s telling you it’s not the opposite: artificial.

In this particular case, though, the marketing ploy is spot on: wool dryer balls are, due to their composition, indeed very natural tools of laundry drying. They are the polar opposite of the very nasty dryer sheets, made of polyester (another word for “plastic.”)

Dryer sheets are also single-use and may cause skin and eye irritation, asthma, migraines. That’s a lot of no-nos for something that’s only supposed to add a nice scent to what we wear!

Which brings me nicely to the next good thing about wool dryer balls…

Benefit 3: Wool dryer balls decrease your tumble drying time by up to 30%

Wool tumble dryer balls decrease drying time by helping hot air circulate more efficiently between the clothes and preventing clothes getting tangled.

You know where I’m going with this, right? If your tumble dryer doesn’t have to work as long, you’re saving in electric bills – the planet and your wallet will thank you!

As I mentioned in my post about the benefits of wool, this natural fibre can take up to 30% of moisture before you even notice it’s wet. The wool in the dryer balls save your tumble dryer from having to work as hard to get the same results.

Benefit 4: Wool dryer balls significantly reduce static electricity

If you’ve ever caught an electric shock when picking up clothes from the dryer, you know how annoying it is. It feels as if your wardrobe is plotting against you!

When you’re tumble drying clothes with artificial fibres, the tossing around of the items can generate static as they dry. Wool not only doesn’t create static like artificial fibres do, it absorbs it – making sure you don’t get zapped by your own laundry when removing it from the dryer.

Benefit 5: wool tumble dryer balls are mostly silent (unlike the plastic ones)

I don’t know about you, but my preferred noise setting for my home appliances is As Silent As Possible.

I once went to a friend’s house who used plastic dryer balls and oh my, they were noisy. We once tried having a conversation in the kitchen when she was drying some laundry and it was a nightmare!

Wool dryer balls make significantly less noice when bouncing around with your clothes, making talking with a friend in the same room possible. Neat!

Benefit 6: they don’t interfere with your activewear or your towels

Did you know that fabric softeners interfere with your gym clothes’s ability to wick sweat away from your skin?

When fabric softener is added to sportswear, it seals the polyester and stops clothes from absorbing moisture effectively. The same happens with towels, something I didn’t know before researching for this post, I must confess.

Conclusion

Now that you know what little marvels wool tumble dryer balls can be, they might just become your greatest laundry hack too.

Use less electricity, stop buying fabric softener, be kinder to the planet, all the while knowing your laundry is in great hands. What can be better?