Bounce that toxic dryer sheet out of your life, because there’s a new player in town (erm, laundry room): sustainable dryer balls.
What are dryer balls, exactly? What do dryer balls do?
Usually made from absorbent materials like wool, placing a set in your dryer creates warm air pockets, which helps the balls to soak up water in wet clothes. Translation: reduced drying time and a big way to conserve energy. Considering the average family does more than 300 laundry loads annually, that’s good news for the planet and your wallet.
Reusable dryer balls work for thousands of loads of laundry, during which they also reduce static cling, collect pet hair, and act as an eco-friendly fabric softener alternative, so you can forget the extra plastic jug of chemicals. When they’ve finally tumbled through their last load, 100% wool or other organic dryer ball options are fully compostable.
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The Best Eco-Friendly Dryer Balls For Soft, Static-Free Clothes
Make laundry day a breeze with Friendsheep Wool‘s set of eco-friendly wool dryer balls that also help provide women and disabled folks with safe and sustainable employment in Nepal.
Otherwise, Blueland’s heavy-duty compostable dryer ball pack will leave you feeling green (not blue) by replacing more than 1000 harmful plastic-based dryer sheets.
Index: Sustainable & Reusable Dryer Balls
- EcoRoots Jump to brand
- Friendsheep Wool Jump to brand
- Blueland Jump to brand
- Kind Laundry Jump to brand
- Dropps Jump to brand
EcoRoots
Price Range: $35 for 6
Natural, compostable, and made from 100% New Zealand wool, EcoRoots is helping eliminate ocean waste with their set of six zero waste dryer balls. While not vegan, they are ethically sourced and cruelty-free.
Simply throw four or five balls in the dryer with your wet laundry for some chemical-free softened clothing and a softened electrical bill. They’re good for 1,000 loads of laundry and safe to compost at end-of-life.
EcoRoots’ other eco-conscious offers include over fifty natural and zero waste products for self and home care, all packaged compostable cardboard or reusable jars and shipped plastic-free. To further give back to the planet, EcoRoots donates a portion of their profits annually to the Ocean Conservancy.
Friendsheep Wool
Price Range: $5 for 1
Say goodbye to fabric softener and show your laundry love with the organic wool dryer balls from Friendsheep Wool. Not only are they made of fair trade and organic Leaping Bunny-certified cruelty-free New Zealand wool, but will reduce drying time, remove pet hair, reduce static, and soften laundry.
So far, Friendsheep Wool’s dryer lint balls have saved enough energy to power 21,100 homes for a month and prevented the use of 4.4 million bottles of fabric softener and 445 million dryer sheets—stacked in a pile that would be 143 miles tall!
They won’t break apart and leave lint—even on your darkest loads—but they will break down in your indoor compost bin.
These laundry wool dryer balls are lovingly handmade for a fair wage by women and disabled artisans in Nepal, with safe and equitable working conditions, as are the accompanying unbleached cotton storage bags. All shipping is carbon-neutral in recyclable and compostable packaging.
Friendsheep Wool partners with the Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) in Kathmandu, Nepal to empower and aid women with disabilities through training and employment opportunities. They’re a member of 1% for the Planet, giving ~20% of their profits to environmental and social organizations, and planting one tree for every item sold.
Blueland
Price Range: $18 for 3
You’ll be feeling anything but blue with the way Blueland’s sustainable dryer balls save on drying time, cost, and waste. While not vegan, their 3-pack of New Zealand wool dryer balls are sustainably sourced by suppliers who take care to treat sheep well and never participate in practices like mulesing.
They can replace more than 1000 harmful plastic-based dryer sheets, and are fully compostable at end-of-life.
Revamp your whole laundry routine with the Laundry Essentials Kit, which includes 60 natural laundry detergent. tablets, oxi laundry booster powder, and three wool dryer balls
The Certified B Corp offers a ton of cruelty-free and mostly vegan cleaning options, from personal care essentials to cleaners.Conscious of reducing their footprint, Blueland is Climate Neutral Certified, Cradle2Cradle Certified, prioritizes efficient energy and water usage, and ensures worker safety and happiness. All packaging is compostable and/or recyclable, and all shipped orders are fully carbon offset.
Kind Laundry
Price Range: $20 for 3
Be kind to your clothing, your body, and the planet with Kind Laundry’s biodegreadable dryer balls made with 100% pure New Zealand wool. Kind Laundry is so confident about their wool balls, that they kindly offer a 30-day satisfaction guarantee.
Toronto-based Kind Laundry founders Bernard and Angie started this eco-friendly laundry detergent sheet brand, because they wanted to provide people with a safe alternative to plastic jugs and chemical-laden detergents. Their products are certified cruelty-free by Leaping Bunny and shipped in 100% recyclable packaging.
Dropps
Price Range: $29 for 4
In Dropps’ own words, “Wool does it better, and we have the balls to prove it.”
Simply drop your Dropps wool dryer balls in the dryer with a load of laundry, and come back to unwrinkled, cling-free clothes. These XL wool oversized dryer balls are made to last—with a guarantee of 10,000 laundry loads.
The New Zealand wool is sourced from happy sheep who graze outdoor pastures and are shorn yearly in a pain-free and skillful manner. They’re handmade in Nepal and contained in 100% recyclable packaging. Fluff yeah!
Dropps was one of the OG laundry pod brands, harnessing the power of plants, not petrochemicals. Today, they’ve expanded their range of household cleaners. Everything is cruelty-free and delivered in compostable, recyclable cardboard boxes that are shipped carbon-neutral with Clearloop. Dropps also partners with Oceana in support of ocean conservation and clean-ups.
Why Choose Reusable Dryer Balls?
When comparing all-natural dryer balls vs dryer sheets, there are numerous environmental and health benefits to choose the former.
Most disposable dryer sheets are made from a non-woven polyester that is coated with a synthetic softening agent, fragrances, and other chemicals. When vented from the dryer, they release a number of unsafe pollutants and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the home, such as acetaldehyde and benzene.
In one study, five name brand dryer sheets were tested and found to emit 15 endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) and chemicals associated with asthma. Evidence also suggested these EDCs could affect a person’s metabolism, developing reproductive and nervous systems, and even cancer.
That’s not even to speak of the chemicals in the fabric softener they also replace.
Swapping unhealthy dryer sheets for all-natural wool dryer balls will protect your loads of laundry, your home’s air quality, AND the planet.
How To Use Dryer Balls
While everyone will have a slightly different answer to the question, “Do dryer balls work?” the consensus is yes. Reviews largely rave over their ability to soften clothes, remove static, and reduce dry time. The more balls you use, the more water will get absorbed and the shorter your drying time will be.
If you’re worried about whether dryer balls damage dryers, don’t be. They’re soft enough to never dent the inside of your wash drum or throw off the mechanisms. This isn’t necessarily the case for certain eco-friendly dryer ball DIY solutions, like putting lacrosse or tennis balls in the dryer.
So what is the proper way to use wool dryer balls? Luckily, it’s probably the easiest part of laundry day:
- If you want scented dryer balls, add a few drops of essential oil to each dryer ball twenty minutes before use.
- Add your wet clothing to the dryer with two to six dryer balls.
- Turn on your dryer and set a timer. Your clothing dry time should be reduced anywhere from 25–40%
- When your laundry is dry, your wool dryer balls will be wet. To get them ready for the next load, store them in a well-ventilated place, not in a sealed plastic bag or container.
- Every 100 loads of laundry, wash your dryer balls in a cotton bag with cold water.
Plus, this is one fabric softener alternative that lasts. Some cite about 1000 loads, which, even for the biggest, most laundry intensive families, should mean years and years. Some felted wool dry balls might even last a lifetime. You’ll know it’s time to replace the wool kind by visually inspecting their level of deterioration. Remember, if the dryer ball is pilling, it’s doing its job.
At end-of-life, if it’s pure wool, you can shred each dryer ball apart into as small of pieces as possible and compost them.
