Dryer Balls: The Healthy Alternative to Toxic Dryer Sheets
The environment that surrounds us so laden with chemicals, toxins and garbage, and sadly this also includes our homes. I am therefore on a new quest to find ways to remove the chemicals and toxins from my home and start living a cleaner, greener life.
Back when I was single I used to be really good at using green products throughout my entire home. Once I got together with George and my stepsons, my life of one became a home of four. As much as I wanted to continue with being green all the time, I found that it was inconvenient (we started all our shopping at the Costco’s and Walmart’s of the world and they just don’t have green products – sadly). I also found that it was expensive to buy all of my ‘green’ items for my new family, so I unfortunately got out the habit on a few items and using dryer sheets was one of those items.
I have mindlessly been using fabric softener in my wash and dryer sheets in the dryer. What I didn’t realize is how harmful this was. I also noticed recently that sometimes my clothes felt like they had a strange film on them – yuck!
Related: 15 Tips to Create an Eco-friendly, Green Kitchen
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What to know about Dryer Sheets:
1. THEY’RE COSTLY
Depending on what deals you find dryer sheets can cost you anywhere between $7 for a no-name brand and $10 for a big name brand (Canadian dollars), for 200 sheets. This may not seem like a lot, but the residue on dryer sheets can also decrease the life of your dryer too. Chemicals from the dryer sheets build up and clog the lint screen of your dryer. This makes your dryer a lot less efficient.
There are eco-friendly dryer sheets, but you’ll be paying more at $6.95 US for 64 loads.
2. DRYER SHEETS ARE FULL OF TOXIC CHEMICALS
Alpha-Terpineol, Benzyl Alcohol, Camphor, Chloroform, Ethyl Acetate, Linalool, Pentane… The effects of these toxic chemicals can cause disorders in the central nervous system (headaches, nausea, depression), loss of muscular coordination, dizziness.
These chemicals rub off on our clothes and onto our skin. Yuck. You may be thinking, well I’m sure dryer sheets can’t do all of this but have you thought about all the other toxins and chemicals that are living in the cleaning products in your house? Scary! Learn more here.
3. THEY ARE BAD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
Dryer sheets are just another thing we are throwing away. They cannot be recycled and with the sales of dryer sheets increasing year after year, just imagine what that looks like on the landfill site?
THE PROBLEM… The convenience and ease of dryer sheets are outweighing the healthier choices we can all make as consumers.
What to do about it?
Hello Wool Dryer Balls!
I had heard about these for a while but had never tried them. So, yesterday I went to Winners and picked up a pack of 5 100% wool dry balls. You can actually find good choices online too. Here’s a great option from Amazon
I wasn’t sure how well they would work compared to dryer sheets, but I was happy that I noticed a major difference with just 1 wash of my towels. The towels no longer had that horrible residue that I can feel sometimes. They literally felt cleaner.
Related: How to Help the Environment and Really Create Change
The Benefits of 100% Wool Dryer Balls…
- You can use them for about 1000 loads!
- They dry your clothes faster
- They are healthy – no more harmful chemicals lurking on your clothes
- Dryer balls naturally soften your clothes, sheets and towels
- Reduces static cling
- You save money. Since your drying time is almost cut in half you can expect to see lower electricity bills. Plus no more $10 dryer sheets.
- You are being kinder to the environment. That makes you feel good, right?!
You may be thinking, don’t use the dryer at all. I agree that in the summer you should be hanging clothes to dry – if you have space or access to the outdoors. Let’s face it though, I live in Canada with LONG winters, so the dryer is a must have for items like sheets and towels. I still hang when I can throughout the year and will do my best to do this even more in the future.
Lastly, if you want to add a little scent to your dryer balls go with a few drops of your favourite essential oils. Here are my favourite oils I use at home.
This is my first step to getting back to more green living.
What do you do to live a greener life? Do you use dryer balls, cook with organic or local meat, use eco-friendly cleaning products or make your own cleaning products?
Let me know so I can hear about your great ideas and continue my path to a greener lifestyle.
Thanks for stopping by!
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So need to get on this now. What a money and earth saver!
Hey Yolanda! Ok, I’m off the fence and going to finally go get me some of these balls. My biggest concern was that my clothes would be hard. I hate that! I’ll put them to the test. I’m all about saving that money!
Hi Brandi! I was actually surprised when I started using the dryer balls as my clothes actually felt softer and cleaner. The dryer sheets leave a residue or film and when you stop using them you’ll notice the difference 🙂
Yikes…I’m embarrassed to admit that I still use dryer sheets. I had NO idea they were so bad! Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I just looked into the wool dryer balls, and the Amazon reviews are pretty much glowing. The two bad complaints that popped up a few times were that the balls leave a lot of lint and that they smell like sheep (?!) Did you deal with either of those challenges? I think I want to purchase a set.
Hey Paula! The balls I have don’t smell like sheep – at least not that I’ve noticed lol I actually like to use essential oils on my dryer balls too. A few drops of my fav oils add a nice fresh scent to the wash. I also haven’t had any lint on mine. I’m wondering if those reviews were from people who’ve used the balls for 500+ washes?! They last a long time but not forever.
Awesome! I’ll make sure to look for your specific brand 🙂 When I looked last time they were sold out. But they’re back in stock now. Hooray! Thanks for the tips.
I’ve been after my husband to use these instead of dryer sheets. Toxic city!
I don’t use dryer sheets unless they are the Mrs. Meyers brand because of all of the reasons you listed! However, I have not invested in any dryer balls. Currently, I am using rolled up socks with essential oils on them… lol I’m cheap. I am sure these would be worth the investment.
I just ordered some wool dryer balls, I have been transitioning our house to green products as well. I love adding some essential oils to them. Thanks for sharing!
I have a dozen wool dryer balls that I love for pillows! Keeps them nice and fluffy!
I switched over to dryer balls a couple years ago and think my clothes hold up better without the dryer sheets. Stress Away from Young Living smells amazing on dryer balls!
We don’t use dryer sheets because they make my skin break out. Will be trying these dryer balls sounds perfect.
I’m sure you’re reacting to all of those harsh chemicals. Yeah, give them a try 🙂
I have not heard of these balls before. I like the idea of adding essential oils.
Hi Ellen – thanks for commenting 🙂 A great way to use the oils is have 3 balls with one scent (like lavender) and 2 balls with another scent (like orange).
Ironically, I JUST bought dryer balls…and now I’m so glad I did! Holy moly I had NO clue that dryer sheets were THAT bad and toxic…ewe! Ain’t nobody got time for that!
Coming Up Roses
Yeah, It’s pretty crazy how unsafe they are.
Thanks for sharing! I have really been wondering if they are worth getting or not. I am going to try! 🙂
They’ve definitely been worth it for me so far 🙂
I am plagued by static cling, so I’ve been using dryer sheets forever, but I’m going to give these wool balls a try. Thanks so much for sharing this great alternative!
I hear you! Let me know how they work for you 🙂
I haven’t tried the wool ones. We use the plastic ones with the little fingers. I’d love to get a set of wool ones, because sometimes the ones I have go missing!
I used to use the plastic balls years ago and they went missing too. I like that the wool balls are more eco friendly too, so that’s why I went with these ones 🙂
I love dryer balls! Been using them for years!
Nice! Good to hear.
Yes! I started using these a few years ago when I started using cloth diapers. So much better in every aspect!
I’ve heard so many great things about dyer balls but have yet to try them out. This was very informative.
YES! I’ve been meaning to try these out for so long. We ditched dryer sheets years ago, and I’ve just dealt with the little static we get. I want to try dropping some yummy essential oils on them for a fresh scent too.
These definitely take care of the static. Give them a try!
Thanks for sharing, I was wondering how well the wool dryer balls worked, in happy to hear they work so wel!
Yeah, I’d been wondering too so when I saw them in the store I had to pick them up to try them out. I’ve already gotten rid of the dryer sheets as the balls work really well.
I love the idea of adding essential oils to the dryer ball! So smart!
I have never heard about these! Yes, dryer sheets are very wasteful but I felt I had no choice but to use them. I must say that I never really looked for an alternative. I’m definitely going to order these and pinning this post to share.
Thanks for sharing this! You won’t regret picking these up. They are great!
So glad I read your post today. I am changing a lot of products in our home to healthier, cleaner, greener options but totally didn’t get to the dryer sheets yet. I will be adding these to my
Amazon order for sure.
I’ve used tennis balls, and a plastic spikey dryer ball before, but never wool! I’ve seen them at Winners/Homesense/Marshall’s before but never thought to try them! I’ll have to grab some on my next visit.
Yeah I’m really liking them. They do a great job! See what you think 🙂