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Showing posts with label dryer balls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dryer balls. Show all posts

Monday, September 28, 2015

**REVIEW** Feeling Fluffy Handmade 100% Premium Organic Wool XL Dryer Balls

I've heard about people using dryer balls as an alternative to dryer sheets, but this was my first chance to dry such a product.

This is what the Premium Organic Wool Dyer Balls from Feeling Fluffy look like:


These are the 100% Organic Wool XL Dryer Balls and are 3 inches in diameter - but not heavy.

Nice touch!

Let me get something out of the way right off the bat (or ball, heh heh): While I do like using natural food and beauty products, I'm not always as picky about my laundry products. All I really care about with that is whether or not the product works and is affordable. However, I know that some people do care about things being natural and organic - maybe for health reasons. So, for those with those concerns, here are some benefits of this product:
  • Chemical-free
  • Hypoallergenic
  • PVC-free
  • No synthetic fibers
  • Eco-friendly
These dryer balls are made of 100% New Zealand wool.

The first thing that struck me about these is the size. Even though the dryer balls are not heavy, I was curious as to how much noise they would make in the dryer. And that's when I was still assuming I'd be using only one ball at a time. When I read the instructions to use all 6 dryer balls, I was sure that, no matter how light weight, they would bang around the dryer like a pair of tennis shoes.

The second thing I wondered about was whether or not I'd really need to use all 6 balls for a load of clothes.

So, how'd my product tryout go?

I washed a mixed load of 4 pairs of jeans, 3 light poly-knit shirts, a pullover, a pair of knit track pants, 6 panties, a pair of tights and a light hoodie. That's a heavier load of clothes than I usually do, but I wanted to see how the dryer balls would work on that many items.

(Oh - and are they noisy in the dryer? Nope, not at all. I tested that by running the dryer for a just a moment with only the jeans to see if the dryer balls would be noisy with a small load of clothes.)

By the way, since I dried the clothes on a timer, I can't tell you whether my drying time was improved or not. My bad. However, I can tell you that I set the timer for 30 minutes on a medium-low temp and didn't get back to the dryer for at least an hour after it went off. I'll get back to that in a minute.

My results? The clothes were super, super soft. Even my jeans came out softer and feeling great. 

There was no static and - this kind of surprised me - the dryer balls didn't pick up the lint and coloring that dryer sheets sometimes do. But the softness was the biggest benefit that I liked.

Okay, remember I had left the clothes untended for a while after the dryer went off? When I've done that with a dryer sheet, I've had to re-tumble the clothes (or, sometimes, even toss in an ice-cube or wet towel) to remove wrinkling. I didn't have that problem with the dryer balls. I think it must be because they left my clothes so much softer.

Can't say enough how I love the way my clothes felt (especially my jeans). I can't wait to do a load of bed clothes now.

I almost didn't think to do a comparison but, because my niece does so much laundry that we tease her about it, I had some of her just-washed clothing to check mine against. There was a huge difference in the feel of the clothes. 

My niece uses a well-known brand of dryer sheet. Of course, she has to buy them from a club store because she goes through them at a phenomenal rate... (This woman's washer and dryer are almost never at rest. I'm not kidding, I think we are going to need to do an intervention one day!)

Now, like I said, I don't really care about how organic my dryer sheets are, but I do care about saving money. 

For myself, I do the bulk of my laundry around once every other week. I will hand-launder underwear about twice a week if I need to. It's not easy catching the machines empty! Still, that's using up a dryer sheet for every load of laundry. With my niece, you can see how the cost of dryer sheets adds up. Even with the amount of laundry I do, I will save quite a bit by not having to buy dryer sheets.

My personal preferences aside, I'm glad that there is something available for people who do have to worry about allergies and other health issues. I'm also glad that when a product is re-usable. And that leads me to probably the only questions I have:
  • How often will I need to replace these (if ever)?
  • Can I use fewer dryer balls with smaller loads of laundry?
  • Do I need to wash the dryer balls every now and then?
I'd like to see basic information like this just printed on the product label. The label that came with my item didn't have the 24-hour phone number for questions.

To get some of the information I wanted, I checked answers to questions submitted by other users via the Amazon product page (answers are from Brijati Products Co.)

  • For the best results we recommend using all 6 dryer balls at the same time. This allows less fabric to fabric rubbing while drying (which ensures no static buildup), a quicker drying process, and softer feeling clothes.
  •  You will need to replace them once you see their size begin to diminish. After several thousand loads they will get smaller and this will not allow them to be as efficient. (my underline)
This product is excellent and new so I'm sure that the company will probably work on improving the labeling that comes with their item. That's just my picky 2-cents' worth. 

Speaking of money...  A large box of dryer sheets from Walmart up here can run 5 bucks - or more. For someone like my niece - with an active little boy (who goes through clothes like we own Old Navy) and her husband (who has to be kept in clean business shirts and pants) - getting even 6 months' use out of the dryer balls would save her a fortune.

A one-time purchase of the dryer balls matches the cost of 3 boxes of those dryer sheets - dryer sheets that you will throw away after using once. And the dryer balls come minus the chemicals and synthetic fibers - but with a 100% money-back guarantee. You can get a refund with no questions asked. Period.

I mentioned in my review on Amazon that, as much as I like some of the products I get to try out, I don't always end up purchasing or using them regularly. This is going to be one of those items that my family and I will continue to use. I like the dryer balls that much.

I'm just so happy with how soft my clothes are. This is one case of the whole "natural" and "organic" thing is just a plus. I'm all about my soft jeans right now! When I do another load of clothes, I will test out using just a few of the dryer balls. Then I will update this review to let you know what my results were...

Peace
--Free


DISCLOSURE: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.