Woolly-Woolly Mammoth Dryer Balls

The idea of “Woolly-Woollys” (TM Leslie Ford) came to me when we were not only out of dryer sheets, but low on funds to purchase more and even if we did have the funds, Joshua had the van for work and the laundry was a tad on the mountainous side.

        So I looked up alternatives to using dryer sheets. I found one claim that if you take three sheets of aluminum (about 1 foot each) and ball them up as tight as you can and throw them in with your wet laundry, then you will end up with soft and static free clothes without the harshness of the chemicals of typical dryer sheets. I tried it out and it did work, that is until I kept losing the ball that ended up becoming about the size of a golf ball after about a week.

        Then came the doubt as to the healthiness of such an idea. You may have heard or read about the connection aluminum has to alzheimer’s, and unfortunately it even runs in my family, so the fear weed started to spread.

        “What if drying all of our clothes with a ball of aluminum is causing the aluminum to leach out and we are now wearing aluminum and absorbing it!?”

       After all, studies confirmed that it was adding heat to the aluminum (via cooking with it or putting hot food in/on it) that caused the leaching, so it’s not too crazy (of me) to think there might be something there when i'm adding heat to wet clothes…

       So just to be safe I continued to look for a better option and I found wool dryer balls. The best ones are made from virgin wool felt and I am a knitter/crocheter and figured that if there ever was a legit excuse for a trip to the craft store, this was it! I found a handful of brilliant colors for not too bad a price at Michael’s craft store and off I went to make them.

Here is my Woolly-Woolly caterpillar!

 

        I had heard that they could last anywhere from a couple of months to several years- I think it really depends on how well they are made/felted and what you personally deem to be “done for”. Because honestly, all of mine look like *fuzzy sea urchins but they still bang out the extra moisture, resulting in shorter drying time, and as long as I don’t over-dry the load they keep the static away, which were among the top benefits of wool dryer balls.

Here are my fuzzy sea urchins today (going on 2 years since I have bought dryer sheets!)

Other bonuses are that they are completely natural, environmentally safe, no chemicals, fragrance-free (unless you add essential oils to them, but you certainly don’t have to for them to work) and you can even find some online that are specifically "sheep-aware". Meaning they take really good care of the sheep all the time.

     Think free-range chickens*, the sheep would be in the same category; well cared for and more like pets than just “live stock for business”.

       If you are looking to lessen the amount of chemicals floating around your family and home, give wool dryer balls a try! You can easily make your own or buy some on Amazon or you can probably find them in your local health food store. 

   *If you just can’t stand the fuzzy sea urchin look, just pull off the “spines”/shave them like a wool sweater, BUT be careful! If there is a weak spot in the felting you could unravel it a bit!