DIY Dryer Balls & Their Benefits

I only feel angry when I see waste. When I see people throwing away things we could use.
– Mother Teresa

Do you like to save money? Be healthy? Help the environment? Do you ever have those months or items that you can’t hang your laundry outside? I love hanging our laundry because of the sanitizing power of the sun, my laundry comes in with that wonderful, fresh air smell that a dryer can’t give, and it saves energy AKA money!

There are some things I can’t put on my little drying racks outdoors and in the winter I don’t hang everything, every time because my rack isn’t big enough and I don’t want my clothes to get that mildew smell while it sits in the queue to get dried.  When I use my dryer, I always use our dryer balls.

Benefits of Dryer Balls

Why should your use dryer balls? Let me count the reasons..

• Soften Laundry
  • Since the dryer balls bounce around and hit your clothes, your clothes will come out softer.  No fabric softener needed!  This decreases the toxins on your clothes (and also your skin!) while also decreasing your risk of a fire hazard.
• Decrease Dry Time to Save Money
  • All that jumping around also allows your dryer ball to absorb moisture.  This causes the air in the dryer to be drier and dries your clothes faster. $$
• Decrease Waste
  • When you use dryer sheets, you have to throw out the sheets and the box.  Yes, the box can be recycled, but the real secret to decreasing waste is not using something in the first place.  
• Decrease Toxins
  • Fabric softeners, dryer sheets, and even those scented beads all cause your clothes to be saturated with nasty chemicals to make the smell and soften.  When you see ‘fragrance’ on a label, this can mean there are hundreds of unlisted ingredients.  These can impact your nervous and endocrine systems.  
• Decrease Allergies
  • Pollen and dust can build up in our pillows and on our bedding.  Dryer balls help to beat all of this out and make your clothes cleaner!

Winter is one of the most magical times of year to me. In Germany, there are so many things to keep busy with even when the cold weather and snow set in. This year, 2018, we headed over to Köln (Cologne) to explore. There are some medieval castles over there and one of their Christmas Markets was elf themed, so we had to go!

On our first day, we drove to see Burg Eltz. This is a really neat old castle that has managed to stay untouched by wars and any other chaos. It is also owned by the same family that built it 850 years ago!  It is surrounded by the Eltz Forest, which you could hike around and soak in it’s beauty all day.  If you walk down the road from the parking lots to the castle, you will see a small ruin.  This is from the 1330s and was used as a siege castle when the family was having a feud.  From here, catapults and heavy stone balls were thrown at Burg Eltz for five years.

DIY Version

I had bought some wool to crochet winter beanies with. I and my family quickly realized these were way too itchy and not acceptable for our heads. (oops) I wanted more dryer balls and needed to use up some yarn, so I decided to make some more!

 

What you need:

• Wool Yarn
• Panty Hose
• Twine or other string

1. First, start by rolling the yarn onto your finger. When you have enough, pull it off and start to roll the yarn the opposite way so you have a square of sorts.
2. Once your dryer ball is about the size of a tennis ball or a little larger, tuck the tail of the yarn in somewhere so that the yarn doesn’t unravel when you’re trying to felt it.
3. When you have a ball completed, put it in the pantyhose, pull the pantyhose tight, and tie off the section with your twine.  Keep it as tight as possible.
4. Repeat this for however many balls you have made (I recommend three minimum).
5. I throw these suckers in with each HOT load of laundry I do (whites, towels, and sheets).  You can also just throw them in and wash them on HOT, but I feel this is too wasteful.  Heating water takes energy and then using water for no purpose besides this makes me cringe.  I do this 4-5 times so it takes about a week for me (I save up my towels and wash all the sheets for this purpose!)

Voila my friends! You cute the pantyhose, you can add some essential oils or dry oils if you please to make your laundry smell good, and throw them in the dryer with your next load of laundry!  Now your clothes will come out static free and smelling great!

Do you use dryer balls? Have you ever made them yourself? Tell me below!

Thanks for reading guys!! I appreciate it and hope you enjoyed this post. 🙂