Dryer balls claim to solve some of your worst laundry problems, such as shortening dry times and keeping your clothes from clumping during the cycle. They contain far fewer chemicals, serve as a natural fabric softener, and are better for the environment than those single-use dryer sheets. But do they really work?
When we first started researching, we discovered dryer balls can be a bit of an internet rabbit hole, with so many different shapes and sizes. So we took to Reviewed's lab to see if they can improve your laundry loads, and find which ones are the best to buy.
After multiple loads of laundry, and several softened band T-shirts later, the Budieggs Wool Dryer Balls (available at Amazon) are our top pick for because of their build and wool quality, as well as their ability to soften. While there are unlimited dryer ball brands out there you can purchase, we found these basic and organic eco-friendly dryer balls were the best path to keeping your laundry fresh.
These are the best dryer balls we tested ranked, in order.
Budieggs Wool Dryer Balls
Smart Sheep Wool Dryer Balls
How We Tested
What You Should Know About Dryer Balls
Other Dryer Balls We Tested
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Reduced drying time
Durable
Hypoallergenic
Left some items damp
Needs high dry times for heavy loads
Organic wool
Eco-friendly
High-quality construction
Needs longer drying times
Left some items damp
The Budieggs Dryer Balls had several leads on the competition.
Smart Sheep is made by women and minorities who are paid a living wage.
Our lab team spent weeks laundering towels, t-shirts, and a queen-size comforter to find the best dryer balls.
I’m Cailey Lindberg, a Reviewed staff writer, and lifelong New Englander who has a four-month-old basset hound puppy. Because he sheds on everything, I was interested in products that would eliminate pet hair without obsessively running a lint roller over my black clothing. I currently test, edit, and write about products for Reviewed, as well as dive deep into the inner workings of the restaurant industry over at Boston-based software company, Toast.
We brought Sandor home two months ago and quickly learned just how much basset hounds shed, especially with the mild and bizarre winter we’ve had this year in Boston. No matter how many dryer sheets I used, nothing would get the puppy hair off my laundry. In an effort to help other pet parents and reduce drying times for people who simply avoid doing laundry until Sunday evening, we decided to test a bunch of dryer balls to see which ones are most effective on your laundry.
The testing for dryer balls was intensive and our lab team spent weeks laundering towels, T-shirts, and a queen-size comforter over and over again in a Maytag washing machine and LG dryer. Each load was weighed before and after each wash and dried for exactly 40 minutes on a normal cycle. For every set of dryer balls, we dried each of the three loads on a timed dry cycle and measured its post-dry weight. A tennis ball was also included in each load for comparison.
In addition to the more extensive lab testing, I brought the dryer balls home and used them in my day-to-day laundry life using my GE dryer. My testing load included multiple Tool band T-shirts, along with a few pairs of black yoga leggings covered in puppy hair. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the pet hair was greatly reduced once I removed my load and that the once stiff band tees felt soft to the touch.
We found that dryer balls can produce quite a bit of static electricity when used in your laundry. Through this mishap, we discovered that when using dryer balls, it is wise to reduce your normal drying time by 10 minutes to prevent this. If you’ve already over-dried your load, wetting the wool dryer balls and running your dryer for a few minutes should eliminate any residual static.
Dryer balls are capable of reducing lint and pet hair, which I found to be accurate during testing. My black leggings, always completely covered in basset hound puppy hair, were completely shed free after using wool dryer balls. If you have sensitive skin, dryer balls are a much better alternative to dryer sheets.
Essential oils can be added to some dryer balls to make your laundry smell better. Lower temperatures can also be used with dryer balls as opposed to dryer sheets, which prevents damage to your clothes. Wool dryer balls also have significantly fewer chemicals than traditional dryer sheets and will minimize waste since they are reusable, effectively lowering your energy bill.
Tennis balls were traditionally used to speed up drying time and to add some extra fluff to your laundry. During testing, we found that tennis balls are most useful for heavier items, such as comforters and towels, but fell short in terms of making your laundry soft. Extra-large dryer balls may also work well for bulkier items, but during our testing, we found tennis balls are a better way to go.
While some manufacturers recommend new tennis balls to prevent your comforter’s down from lumping together, according to Lifehacker, the Soap and Detergent Association is not in support of this practice. Take care when using a new tennis ball with your comforter, as it can stain if the dye melts from the heat.
Dryer balls are capable of reducing lint and pet hair, which we found to be accurate during testing.
Using dryer balls is simple, add them to your machine and watch them work. Adding dryer balls to your washing machine will effectively separate your laundry, which allows more heat in. Six or more dryer balls may be needed to properly dry your laundry for a large load. For small loads, 3 or fewer dryer balls should suffice.
Keep in mind that dryer balls are not as effective on large loads because they need space to work properly. One downside to dryer balls is that they will make quite a bit of noise in your dryer. Replace your wool dryer balls every 1,000 loads (or 2-3 years time) to keep them working and looking their best.
When it comes to wool dryer balls versus dryer sheets, wool dryer balls win out overall. According to RealSimple, wool dryer balls are the most effective at reducing drying time. They also minimize wrinkles and static when used properly, as well as reducing your drying time by 10 to 25 percent.
Wool dryer balls are heavier and separate your clothes better, which leads to shorter drying times. Plastic dryer balls will not be as noisy during drying, but they did not perform as well as the wool dryer balls in our tests. Overall, we found that the plastic dryer balls we tested left clothes damp, even when put on longer dry times.
Unique design
Durable material
Quiet during drying cycles
Average drying power
Left some items damp
Baby safe
Chemical free
Inexpensive
Flimsy design
Cheap wool
Organic wool
Chemical free
Can be used with essential oils
Poor drying power
Overpriced
Cailey Lindberg
Staff Writer, Updates
Cailey Lindberg is a Staff Writer at Reviewed and full-time Dog Mom to @sandor_thebassethound. In her spare time, she publishes her personal writing on Medium.
We use standardized and scientific testing methods to scrutinize every product and provide you with objectively accurate results. If you’ve found different results in your own research, email us and we’ll compare notes. If it looks substantial, we’ll gladly re-test a product to try and reproduce these results. After all, peer reviews are a critical part of any scientific process.
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