zerowaste
Discussing ways to reduce waste and build community!
Celebrate thrift as a virtue, talk about creative ways to make do, or show off how you reused something!
The link provided doesn't actually lead to a study or anything. It just leads to a website that repeats the same claim about dryer efficiency.
Here's a link to a consumer review org that actually tested it with standardized loads and measured drying times. They don't work, takes just as long and cost the same in electricity.
https://www.choice.com.au/home-and-living/laundry-and-cleaning/dryers/articles/dryer-ball-review
It's sad that nowadays most "reviews" are just going by feelz and not by numbers. The placebo is strong with this category.
I switched to dryer balls several years ago and haven't looked back. I do still have an old box of dryer sheets that I sometimes use with extremely static-causing things but the balls are usually enough. Some people like to soak a few drops of essential oil into the balls as well if you like a little fragrance.
I haven't noticed any issues with the balls banging into more delicate clothes. If you worry about delicates or piling, I would recommend line drying or using a garment bag to wash and dry them. For piling you can also use a fabric shaver designed to trim them off.
But ultimately, clothes just wear out especially when washing, piling and fading are signs of wear. Clothes I want to preserve I wash on delicate, use the fancy detergent (Woolite), try to skip a wash or two by just hang things to "air out" a bit between washes, and hang to dry.
Just adding a tip related to the natural lifespan of clothing!
Machine-drying destroys clothes. Hang-dry your stuff (if climate and living space allow), or at least just your nice clothes, and they will easily last decades.
This is assuming they are properly made clothes from the start, but it’ll also expand the life of random polyester crap as well. Just not as dramatically.
