It’s a question we’ve all asked time and again, along with “what time is it?” and “why are we here?”. Or, at least, it’s a question I’ve asked once or twice. Do dryer balls work? A small spiky ball that, when added to your clothes dryer, is claimed to reduce drying time by up to 25%. They also can be purchased in the form of wool balls, although to be fair, I have to admit I haven’t tried these.
In any case, as you might expect, the results indicate that the answer is a resounding NO.
I’ve done my own experiments which were not terribly precise or scientific and found no discernible improvement. When I searched the web, I found several stories that all seemed to agree that these balls had no appreciable effect on dryer time. The best study I found was done by a high school kid, who followed a fairly solid scientific process.
here is the link to his study:
blogs.sas.com/content/iml/2013/08/12/do-dryer-balls-reduce-drying-time/
There is anecdotal evidence that these balls can effectively soften clothes and perhaps do away with the need for dryer sheets and fabric softeners. But as an energy saver… Nope.
