Friendsheep Wool Dryer Balls, Organic Reusable Fabric Softener Alternative for Laundry, Handmade, Fair Trade, Hypoallergenic, Eco-Friendly, Plastic-Free (6 Pack XL – Busy Bees)

I've been using plastic dryer balls for a long while. I like the fun shapes they come in but after a year or two the nubs start coming off and they fall apart. Then I saw these. They cost a lot more than plastic and I wondered if they were worth it. I still don't know. They are cute - it's a small indulgence, but I'm not going to use plain dryer balls - the fun ones amuse me and we like to give them personalities - it makes the drudgery of laundry more fun. So, here's this band of penguins, I'll try them out. They're a bit heavier than plastic balls but the dryer doesn't mind. The clothes come out the same, I don't see any actual improvement in drying time or clothes fluffiness over plastic balls. Haven't had these as long as the plastic balls, so I can't say how long they'll last. The internet says 2-5 years, of course, the internet also says these will decrease drying time. Maybe they're more environmentally friendly, I haven't done the research so I don't know. I'm guessing the sheep wish you'd stick to plastic, or maybe they enjoy a good shave? Overall, we like these. They do a good job - the same as a plastic ball would do. Fluffy static free (unless it's polyester then good luck) clothes, no decrease in dryer time and fun characters to improve your laundry life. These would also be a cute hostess/wedding/birthday/whatever gift. UPDATE (Aug 2019 - about 1 year later) : I added pictures to show how well these are holding up. The cute penguins have come off some of them and partially worn off others but the dryer balls are still going strong. Meanwhile, several of my plastic dryer balls have fallen apart (yes, I love dryer balls) so I'll be sticking with wool from now on. I do wish they'd sew the characters on the dryer balls or something as I enjoy the bit of personality they add to the dryer balls.

The penguins are as cute as the picture, they are the perfect size, and they keep my laundry from getting tangled and creased in the dryer, and there is no scent that I can smell on my clothing, etc. No fabric softener product needed, drying time is shorter, no more wrinkles, no static cling, etc.

I love these dryer balls! They do everything they say they do. These dryer balls dry the laundry much faster than without them. I would say probably 20 minutes faster, and they don't need to go back in again. I love that they are organic and reusable. I also love that it reduces wrinkles and static cling. I haven't used any essential oils on them yet, but I like that I have the option. The only thing I don't like about these is the noise they make in the dryer. It's loud. But for how much faster things dry, and all the other benefits, its worth it. I would definitely recommend!

I've been thinking of getting wool dryer balls literally for years now. Now that I've used this set for the first few loads of laundry - I really wish that I had taken the plunge way back then! As I write this review the Southwestern USA is being plagued with strong, warm and dry Santa Ana winds. There are terrible fires raging across California and Mexico. It's so dry that chapstick fades in under 30 minutes and my oily skin absorbs a thick layer of castor oil overnight to keep me from waking up feeling like a mummy. I cannot drink enough water, is how dry it is. So, I wasn't sure this was the best time to give these dryer balls a fair shot. My expectations were low low low. However, shockingly, these amazing penguins (I got the adorable penguins!) pulled through and very much impressed me. The static here is so bad, and we have terribly hard water. Clothes come out staticy and rough. Typically I would toss in 5 dryer sheets a load to make the clothes feel soft and to keep static at bay, but when the weather is dry like this we often use liquid softener AND sheets. So, although some people may think - Oh, she used a sheet... that's cheating! - you will have better perspective on where our laundry is starting off before moving over to these woolen balls. In the few loads I ran this weekend, I used no liquid, and a single sheet + these 6 balls to dry and the clothes came out softer than I have ever felt them and not a lick of static. As I walk around the house - not in stocking feet - I am shocking my sweet boyfriend every time I touch him or we hug, but these loads of laundry came out static free! I am in awe! Let's run through some pros and cons: Pros: 1. This is a good deal - $15-20 and you have these reusable balls for hundreds - perhaps thousands - of loads of laundry. Boxes of sheets are probably a few dollars a box for the smallest cheapest sheets! You are going to earn your money back and then begin to save money back FAST with these dryer balls. Depending on your household size and the weather you have - it may be faster than other folks, but I know ours will be "paid off" in a couple months at most 2. Great performance! If I can see these results with the weather we have out here in the southwestern desert... I imagine other folks will be able to omit the single sheet of softener easily - in fact I will be trying that out soon, too! (and I will update my review) 3. Feel good - Being green factor: we all know that the more we do where we aren't buying single use items, we aren't buying stuff wrapped in packaging over and over, we aren't throwing stuff away all the time that will not decompose properly - the better it is for all of us in general. This stuff is reusable, from a natural source and although there was a little plastic wrapper on the package I imagine I am going to use these natural, chemical free penguins for years. No fumes, no residue, less waste, fewer grocery store trips, fewer online orders - It's a win-win-win... 4. This set has a great bag to wrangle the balls and keep them dust-free in your laundry room. Our laundry room is in the garage. Our garage, out here in the countryside with critters that roam around the property, is often open and gets covered in red dust. This bag keeps things neat in a place where we don't leave ANYTHING we don't want covered in red dirt for longer than a few hours tops. I appreciate this. 5. Let's me use my essential oils. Over the years I have come to love my oils and have gotten the rest of the household to appreciate them as well. We repel insects, we freshen carpets, we atomize into the air for relaxation/invigoration and it's lovely to move that into the laundry room, too. I dab some lavender oil on each ball and things smell nice and real. I like it a lot. 6. Okay, okay, okay! I love that these are penguins! I have dark clothes mostly so I like the dark to prevent white lint on my dark work clothes, but I also love how cute they are. When you work long hours, commute for hours each day, well... sometimes it's the little things. I smile whenever I see these penguins even though I am doing a mundane task during my snippet of free time. That's a nice perk to me. Cons: I haven't experienced any issues aside from hearing a bit of a muffled *bumpity bump bump* from the garage when these guys are bouncing around with the laundry, but I am very good about updating my reviews whenever I do. The only con I can think of off the bat is that yes, you are typically going to pay about $20 up front vs. $4-8 bucks for a box of sheets. Since most of us have budgets and bills to pay, that is a consideration. So, bottom line: I am sold on these guys! I am excited to try NO dryer sheets (again, right now in this weather I was using one + the 6 balls) and I am also a bit inspired to try some more natural laundry soap. I will update this review with how these go in the longer run and after I try more things. Also, please know I always update my reviews when things go awry. That said - I definitely think these guys are 110% worth a shot at saving you money, making your clothes nice and avoiding chemicals. Give it a whirl! :-) And good luck! Side note: I usually use Aura Cacia and NOW essential oils, but I have used these with the Woolzies oils so far as they were less costly and I thought they would suffice for laundry. They smell good and I've been pleased so far. The two I have tried are: Woolzies Jasmine essential oil Blend 100% natural , Therapeutic grade and Woolzies Lavender 100% NATURAL Pure Essential oil - 2 pack - 1 Fl oz per bottle and these smell lovely with the laundry. I believe the Jasmine is a blend, so I wouldn't necessarily recommend either of these on your skin - always be careful with using oils "therapeutically" - but on laundry especially vs. dryer sheets - these are a great healthy upgrade and are very affordable too. That said, use good judgment and if these oils make you itchy or anything - avoid! Good luck! UPDATE 12/24/2017: I've happily used these little guys for the last couple more weekends of laundry. I adore them, but I am still playing around and learning how to use them. I have tried no dryer sheets - the laundry was soft but with our weather there was static. I tried Mrs Meyers dryer sheets for the first time - smelled amazing! - sadly they did nada for the static. I even tried using 2 per load and it didn't help. I may try more but not sure it's much better than just tossing one chemically laden sheet + the 6 balls in each load. For now the balls and 1 sheet is my method but I will keep testing new things and will come back when I have news to share. Good luck, fellow launderers! :-) UPDATE 01/30/2018: I've been using these for awhile now and I still love them. I haven't found a compromise to having to use a single sheet along with the balls to combat the static cling we are experiencing but it's still Santa Anas off and on all winter. This week it got to the 80s in January - and it's been very windy. That said these balls help. My laundry dries faster and it dries with fewer wrinkles. Especially blankets that used to ball up more seem to dry more quickly. And smaller loads or items that are very light and cling to the edge of the dryer - sort of perma pressing themselves flat and actually getting wrinkles in the dryer - seem to come out free of wrinkles because the balls toss the light clothes about, keeping them from clumping. I dab oil on them about every weekend - the time I do laundry - and they give off a pleasant odor, though I cannot say the clothes smell strongly, they do smell clean and fresh. I am very pleased and fully recommend these to others and will order more when these perish, but for the time being they still look like new, no pills or anything. :-)

These are so cute and easy to use. They do a great job of helping my clothes dry more quickly than before. I used to have to run the dryer twice before everything was dry and with these I can run it once. My clothes come out soft. They don't make any additional noise in the dryer and seem to be a great quality. Love that they'll pay for themselves many times over since I don't have to buy dryer sheets.

I’m not sure why they are called XL. When I first learned about these years ago they were really hard to find. It was easier and more cost effective to make my own. I can’t seem to find them now and see these for sale everywhere. I purchased some from Grove Collaborative and they left lint all over everything. I hated them. My dog ended up stealing them for himself. I held off on buying new ones for years because I can’t seem to find ones that are as large as they are supposedly supposed to be. From what my research tells me they should be the size of a soft ball. These aren’t. They are the size of a baseball so I’m not sure what is extra large about them. Aside from that beef I have with the supposed size they do work well. I was worried about getting anything with color since half of our wardrobes are light or white in color. So far I see no color transfer at all. I’ve seen people complain about them smelling but I smell nothing. They definitely speed up the dry time. Typically my towels take 45 minutes to dry and I have a dryer that’s less than 2 years old. I do not use fabric softener on my towels. (You’re not supposed to at all anyhow, you can’t dry yourself with a towel that has had fabric softener on it, the water doesn’t absorb into the fabric.) Using these dryer balls my towels are dry in less than 30 minutes depending on the humidity. I use more than one set in my dryer too because I’m still wondering why they are so small. My only real issue with them is they get stuck in side my laundry quite often. I find them stuck in the sleeves of shirts in every load. When I made my own and made them the size of a soft ball they didn’t do that as often. It would only happen maybe every 3 or 4 loads. These get stuck in every single load I do. I have to be careful because when I’m removing the laundry sometimes they fall out onto the floor and my dog tries to take them. They do make great and safe dog balls but not for the price they are. (I do see on their website they sell seconds so you can use “ugly” balls in your laundry for less or give them to your dog to play with. I am excited to get some but they are currently sold out.) Lastly I really love that they are as eco friendly as they can be. Their packaging and bags are all plastic free. I’m not sure what the thing is on the end of the tie string, it looks like some kind of nut shell, very unique and neat looking!

I had been meaning to buy wool dryer balls for a while. I am definitely still a big fan of dryer sheets for most loads but don't like to use them for my toddler's laundry because of perfume sensitivity issues, and her clothes were getting so static-y and rough. And obviously dryer sheets aren't great for towels. I was kind of hesitant to buy the Friendsheep ones because they are noticeably more expensive than some of the cheaper brands...but they are just so cute! And I certainly appreciate the lengths the company goes to to make sure they're ethically sourced. I can't speak to whether they work better than other, cheaper brands, but they certainly work well. No linting, even on the first load (the instructions admit that there may be some linting the first time you use them and suggest using them with a load the same color as the balls), and a substantial decrease in static and increase in softness. I certainly have not noticed any sort of wet wool smell (I do not use them with essential oils because of the aforementioned perfume sensitivity issue). I did not notice a large decrease in drying time - I used them, as directed, with the moisture detection setting on my dryer, and it was maaaaaybe a few (2-3?) minutes shorter but nothing substantial like I have sometimes seen advertised - but my dryer is pretty new and already fairly energy-efficient. I admit I do find the bonking noise a little bit annoying (our laundry room is very poorly soundproofed) but I mean, they're dryer balls. That's kind of part of the description.

Does the job, very adorable, still trying to figure out what to name them