# Dryer balls: do they work? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 14, 2010, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-balls-do-they-work/550250 "2010-08-14T15:45:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-balls-do-they-work/550250/21 "2013-01-04T16:01:01Z")
We use dryer balls and they do help soften the clothes and get them dry marginally faster. On the downside they are unbelievably noisy. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-balls-do-they-work/550250/22 "2013-01-04T16:17:49Z")
oh no… not chemicals. I’m very scared of words like “chemicals.” ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-balls-do-they-work/550250/23 "2013-01-04T16:29:02Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > oh no… not chemicals. I’m very scared of words like “chemicals.” That’s it. I’m never exposing myself to chemicals again. Ever. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-balls-do-they-work/550250/24 "2013-01-04T16:58:56Z")
I use a homemade dryer ball when drying comforters and pillows. It’s a few densely rolled terry hand towels tied into a ball with cotton twine, about the size of a jar of peanut butter. It’s got some weight to it, but doesn’t bang around the interior of the dryer, it’s more of a gentle thudding. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-balls-do-they-work/550250/25 "2013-01-04T17:06:43Z")
Dryer balls? They make a [powder](http://www.goldbond.com/original-strength-body-powder.html) for that. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-balls-do-they-work/550250/26 "2013-01-04T17:30:54Z")
And I was thinking that the whole secret business of Daddy Dryer meeting Mommy Dryer and the perpetual availability of new baby dryers at Sears would seem to indicate that the dryer balls are functioning properly. 😃 As fas as the purported laundry aids are concerned, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-balls-do-they-work/550250/27 "2013-01-04T17:57:34Z")
I did try a cheeseball once, but the results were less than optimal. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Doom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Dr\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Doom)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-balls-do-they-work/550250/28 "2013-01-04T18:16:12Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > That’s it. I’m never exposing myself to chemicals again. Ever. Apparently sodium bicarbonate is not a chemical. Acetic acid may also be exempt from the nomenclature, but we will have to wait for confirmation on this. Let’s forget anything we know, chemically, about surfactants, and just call it soap. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-balls-do-they-work/550250/29 "2013-01-04T19:25:34Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Are you telling me there are chemicals on those dryer sheets? > > And those chemicals are somehow making their way onto my clothes? > > And I’ve been doing this repeatedly with every laundry load for my entire life! > > I’m really scared now. What if I get cancer, or ADHD, or develop asthma, or rickets or something? Be afraid. I’ll bet your clothes get coated every wash with a chemical called “DHMO” which is a constituent of many poisons and other nasty things. Never noticed white vinegar smell lingering after the wash. Of course, I mostly (rarely) use it to get rid of something worse, cat pee. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-balls-do-they-work/550250.md?page=1)