# Dryer balls? Really? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 27, 2011, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-balls-really/607561 "2011-12-27T20:50:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@cards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cards)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-balls-really/607561/1 "2011-12-27T20:50:09Z")
Looks like marketing BS to me (and I should know, I’m in marketing), mixed reviews here: > **[Dryer Balls Reviews](https://www.thriftyfun.com/tf92587121.tip.html)** > > Positive and negative reviews of Dryer Balls. So anybody know what the operating theory is here for why they be more effective than the tennis ball idea? Any experience with this type product? ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-balls-really/607561/2 "2011-12-27T21:13:25Z")
Sounds like a variation on [laundry balls](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/944/do-laundry-balls-really-work). ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-balls-really/607561/3 "2011-12-27T21:18:12Z")
My balls are dry enough, thank yew. ---
**Author:** ![Al\_Bundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@Al\_Bundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al_Bundy)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-balls-really/607561/4 "2011-12-27T22:26:21Z")
I thought it was a scam until I read and thought more about it. A dryer operates like a furnace with your clothes as the heat exchanger. Much of the heat goes up the flue, contributing to the relative inefficiency of dryers. If the dryer balls can help distribute the heat before escaping, the efficiency would increase. In theory I can see possibilities. I still have no evidence and a test would be needed. A novice could make tests by washing and drying X number of pounds of clothes and testing the dry time. Some dryers have a setting that stops at a certain dryness level. This would make the test easy. I’m not ready to upchuck with $9 for rubber balls though. I’d test it with tennis balls first or maybe half a dozen if I had the balls! ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-balls-really/607561/5 "2011-12-27T22:30:24Z")
We use them all the time. I couldn’t convince my wife that laundry sheets left an unpleasant waxy residue on the laundry and was a safety hazard because it blocked the lint trap. Enter the laundry balls. They don’t work, but aren’t harmful, so that’s a plus, and they were a one time purchase rather than a constant expense. Of course the amount of ignorance in the world has increased, which is a bad thing, but my towels are more absorbant and feel better, and I’m saving money on dryer sheets, so I’m calling it a win. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-balls-really/607561/6 "2011-12-27T22:34:37Z")
Tried 'em, and I say they are BFD. You still need softening products, and I don’t see that they shorten the drying time any. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-balls-really/607561/7 "2011-12-27T22:50:06Z")
> [@Al\_Bundy](#): > > I thought it was a scam until I read and thought more about it. A dryer operates like a furnace with your clothes as the heat exchanger. Much of the heat goes up the flue, contributing to the relative inefficiency of dryers. If the dryer balls can help distribute the heat before escaping, the efficiency would increase. In theory I can see possibilities. Did you ever think of all the “distribution” of heat that the tumbling clothes do? If you want more, why not add another sock? 2 socks? Is there anything a ball-shaped object will do that a sock won’t, and will it redistribute heat in a beneficial manner? This is total, absolute bullshit. It doesn’t pass the sniff test. ---
**Author:** ![Bartman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@Bartman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bartman)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-balls-really/607561/8 "2011-12-28T01:03:07Z")
I use them. I’ve never noticed much of an improvement in drying time or softness. So for those they seem to be a waste of money. However they do seem to break up tangles and the like better than just a normal load without them. So my laundry comes out of the dryer less wrinkled. Also some large items like my comforter used to get tangled and not dry evenly. I used to have to manually re-adjust it in the cycle from time to time or spots would remain wet. With the balls in I don’t have to do that, and the comforter dries evenly. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-balls-really/607561/9 "2011-12-28T01:13:02Z")
> [@Bartman](#): > > However they do seem to break up tangles and the like better than just a normal load without them. So my laundry comes out of the dryer less wrinkled. Also some large items like my comforter used to get tangled and not dry evenly. I used to have to manually re-adjust it in the cycle from time to time or spots would remain wet. With the balls in I don’t have to do that, and the comforter dries evenly. Have you tried a tennis ball? Golf ball? Softball? Old sneaker? ---
**Author:** ![Bartman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@Bartman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bartman)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-balls-really/607561/10 "2011-12-28T02:00:12Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Have you tried a tennis ball? Golf ball? Softball? Old sneaker? Nope. Got the dryer balls as a free gift. Never thought of trying anything else. I expect a couple of tennis balls would work just as well though. ---
**Author:** ![thelabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@thelabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelabdude)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-balls-really/607561/11 "2011-12-28T03:23:51Z")
My wife has been using them and they seem to eliminate the need for dryer sheets. My clothes seem to come out soft enough. I think they are less likely to end up in the laundry basket and accessible to the puppy. They likely would stand up better to the puppy and less likely to have harmful chemicals or cause a blockage if swallowed. I have no idea of how quickly the clothes dry. You might find something cheaper and just as effective in the toy or pet supply department. I would think tennis balls would be too light to do much.