Dryer Sheets vs. Dryer Balls (Which Is Better for Your Clothes?)

Share this post:

Doing laundry is something that most people take seriously. You don’t want to just throw your clothes in the washing machine and then in the dryer without putting thought into things.

If you want your clothes to smell great and feel fresh, then you need to use the good stuff. This means using the right type of laundry detergent that appeals to you as well as a fabric softener.

Many people also choose to put dryer sheets in with their clothing items when they’re drying their clothes. Dryer sheets help to reduce issues with static cling, and you’ll also love how things smell when you get dryer sheets that have a nice fragrance.

Lately, people have started using products known as dryer balls in lieu of dryer sheets. Dryer balls aren’t necessarily quite as popular or as common as dryer sheets yet, but they’re rapidly gaining popularity.

You might not know much about dryer balls yet or you could just be someone who doesn’t know the difference between them and dryer sheets. Which one of these products will be better for you to purchase?

Examine the information below to figure out whether you should go with dryer sheets or dryer balls. When it comes to the topic of dryer sheets vs dryer balls, there are many different angles that you’ll need to consider.

Dryer Sheets

Dryer sheets have been in use for decades and many people wouldn’t dream of drying clothes without having some handy. You can find dryer sheets at any department store and many other types of stores as well.

These are very common products that are considered to be tried and true. However, there might be some reasons why people will want to start ditching them in favor of dryer balls.

To determine whether dryer sheets are right for you, it’s going to be best to examine things from multiple angles. You’ll want to look at the benefits that dryer sheets bring to the table as well as the potential negatives.

After you’ve seen everything that there is to know about dryer sheets, you’ll be ready to make your own call. You’ll also want to examine the pros and cons of dryer balls later so that you can compare and contrast the two.

Dryer Sheets Soften Your Clothes

One of the best aspects of using dryer sheets has to do with the fact that they soften your clothes. Even if you aren’t using a fabric softener when washing your clothes, it’s going to be wise to at least use dryer sheets.

They can soften your clothes because of the ingredients used to make the sheets. When you turn the dryer on, it activates the dryer sheets and coats your clothing items with a fatty molecule as your clothes dry.

What this does is it keeps your clothes feeling smooth and soft when you touch them. You won’t have to worry about your clothes coming out of the dryer and feeling stiff or uninviting in some way.

This is one of the primary reasons why people buy dryer sheets so often. Even if they aren’t 100% necessary for drying your clothes, they’re going to make the experience more pleasant for you.

Dryer Sheets Reduce Static Cling

Dryer sheets are also known to be able to significantly reduce issues with static cling. Static cling is something that can cause clothes to stick together, and this can even make the clothing items not dry properly in some instances.

If you don’t know what static cling is, then you should just understand that it occurs when electrons become positively charged. Clothing items rub together during the drying process and this can positively charge the electrons and cause things to stick together.

The dryer sheets are there to keep this from happening. They release ions into the dryer that throw off the imbalance of electrons and prevent the static cling from occurring.

You won’t need to worry about clothes getting stuck together or anything such as that when you use dryer sheets. It reduces the static cling so much that it will essentially be a non-issue for you moving forward.

Dryer Sheets Smell Wonderful

If you’ve ever gone shopping for dryer sheets in the past, then you should be aware of how many different kinds there are. You can find dryer sheets that come in many different fragrances for your enjoyment.

One of the best reasons to use dryer sheets will be because you can make your clothes smell nicer. You could buy a lovely lavender-scented dryer sheet that will make your clothing items smell amazing.

If you don’t like lavender, then you can easily find something else that will appeal to you. Perhaps something such as a fresh linen scent will be the perfect option for you.

It’s really wonderful to be able to count on dryer sheets to make your clothes smell the best that they can. If you want to be able to fold your laundry and have it smell as good as it possibly can, then dryer sheets can help you with that.

Dryer Sheets Contain Chemicals

Of course, the big downside to dryer sheets is that they contain chemicals. While you might not consider this to be an inherently bad thing, there are some claims that many dryer sheets contain toxic chemicals.

These chemicals can be bad for the environment and contribute to air pollution in certain ways. Many people shy away from using dryer sheets because they aren’t considered to be eco-friendly.

Sadly, the chemicals can also cause issues with some people who are prone to skin allergies. These chemicals in the dryer sheets could potentially give some people rashes or cause them to have respiratory issues.

Generally, most people don’t experience problems when using standard dryer sheets. If you’ve been using dryer sheets for years and have never had any issues, then it’s likely that you don’t have any negative reactions to the chemicals that are found in dryer sheets.

The awareness of this issue has increased in recent years due to many wanting to find environmentally friendly options for products. If you want to use something that is considered to be green, then you might wish to avoid dryer sheets.

Dryer Sheets Aren’t Reusable

Another reason why dryer sheets aren’t considered to be ideal from an environmental perspective has to do with them being wasteful. You see, dryer sheets are things that you use once and then you throw them away.

They aren’t reusable and this means that they have to keep making dryer sheets. The toll that is taken on the environment from continually making these dryer sheets, packaging them, and shipping them to stores will be significant.

A reusable product would be able to be used time and time again. Only being able to use a dryer sheet once might seem too wasteful for you to want to consider it.

This really comes down to your personal perspective and what you value. If you don’t mind that dryer sheets aren’t reusable and you find them to be convenient, then that’s your decision to make.

Some Say Dryer Sheets Make Towels Less Absorbent

It might be worth mentioning that there are people who claim that using dryer sheets with your towels won’t be a good idea. Essentially, they’re saying that the fatty molecules released by the dryer sheets can be a negative when it comes to towels.

The claim says that the fatty molecules coating the towels will actually cause the towels to become less absorbent than usual. This means that you might not be able to use them to dry yourself off as effectively.

Whether or not this is true, or if it’s significant enough to really make a difference, is unclear. Many people have used dryer sheets with towels for years and never had any issues with towels becoming unabsorbent.

However, it might be possible that the dryer sheets do have a slight negative impact on the towels that many people don’t notice. Consider this an ambiguous claim and take it with a grain of salt.

Dryer Balls

Dryer balls have started to become more popular in recent years. They’re most often made out of wool or plastic.

These dryer balls are designed with a significantly different philosophy. They don’t contain any added compounds, ions, or chemicals.

Most companies tout that the dryer balls are completely natural products. You can use them as a more environmentally conscious alternative to dryer sheets if you so choose.

Before you decide whether dryer balls are worth your time, it’s going to be best to dig into the details. Read the information below to learn about what dryer balls do well and what they aren’t so good at.

Dryer Balls Reduce the Overall Time That It Takes to Dry Clothes

One of the most impressive benefits of using dryer balls has to do with saving you time. You can throw dryer balls in the dryer and they will help to reduce the overall time that it takes to dry your clothes.

This is a really nice little feature that can make drying clothes faster a possibility. If you need to dry your clothes fast so that you can get dressed and go to work, then having dryer balls handy will be nice.

The reason why this works is that dryer balls are designed to help with the tumbling of the dryer. They bounce around inside of your dryer and help to keep the clothes separated so that air can circulate and dry the clothes.

If you were only using dryer sheets, it would take longer to dry the clothes. Dryer balls truly do have at least one benefit that dryer sheets won’t be able to touch.

Dryer Balls Can Reduce Static Cling

Dryer balls are capable of reducing static cling in your clothes. They don’t do this as well as dryer sheets do, though.

By creating separation between the clothing items during the drying process, dryer balls make it less likely that static cling issues will be significant. This should keep items from clinging together and giving you any problems.

You’ll also find that wool dryer balls are capable of holding and absorbing moisture. This can alter the environment inside of the dryer and keep the chances of static issues occurring low.

These dryer balls don’t release ions that can counteract static cling, though. This means that some static cling issues might still happen, but they shouldn’t be bad overall.

Dryer Balls Can Soften Your Clothes a Bit

You’ll be happy to hear that dryer balls can help to soften your clothes at least a bit. They don’t do so in the same way that dryer sheets do, but they still help out.

Dryer balls soften your clothes by tumbling with them in the dryer and helping to fluff the fibers. This can keep your clothes from getting too stiff and it does work out pretty well.

It probably isn’t going to soften your clothes as significantly as fabric softener would, but it does okay. You might not be able to stack dryer balls up next to dryer sheets when looking at the quality of the softening effect, but it’s still significant enough to be a positive thing.

If you want to be able to soften your clothes using a natural product, then dryer balls will appeal to you. They do a good job of softening your clothes a bit while also providing the other benefits mentioned above.

Dryer Balls Can Be Reused

The fact that you’re able to keep using dryer balls multiple times is going to make a difference. You can reuse dryer balls time and time again to help with drying your clothes.

To many people, this is automatically going to make dryer balls more appealing than dryer sheets. Dryer sheets are a product that you will be buying constantly whereas you won’t be buying dryer balls nearly as often.

You could say that dryer balls are even more cost-effective than dryer sheets based on this. Dryer sheets are very affordable, but you probably will save a minor amount of money if you switch to using dryer balls.

Dryer balls being reusable might have more significance to you from an environmental perspective. It’s good to know that this is the best choice that you can make if you care about going green.

Dryer Balls Are Better for the Environment

You know that dryer balls are better for the environment because they can be reused. It’s also important to understand that they don’t cause any air pollution as dryer sheets do.

If you want to use a natural product that isn’t harmful in any way, then dryer balls will be the best choice for you. It’s nice to be able to know that the dryer balls won’t be harmful to the planet or your family.

This doesn’t mean that dryer balls will be perfectly safe for everyone, though. People can still be allergic to different things, which means that you’ll need to watch out for what the dryer balls are made out of.

Also, some dryer balls are made out of plastic and it’s well known that plastic is bad for the environment. The wool balls are probably the best ones to buy, but there are people who get really itchy when exposed to wool.

Dryer Balls Make Noise

Before you add dryer balls to your shopping cart, it might be good to think about the noise that they will make. Dryer balls are going to make your dryer a bit noisier during operation due to how they work.

The balls are just going to be bouncing around inside of the dryer to help keep your clothes separated. This is likely going to be quite noticeable and some people might be bothered by that.

You don’t have to worry about your dryer being louder when you use dryer sheets. Whether or not this matters to you depends on your personal preferences, but it’s certainly worth mentioning as a potential negative.

It might not be as practical to dry clothes at night if you’re going to be using dryer balls. You don’t want to wake the other people in your house, and it’s likely going to be best to wait until the morning when you know that the balls will cause the dryer to be a bit on the noisy side.

Final Thoughts

Determining the winner in the dryer sheets vs. dryer balls battle isn’t easy. Both of these options are beneficial in certain ways, and both have downsides to consider.

You’re really going to have to read through the information and think to yourself about which choice will be best. Some people will prefer the convenience of dryer sheets and won’t care about the environmental aspect.

Others will be drawn to dryer balls because of the ability to reuse them. Dryer balls can reduce drying time, but dryer sheets make your clothes smell really nice.

There isn’t necessarily a right or wrong answer here. It’s just a nuanced topic that you can consider now that you have all of the information.

Share this post: