Friendsheep Wool Dryer Balls, Organic Fair Trade Reusable Fabric Softener, Extra Large, 6 Pack, Black Penguin - Cool Friends

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 most2. 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. :-)

I bought a different brand of dryer balls before and they worked fine. I’m not sure what is different about these ones, theyre the same size but feel heavier, but they remove wayyy more dog hair and actually reduce static cling. My previous (less expensive ones) didnt do much for static. Also, the video on how they’re made is fantastic. The level of care and detail the people put into making them 1000% by hand is incredible, and I love that its providing fair wages and healthy working conditions to women in an underprivileged part of the world. Its worth the extra dollar to support good companies promoting the betterment of humankind <3

These dryer balls will last forever. I use them when I spin clothes, I also use lavender oil, gives my clothing a great smell.The dryer balls keep your clothes from getting tangled.I feel like if you buy these you are helping small companies, and we know we need to help others more than ever these days.Good for the environment , since the big wigs don’t give a hoot about what is good for theCountry or world , we PEOPLE better start caring and doing our part

These work very well in dryer to soften and avoid static cling

They are cute, but do not work as well as my not cute ones, even when I put all into the dryer

Love these! I try to keep them all in the dryer, but sometimes they hide in the laundry when I remove it. Haha. They are super cute! The quality is great! They have no scent. They seem like a clean product. I add drops of essential oils here and there.

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.