Town Appliance Official Blog

Just a decade ago, it was considered a luxury for an average home to own a dryer. Today, this is a regular appliance with multiple performances and features, as well as much more affordable. With technology improvement comes the evolution of washing and drying options like stain removal, fabric softening and static prevention. As we tend to make our lives as comfortable as possible, it comes very important for our clothes and sheets to be as soft and fragrant as possible. This includes not just picking the perfect detergent, but a chain of actions and choices to be made during the process. To make thins at least a bit easier for yourself, we’ll scroll down to the final step of your clothes and linen cleaning and help you and your family feel more comfortable by deciding on the eternal question when it comes to drying clothes. Dryer balls or dryer sheets?

Dryer balls

The performance of the dryer balls is shown in their top three purposes: reducing drying time, clothes softening and static cling limiting. They are made from either plastic or wool and come as an alternative to traditional dryer sheets. Dryer balls are chemical-free and they do not contain any added compounds which gives perfect drying results with a more natural process. Regardless of their size and shape, they are designed to separate the items during the drying cycle so the hot air could circulate and dry more efficiently as well as to prevent them from clumping together and reduce the amount of static electricity produced during the process.

As we speak of the pros of drying balls, their first one would be the fact that they’re budget friendly. Dryer balls are reusable which makes them more affordable and environmentally-safe. Also, since they reduce drying time, over time this causes a big saving on gas and electricity. Additionally, dryer balls do not release any potentially harmful substances. On the other hand, they may be noisy as they’re bouncing during the cycle. Plus, they do not add any fragrance, and some have complained that woolen ones, can unravel in the dryer which causes quite a mess.

Dryer sheets

As they’re the most popular for drying purposes, dryer sheets are a perfect way to go towards cleaner, softer and more fragrant clothes. They are small, rectangular sheets made of polyester coated with chemicals, softeners and fragrances. The hot air in the dryer helps activate the chemicals and fragrances which provide a pleasant scent and soften the clothes and sheets. Therefore their main purpose is to soften clothes, add a fragrance to the drying load, as well as to reduce static cling.

The pros of drying sheets are mirrored in their purpose. First of all you are guaranteed to have fresh and nice smelling clothes and sheets, as well as much more softened laundry. Compact as they are, they are very easy to use, since all you have to do is place them together with the load in the dryer and start the cycle. Additionally, dryer sheets are very affordable solution to fresh and soft clothes. However, dryer sheets contain chemicals which for some may cause skin irritation and similar side effects. Also, dryer sheets do not reduce drying time. Even though they’re affordable, they are not reusable as dryer balls, which means you can add them only to a single cycle.