Reducing Electricity = More $$ in my pocket!These Dryers balls are my latest whimsical attempt to be frugal by keep our electric costs low, and use our energy resources responsibly. I do enjoy hanging my laundry on the clothesline but sometimes that just is not possibility. So when using the dryer I throw 6 of them in with my wet laundry to lower the amount of drying time.
Making them is simple! I made them while resting one afternoon during nap time.
Buy or reclaim (Thrift shops always have wool sweaters you can pick up for next to nothing) about 3oz of 100% wool. Roll a tight ball about half the size of a tennis ball.
Next I tied them in a pair of nylon panty hose with a knot at either end. I used a pair of support hose from 2 pregnancies ago since that is what I had in the house. Any store carries the knee highs for less than a dollar and you can reuse them for all your dryer balls.
I washed in hot water, then threw in the dryer on high heat for 20 minutes. Repeated a second time, then took the balls out of the nylons and wrappped more wool tightly around these felted balls until they were size of a tennis ball or baseball. Put them back in the nylons, washed and dried again with heat.
Once I dried them for the last time, I took them them out of nylons and throw them in my dryer. They pretty much stay there. My drying time (except denim) has reduced about 25% and the clothes are softer (eliminating the need for dryer sheets). Sheets and light cotton dries about 40% faster. I am just now finishing the book Miserly Mom by Jonni McCoy. Watch for a future post reviewing this great book! She writes that every little bit helps. What seems like pennies add up when combined with other efforts to reduce spending.
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