Cloth diapering has opened up a whole new world for us. We have learned so much about things I could have never imagined before when we decided to switch to cloth because we needed to save some money. Wool dryer balls fall into that category. I had never heard of such a thing until a few months into cloth diapering.
A bit about dryer balls: Wool dryer balls help to reduce static and your drying time. The more you have, the better they work. The dryer balls bounce around the clothing separating them creating a better air flow in the dryer. These are a great replacement for dryer sheets. Dryer sheets leave a layer of film on the interior of your dryer which will transfer to your cloth diapers. That film will make your diapers non-absorbent which can cause leaking. In our case, dryer sheets caused an allergic reaction to my son's skin because of the chemicals in them. Wool dryer balls are made of 100% wool which is a natural fiber that helps soften your clothes.
Warlop Woolies is run by Shannon who creates her dryer balls starting with an old sweater as a core. She said that by doing this, we can reduce what we throw into landfills as sweaters typically take 1-5 years to decompose. From that she wraps each one in a wool yarn to secure it. After that begins the process of wool roving and needle felting. From what I understand, this takes a long time. Shannon felts her wool dryer balls three times to ensure that they hold up over time.
.
Shannon also sent a lot of information to go along with them.
Here are the three dryer balls. Each one is unique and the colors are well coordinated. They are much more bright and vibrant in person! Check out her
etsy shop to see some of her amazing designs and pictures that she has done. They are beautiful! I love the three birds!
To use dryer balls, it is quite simple. Just toss them into the dryer with your clothes or cloth diapers. We typically use them for all of our clothing. The kids had a fun time finding them in the clothes or diapers and being able to toss them back into the dryer. It was a fun game for them. It is recommended that you start with three dryer balls to notice a decrease in drying time, however, the more you use, the better!
If you find yourself with more dryer balls than you can imagine using in your dryer or you find them too pretty to use, you can always put them in a large glass bowl for decorations! Shannon creates decorative wool balls that can be used to set out on the table. After you get done with them as a decoration, you can use them as a dryer ball! Shannon can design them to fit your decor or make them for a special holiday piece.
She also makes them with a small jingle bell inside to use as a toy. One of her sons favorite toys is a woolie ball with a jingle in it! They are super soft and will not break so there is no risk for the bell to fall out. They are safe and she says that they won't break your windows! You can get a special design to fit your child's personality.
Shannon can also create them with a string to hang them on your Christmas tree or as a decoration to hand somewhere in your home. Once you are done with it as a decoration, you just snip the string off and you can toss it into the dryer. Here is an idea of the different things she can create for you:
Monkey
Ladybug
Owl
Penguin
Bears
Monsters
Faces
Funny Eyes
pumpkin
mummy
Tree (one for each season)
Humpty Dumpty
Numbers
Letters
Flowers
Monograms
Girl Angels
Angry Birds
Bird
Polka Dots
swirls
stripes
smiley face
flower faces
frog
moon and stars
lobster
patriot design
panda
puppy
russian dolls
lion
pretty designs
Shannon also sent me this cute little strand of mini woolie balls. My daughter(age 5) loved to wear it as a bracelet. It was a fun and unique piece of jewelry for her to wear to school. The beads are soft and have a knot on the ends of each one. She can create longer strand for necklaces or even garlands to use to decorate with.
Warlop Woolies is offering a discount code to all of our Cloth Diaper Addiction readers. All you need to do is place and order and enter CDA15 at check out and you'll receive 15% off your entire order.
One lucky reader will also win the choice of either a set of woolie dryer balls or a set of toy rattles.
It isn't required to like her page but since you'll have a chance to win an awesome set of dryer balls, it would be nice to show some support to this WAHM! Tell her CDA sent you on her wall!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
