Not being a fan of dryer sheets or liquid fabric softener (though that Snuggle smells SO good!) I have been intrigued by all I’ve read about wool dryer balls.
I purchased a package of six from Amazon for $20 and here is how it’s going.
Reviews and Company Info
With over 63,000 almost-five-star ratings I felt it was worth a try.
Smart Sheep is the vendor I chose. They are a small business, partner with manufacturing in Nepal and claim they source the wool responsibly from New Zealand. This is actually very important to me because I hate using animal products if I believe the animals are mistreated.
Benefits
- Uses no harmful chemicals. Highly doubtful you ever have, but if you’ve looked at the MSDS information for dryer sheets, you will find they are made with some stuff that can be irritating or downright harmful to your skin.
- Fluffs clothes. Ummm, ok, I didn’t really notice that.
- Traps pet fur. Well, that might actually have happened in my load.
- Shortens dry time. I never let my clothes over-dry (and in fact in warm weather I use the clothesline) but next time I do a load of towels I’ll have a better gauge on whether that’s true.
- Reusable – apparently you basically never have to replace these puppies!
Concerns
- The balls basically look like tennis balls and I thought they would make a terrible racket in the dryer. Nope, no extra sound at all.
- No scent. If I want to scent my laundry, I generally use a bit of Downy stink-em (also known as laundry scent booster beads). These left no scent (not even wet sheep) but apparently many users marinate their balls in about 20 drops of their favorite essential oils and that lasts several dryer loads for nice smelling laundry.
Overall, I’m excited to continue trying these out using a healthier option in my home.
What I’m Eating
Quinoa Salad with Microgreens
Quinoa Salad with Microgreens
Ingredients
- ½ cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup cucumber, chopped
- 5 Kalamata olives, chopped
- 1 tsp Trader Joe's Hot & Sweet Jalapenos (optional) This really kicked it up and was delish!
- 1 small tomato, chopped
- green onion, chopped for topping (optional)
- mixed microgreens for topping
- ⅓ cup lemon vinaigrette
Instructions
- Cook quinoa according to package directions or combine rinsed quinoa and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and the decrease to simmer. Cook until water is absorbed, stirring frequently, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and let rest for 5 minutes. Fluff with fork before combining with remaining ingredients.
- In a small bowl, combine chopped vegetables, quinoa and lemon vinaigrette dressing.
- Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight to mingle flavors.
- Before serving top with green onion tops, microgreens, salt and pepper to taste.
This salad is easy, healthy, refreshing and can by modified to use what’s in the fridge now.
I purchased some microgreens from the farmer’s market and used the crunchy mix to top off this salad.
Wrap Up
We had a glorious weekend spent with our DFs from Lake Arrowhead, CA, visited the Desert Botanical Gardens, ate some yummy Mexican food and enjoyed the patio.
Apparently we have some cool weather on the radar for this week, so happy we took advantage of good weather while we had it.
God bless and see you back here on Saturday!