Softer laundry, shorter drying time: do bluu balls deliver on their promises?
16.7.2026
Translation: Katherine Martin
Pictures: Anna Sandner
As an alternative to fabric softener, dryer balls are supposed to make your laundry snuggly soft. So do they work? To find out, I tested bluu’s sheep’s wool dryer balls.
Fabric softener coats fabrics like a film to make the fibres smoother. You’ve got to like the feel of it – and personally, I’m not a fan. The joy of soft, fluffy towels and clothes comes with other drawbacks too. Fabric softeners aren’t suitable for all materials, they make fabrics less absorbent, contain fragrances and preservatives that can irritate skin and mucous membranes, and, last but not least, harm the environment.
Too many drawbacks to stomach, if you ask me. Dryer balls supposedly help tackle these problems, but opinions are split on whether they really work. So I decided to put them to the test myself. I got my hands on some wool balls from Swiss company bluu, then let them loose on my towels and other items to see if they’d deliver the promised softness factor.
Sustainability as a brand promise
The concept underpinning the bluu balls is simple: four plastic-free balls made of New Zealand sheep’s wool keep clothes apart while they’re drying, allowing more air to circulate in the machine and reducing fibre clumping. Alongside ensuring its products are sustainable, bluu places great importance on the origin of its wool. More specifically, by sourcing it from sheep farmers who don’t engage in mulesing, the painful removal of skin from lambs to prevent flystrike (article in German). At around 30 euros/francs per set, however, bluu balls are on the pricier side of the dryer-ball spectrum. Still, if you account for the 1,000 dryer loads they can handle, that works out at just three cents/rappen per use.
Bluu is a Swiss company specialising in sustainable alternatives to household products. The brand first became well-known for its wash strips, which serve as a substitute for conventional, liquid laundry detergent.
A good first impression
When I take the bluu balls out of their packaging, their first plus point becomes apparent. Bluu has lived up to its plastic-free promise: instead of coming with a mountain of plastic packaging, the balls come in a handy, reusable cotton bag. After a tumble-drying session, you can stash the four-ball set back in the bag instead of leaving them to roll around between your detergent and your laundry basket.
Measuring about the size of tennis balls, the woollen dryer balls are soft, but very firmly felted. Later on, this’ll prove to be an important detail. It also immediately strikes me that something’s missing: an odour. Although the balls are made of sheep’s wool, they smell of neither sheep nor wool. There’s only a faint whiff of the wash strips included with the balls lingering in the air. Having made a promising first impression, it’s time to see if the dryer balls deliver in practice. Will the bluu balls really make my clothes fluffier?
Ready, set, dry
All you need to do is pop the wool balls in the dryer with your laundry, and you’re good to go. A common complaint about dryer balls is the noise they make as they’re tumbling around in the machine. For the same reason, tennis balls aren’t a viable affordable alternative. Although I can faintly hear the bluu balls in my dryer, it’s a soft, muffled sound that doesn’t really bother me. I imagine the plastic versions make much more noise when they’re pinballing around a dryer.
Soft, softer and, most importantly, fewer clumps of down
This is the dryer balls’ time to shine. Will they really make my laundry touchably soft? I’ve got to admit I’m sceptical. A glance at the reviews reveals differing opinions too. Granted, softness is a very subjective quality, so that doesn’t surprise me.
My bedding set is perfect for a head-to-head comparison since I have two of everything. So I dry one set with the dryer balls and one set without. The result? A noticeable difference between the two. The bedding that was loosened up by the bluu balls really does feel more supple to me. In a nutshell, the balls deliver on their promise. Although it’s not a massive difference, I still think they’re worth it.
That said, I’m hoping to see a much bigger payoff with drying down fabrics, which often come out of the washing machine as a thick, solid clump. So after machine-washing a down pillow, I stick it in the dryer alongside the wool balls. Again, I’m pleased with the result. The pillow comes out of the drum feeling springy, with no hard lumps – not even little clumps of down. With that, I’d say the bluu balls have passed the test.
Does using bluu balls also save electricity?
Besides promising fluffy laundry, bluu stresses that using its dryer balls makes fabrics dry faster, which saves electricity. In my little experiment, the load with bluu balls did indeed finish a few minutes earlier than the one without. According to this lab test report, the bluu balls deliver energy savings of up to 25 per cent. However, I didn’t quite achieve those results.
No wool fibres on laundry, no wear and tear
As a pet owner, I like that tumble dryers get clothes not just dry, but completely hair-free. With this in mind, it’d be seriously inconvenient if the dryer balls dumped a load of wool fibres on my laundry instead. This is actually a common point of criticism in the product reviews. As I mentioned earlier, the bluu balls look very compact and the felt seems firm. In my case, that seems to prevent the wool fibres from coming loose. Despite multiple spins in the dryer, I never found any strands of wool on my clothes – even on dark washes. Unfortunately, I can’t tell if that’ll still be the case after 60 or 80 uses. Fifteen drying sessions in, however, I haven’t noticed any change in the balls. They’ve kept all of their firmness.
In a nutshell
Softer laundry, without fabric softener
Bluu’s dryer balls are a sustainable, gentle alternative to fabric softener. The sheep’s wool balls fluff up your laundry, making it slightly softer. Used on down fabrics, they prevent clumps from forming. Although you can hear the balls churning in the dryer, the noise is more than bearable. The felt stays firmly intact through several washes, and doesn’t leave any wool fibres on your clothes. As part of its sustainability commitments, bluu provides its dryer balls in a reusable cotton bag, without plastic packaging. The balls also help reduce drying time slightly.
Pro
- Reusable
- Quiet enough in the dryer
- Don’t leave loose wool fibres on your clothes
- Prevent down from clumping
- Made from 100 per cent mulesing-free sheep’s wool with no natural odour
- Come in a cotton bag, free of plastic packaging
- Make laundry feel softer than usual
Contra
- Less effective than fabric softener
- Relatively expensive
Anna Sandner
Senior Editor
Anna.Sandner@galaxus.deScience editor and biologist. I love animals and am fascinated by plants, their abilities and everything you can do with them. That's why my favourite place is always the outdoors - somewhere in nature, preferably in my wild garden.
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