Product Spotlight - Wool Dryer Balls

Wool dryer balls are one of those products I just love and highly recommend making the switch over dryer sheets. Not only do they meet my SEE-it-to-buy-it requirements, but the benefits of using wool dryer balls are pretty amazing.

Let's start with the basics and benefits. Wool dryer balls are, just what their name implies, wool balls meant to go into your dryer to hep reduce wrinkles and static just like a dryer sheet.

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Big Picture Benefits:

• Cheaper than using dryer sheets
• Free of harsh chemicals
• Shortens drying time
• Reduced electricity use by shortening drying time
• Environmentally responsible in production
• Compostable after full use
• Scents can be customized with essential oils
• Reduces wrinkles and static

Let's break it down by the numbers. In a typical large load of laundry I use 5 to 6 balls per drying cycle. I'll typically use 2-3 for smaller loads.  The set that I bought here contained 6 dryer balls for $16. By comparison to the cost of dryer sheets with Aldi brand:

$16 = 6 wool balls = 1000 loads of laundry (roughly, mine have lasted WAY longer)

Aldi dryer sheets = $1.99 per box = 80 loads (if you only use one per load). 

For that same 1000 loads of laundry, you would need 12.5 boxes of dryer sheets. So the total cost for 1000 loads with Aldi brand is $25. Name brands like Bounce are about double the cost of Aldi dryer sheets. 

$16 for wool vs. $25 to $50 for dryer sheets. Your call.

And since saving money is a big part of why I write this blog, can we just talk about electricity saving for just a minute?

In our home we do roughly 15 loads of laundry a week. I know that seems like a lot, but that's for two adults, one toddlers, towels, cloth diapers, and dog blankets. Dolly the basset hound is an old girl, and well, when you get old you tend to lose your grip a little bit. So making it outside in time only happens on good days.

By using wool dryer balls we have cut our drying time nearly in half. Seriously! Next to line drying, which sorry, I'm a busy mom and I just haven't made that switch yet, this is the best way to lower the amount of energy used by your dryer. 

It might just be me. I might just be hypersensitive to chemicals now that I use far less than I used to, but dryer sheets smell and feel chemically to me. Yes, I know they are loaded toxic chemicals, and yes that might be the reason they smell and feel chemically. Still, that chemical smell and feel just doesn't compare to the fresh feeling and perfectly blended scents ( thank you lavender and lemongrass) that my clothes now have when I open that dryer! 

If you're looking for some nice blends of essential oils to try on your wool dryer balls, give these blends a try:

• Lavender and Lemongrass (my fave!)
• Lavender and Sweet Orange
• Ylang Ylang and Vanilla
• Rose and Lavender

One or two drops per ball really does the trick! 

And talk about chemicals?!?! Read this short article from the National Institute of Environmental Health Science about how dryer sheets affect your indoor air quality, and I promise you'll never go back. 

So go get your wool dryer balls, and enjoy your new cheap and easy, chemical free, low energy use, delicious smelling balls!


And as always...

When in doubt, fling it. 

The Harangue-utan Hippy

My 22-year-old face contorted. My stomach churned and lurched as my mind tried to digest the simple idea that had just been presented to me.

"What do you mean you use cloth diapers? Cloth? As in: poop in it, wash it, and put it BACK on the baby?"

This simple suggestion is the one that started it all.

I was a student teacher. He was my cooperating teacher who, with  one nonchalant comment, changed my life.

Fast forward nine years. 

My significant other hails from the prairies of central Alberta. Thus he is called Prairie Boy. He is my sweet Canadian soulmate. He also has Rheumatoid Arthritis. He developed it in 1996 when he was 21-years-old. He and I have many things we enjoy together, but science and society documentaries are one of our favorites. After watching two particular documentaries, Forks Over Knives and Plant Pure Nation my life changed yet again.

"I want to go vegan. I am tired of swollen joints and pain. I want to heal my body."

The list of reasons that popped into my head of why going vegan was impossible or not a good idea rolled like waves on the ocean through my mind, one after the other. And yet, not one of those ideas held any significance when I looked into those determined blue eyes and held that disease marred hand. 

"Ok, let's do it."

And just like, my family became a multivore family. I had no idea that in a few months I would be a full on vegan as well. 

I began down a path that would change my life and the lives of my family and friends. The conversations, or rather the defensive conversations about how my family lives gave rise to some of the stories you'll find here. And the harangue-utan was born. I have always been a highly outspoken person, especially when it comes to causes or products I believe in, and I am even more outspoken about causes and products that do more harm than good to our world! I began to realize that other people are interested in this lifestyle as well. I get asked questions all the time about waste-free living, healthy eating on a shoe string budget, natural parenting, and environmental conservationism. And I love it! I love to share my ideas and my experiences. I hope that you will come to enjoy this blog as well. 

Not all of my experiences on this journey have been pleasant. Having an old lady at the grocery store ask me if I was part rabbit upon her examining my shopping cart contents or having the nursery workers at church try to negotiate the cloth diapers have been just a couple of times when our life came into stark contrast with mainstream America. That's ok too. Our differences have led to conversations, and conversations are just seeds being planted. I want to plant seeds with our stories. 

I have found a lot of similar blogs of stay-at-home moms who spend their days making homemade laundry soap and growing organic tomatoes in their perfectly composted container gardens all while giving out tips on how to make kale tasty. 

I am just not them. And while I bear them no judgment (do your own thing ladies!)  I can't be like them either. I am not some ultra-hippy. I make some trash, but I am always looking for ways to make less of it. I work outside of my home. In fact I am the sole bread winner for my family, and in my profession it ain't a lot of bread I'll tell you that! So living a green, waste-free lifestyle on a pitiful income is tough! I am a busy mom trying to do the best I can for me, my family, and the world we all share. 

I want to share some of what I know with you. What products do I invest (yes, invest) my money into? How do I reduce my household waste? Who are the unsung heroes making this world better? 

So stick around, and remember when civilized, eye-opening, persuasive conversation just doesn't get the message across...

when in doubt, fling it! 

 ♡ From The Wild Man & The Harangue-utan