Dryer Balls and Piranhas

Dryer balls came out several decades ago as a replacement for fabric softener sheets.

The first dryer ball I tried was a round rubber ball with a hole in it. It came with a little cotton “pillow” that you were supposed to make wet and insert it into the hole. According to the instructions, this damp cotton ball was supposed to release moisture into the dryer to help reduce both static and wrinkles. I already knew that this was a lot of BP. [Bull Puckey] The entire dryer was full of damp pieces of fabric – called clothes - and that tiny cotton ball was going to dry out long before the clothes did.

The next dryer ball was a yellow rubber ball. This one was covered in little spikes – it looked like a round, rubbery hedgehog. I’m not sure what the spikes were supposed to do.

The next dryer ball I tried was made out of New Zealand wool. All natural and supported sheep farmers. The claim was that wool is natural fabric softener. They looked like snowballs.

I also tried the homemade kind – a tennis ball in a tube sock. This one was very noisy, like I was trying to dry rocks.

You’re probably wondering if they worked. No. Not at all. I think the whole dryer ball thing was thought up by dog toy manufacturers trying to expand their market. As proof, Twiggy still plays with the ones that survived.

Some clothes just naturally don’t develop static electricity – like towels and jeans and cottons.

Clothing made from nylons, microfibers, and polyesters are high static items. Pulling them out of the dryer is like trying to hug a thousand piranhas all at once. Little sharp bites wherever it comes in contact with your skin.

But I discovered something about those wickedly electrified pieces of clothing. If I hold the garment up and slowly, gently ran my hands down it, the electricity dissipates. If I do it quickly or harshly, it is like grabbing an electric fence but slowly, gently and the static goes away.

And I realized that this is a lot like people. Some people are full of static. Whether it’s their upbringing or just more hurts than love, physical health or a betrayal. The list is huge as to why someone is full of static. And it is natural and automatic to treat people the way that they treat us. Frown at someone and they will frown back. The opposite is true, though. Treat people the way you want to be treated no matter how many piranhas are hanging from them.

Dryer balls are relatively new but two thousand years ago, Jesus said, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”* And over three thousand years ago, Solomon wrote, “A gently answer turns away wrath but a harsh word stirs up anger.”**

The dryer ball experiment didn’t work out. I’m back to dryer sheets – trying to use less, though. But I learned something far more important in the process. And we need that more today than ever.

*Matthew 7:12

** Proverbs 15:1