Drop Those Sheets! 11 of The Best Essential Oils For Dryer Balls

Are you still using fabric softener sheets? Guess what? So was I until I read about dryer balls and how they are a natural alternative to dry your clothes. It probably isn’t surprising that the sheets we’ve been using are synthetic but have you ever looked deeper into what they are made of? Me neither, until now.

I’m going to give you the skinny on why you are better off adding dryer balls made of natural materials to your laundry than those flat chemical carriers. After that, we will discuss the best essential oils for dryer balls and laundry.

Best Essential Oils For Dryer Balls Comparison

What Are Softener Sheets

The c-fold netted material that we’ve been putting into our machines are typically made of polyester, which is fine. So are some of our clothes. It’s what they are covered with that we need to look at. First off, it’s covered in surfactant, which is safe according to the Human and Environmental Risk Assessment. This is good to know.

But it seems that, not all the ingredients that go into making those sleek sheets are required to be listed on the box. It seems that some of these sheets contain ethanol and alpha-pinene, which are federally regulated in the United States as toxic or hazardous. We know that ethanol is basically alcohol. Alpha-pinene is an organic compound used for fragrance and found in the extracts of pine. It can be an irritant to some skin types

That Doesn’t Sound Too Bad

I agree. The small amount of toxic risk in softener sheets isn’t enough to start a protest over. But I have to admit from my perspective that if there is a natural option, then that’s what I want. The best part about wool dryer balls is that they are just as simple to use, you just pop them into your machine with a wet load and let them go.

What Are Dryer Balls?

There are several types of dryer balls out there typically made from plastic, rubber, or a fabric. They are about the size of a standard baseball and their main objective to lessen your drying time. When they bound around in your jeans, they are allowing air to move through your wash, which dries it faster and lengthens the life of your clothes.

The type we will be discussing with the use of essential oils is made from wool. Have you ever owned a sweater made from sheared sheep hair? If you have, you might recall that time you wore it to that winter outdoor event all the time cursing yourself for not putting a shirt on underneath. It is itchy. The good thing is you don’t have to wear these, just put them in the dryer with your wash.

How To Use Them

Most people use six dryer balls in one load, but they don’t fill the machine all the way with their wet laundry. These devices are more effective with smaller loads. It is worth mentioning that several smaller loads will dry faster than one large one, simply because the contents need room to let the warm air get to it when they are tumbling around the dryer.

I’m sure all of us can remember that time we overloaded our machine, and the clothes took forever to dry. Or that time you thought they were dry and found a lone damp towel in the middle of the pile you were folding.

What About The Static?

Dryer balls can take care of that too because they absorb most of the moisture in the drum while your laundry is bouncing around. This helps keep the humidity in your machine at a good level, which leaves your clothes static free when you remove them when the timer buzzes.

Speaking of timers, a big reason why our clean clothes have static on them when we pull them out is due to the reason that we’ve dried them for too long. I realize it’s easy to just turn the knob to “more dry” and let it go longer so that your towels aren’t wet but the longer you dry your clothes the more chance you have of aging them prematurely with too much heat.

The Benefits

Besides not putting toxins into the air you breath or onto the clothes that sit on your skin where your pores are willing to soak all that in, there are other benefits for adopting this method and getting rid of those waxy sheets.

It’s Cheaper

You are only able to use one softener sheet per load, and they come at about one-hundred and sixty sheets per box. The going rate for a top brand was about $5.97 for one box. So that is one-hundred and sixty loads, which comes to about four cents a load.

The wool dryer balls, which can typically go for more than five hundred loads before becoming fuzzy and useless, come in at just under three cents a load. Sure, this doesn’t seem like a big difference, but over time, those pennies add up.

You Can Create Your Own Scent

If you only have mountain breeze scented sheets, then that’s what your clothes will smell like even if you are bored with it. With dryer balls, the creativity can begin. Essential oils are a wonderful addition and allow you to add your favorites to your clean items. Not only will they make your clothes smell great, but you will also be able to reap the benefits of aromatherapy when you wear them.

What Are Essential Oils?

They are volatile compounds extracted from different plants, fruits, berries, and roots that grow all over the world. The first synthetic medication, chloral hydrate, was created 150 years ago, which isn’t that old when it comes to humanity and medical advancements. That means that all the time before that, humans treated their ailments with the foliage and vegetation they found growing outside.

Some of them help with depression, others with heartburn, and others to help with insomnia. There are few ailments out there that aren’t paired with an essential oil designed to treat it, which is why adding these scents to your clothing, towels, and sheets would be a way to use these items as traveling diffusers.

How To Use Essential Oils With Dryer Balls

All you do is add a few drops to the dryer balls and let it seep into the fabric of the dryer ball. Once the oil has been absorbed well and is dry you can use the ball. Throw them in with the wet items, and your wash will come out smelling exactly the way you want.

 

Who Should Use These?

Wool dryer balls are good for anyone who loves aromatherapy, is tired of synthetic scents, and does their own laundry. The sheets are easy to use but you are stuck with the one fragrance, which is typically created synthetically in a lab.

If you are a person who loves to live their life naturally with as few chemicals as possible, then dryer balls might be the substitution you need in your life.

Best Essential Oils For Dryer Balls

Now that you know how to use them and where the essential oils fit in, what scents would work best with your new little spheres made of hair from a sheep? In all honesty, there isn’t one out there that couldn’t be used with this method. I say- if you like the way it smells, then, by all means, use it.

Of course, there are certain fragrances that would work better than others for certain things. In that case, while you can use any essential oils you want, there are some that prove to be better than others, depending on what you are trying to achieve.

Essential Oil Singles

The term “singles” refers to one extract from that particular plant host. It is the purest volatile compound of that extracted fragrance. There is a good deal of oils that would make your laundry smell refreshing and clean. We’ve picked a few of our favorites and popular singular scents to use with dryer balls.

Top 11 Essential Oils For Dryer Balls Reviews

Ovvio Oils Lavender

I tend to start all my “top EOs” lists with this one because it’s my favorite. Mostly because it was the first one I ever used, but it isn’t a stretch to say that lavender is of the more popular scents available. How many times have you shopped for detergent or soap to find it in one of your options no matter what the brand was? Several would be my guess.

There is a good reason for the love of lavender oil. Not only does it reduce stressors, but it is also a natural insect repellent and can help you fall asleep. Derived from a little purple flower that goes by the same name, this southern French native is a powerhouse when it comes to benefits from inhalation.

So adding it to your sheets and towels can help you achieve a calming attitude when you are in bed or after your morning shower.

Who Should Purchase This?

This floral scent is for anyone who likes to feel relaxed. It’s a great scent to use when you are drying your bedding since it aids with sleep as one of its many benefits.

Young Living Ylang-ylang

Pronounced like “ee-lahng ee-lahng,” this scent is another that is being used frequently in my home. I love the freshness and always feel like my spirits lift up a little after I smell it. This single benefit makes it a worthwhile contender when it comes to choosing an essential oil for your fleece dryer balls additions.

Besides relieving symptoms of depression, ylang-ylang is a sleep aid which promotes its use while washing beddings. It can also help with chronic fatigue syndrome because it has natural energizing qualities. On top of all that, it has been said to aid with personal connections.

The extract from these flowers has also been used to lower blood pressure. Native to the rainforests of the South Pacific and parts of Asia, this scent is regularly used in commercial perfumes. So, even if you have never smelled pure ylang-ylang before, you are probably familiar with the aroma.

Who Should Purchase This?

Those of you out there reading this who are fond of floral smells that sway toward the sweet side should give this oil a try. It would be a nice scent for every day or present in your workout clothes since it energizes.

Plant Therapy ​Bergamot

With a citrus smell like an orange, this next essential oil has a hint of blossoms, which would leave anyone’s jeans with an amazing aroma. Not only does it bring a mixture of several aromatic styles, it works as an antidepressant and eases anxiety. When you add a few drops to the woolen spheres you will be embedding all these aromatic benefits right into the clothes you wear.

Just as it is with other oils that relieve anxiety and ease depression, this extract works as a sedative as well, which would be perfect for those pillowcases. It’s an odor remover, which is a perk in this use. It also kills germs so will the hot air that your wash is tumbling around in. It never hurts to be extra safe.

Extracted from the rind of the citrus fruit of a European tree, this is another scent that is used often in commercial scents. It is removed and separated through a process known as expression and would work well in a blend with one of the oils we’ve already mentioned.

Who Should Purchase?

This scent is a good choice for the citrus lover. It smells like an orange, but it has a hint of floral aromas in there too. Besides smelling good, this aroma will relieve you of anxiety and help you battle your depression.

Rocky Mountain Oils Chamomile

Not just for tea, this scent is one of the most relaxing around. If you haven’t noticed, we have a theme going on here. When it comes to our wash, we either want to be inspired, relaxed, or refreshed. This particular essential oil is a strong contender when it comes to relaxation. The scent of it battles depression and even curbs angry feelings.

There are typically two types of chamomile, German and Roman, which have different scientific names. Yet they both contain the same aromatic powers when it comes to the essential oils that are distilled from their flowers.

Have you ever had a time when the weight of the world is upon you and a cup of chamomile tea is all that stands between you and serenity? What if the blanket you drape over your sofa smelled like that when you wrapped your child in it for an afternoon nap? Yes, this aroma is fresh and perfect for your dirty dungarees.

Who Should Purchase This?

If you like floral aromas but don’t prefer the stronger scents like rose, then this is a solid choice. Its light in is fragrance, and it relaxes everyone who smells its scent.

Young Living Rose

Steam distilled from the most popular flower to ever hit Valentine’s Day, this essential oil is another ideal addition to your dryer balls. Not only does it smell amazing, but it also gives off a sense of warmth when first inhaled. I have to admit, in this application, this is one of my favorite oils to add.

It isn’t surprising to learn that rose oil combats depression while working as an aphrodisiac. It kills bacteria and helps ease anxiety. Can you imagine having this scent in your scarves or your bathing suits? I have to say that when I fold my clothing and get a nice whiff of roses my day suddenly becomes brighter.

If you’re feeling amorous, put these in with your sheets and schedule a romantic evening for you and your partner. It could be a homemade dinner or a night out on the town. Whether you and your significant other enjoy snuggling on the sofa watching a movie or hitting the hottest dance club in town, add some rose oil to your linens or clothing will add a little bit of a nudge in the right direction.

Who Should Purchase This?

Anyone who loves roses should buy a bottle of this. I have some myself, and it’s rare I make a blend without it. It’s so warm and reminds me of love. If you are a romantic, this scent would work for you too.

Doterra ​Lemon

When it comes to cleaning there is no scent used more than lemon. It’s refreshing and people love to smell it when they walk through their homes. Commercially, it’s put into furniture polish, surface cleaner, and detergent. So, it makes sense that this aroma would be put on our essential oil list of the top choices for tumbling tops.

Smelling fresh isn’t the only good thing about this EO. It’s a stress reliever like so many others on this list, but is that a bad thing? Life is stressful, so if our clothes emitted scents that lessened our anxiety that would be a wonderful thing for us.

This scent is another popular addition to perfumes, lotions, and candles. It’s used in face washes and skin care products because it leaves everything smelling crisp and clean. Imagine pulling a white sheet over yourself as you smell a bit of lemon before drifting off to sleep.

Who Should Purchase This?

This is another choice for citrus fans. We all know what lemon tastes like and how it brings about a burst of happiness when we smell it. This is why we put it in our water, our salads, our laundry and anything else we can put it into. Because it’s refreshing and we love it, it’s worth having it linger in our clothes as well.

Young Living Jasmine

Lastly, on our list of singles, we have a floral scent that also helps anyone feeling depressed, having pulled themselves out of the darkness. Steam distilled from the flowers of Royal jasmine, it is another popular fragrance with fans of aromatherapy. Besides pulling you out of your slump, this aroma can help you fall asleep if you dry your sheets with it.

Jasmine stimulates romantic desires and is just a pleasant odor to have around. If you like, you can blend a few of these singles by putting one drop of each in a plastic ziplock bag and dropping your fleece globes in there for a while. An overnight soak should do it.

When they are dry, you can pop them in with your freshly washed towels. Then, when you shower, you will come out ready to collect the moisture off your body while leaving behind a beautiful mixture of your favorites.

Who Should Purchase This?

Here, we have another choice for fans of floral aromas. This one works well when you are feeling depressed and need a little happiness. It also serves as a sleep aid. So if you are looking for another choice for your sheets and pillowcases, try this.

Essential Oil Blends

The fun thing about singles is to see which ones blend together to make the perfect aroma. I enjoy making blends myself and have my favorite carrier oils and essential oils to use. Lucky for busy people, some of the best companies in the business of aromatherapy have created their own blends for us to try. We’ve put together a few of our favorites to try with your wool dryer balls.

Bouquet by Plant Therapy

Since I brought up blending your singles, we might as well take a look at some of the blends essential oil manufacturers have come up with that would be a fabulous addition to your collection of scents to add to your clean clothes. This particular one was created by Plant Therapy, a strong contender for the top essential oil producer in the world.

This floral mixture was created to give the wearer a brighter day when needed and leaves everyone feeling lovely. It’s a pleasant blend of Mandarin, Lemon, Lavender, Palmarosa, and Ho Wood. We’ve already discussed a few of these ingredients but we should explore the ones we haven’t.

Mandarin

This scent can calm your nerves, help you sleep, leave your clothes smelling fresh.

Palmarosa

This is mostly an antiviral oil that is wonderful for moisturizing. This doesn’t do much in the application we are speaking of today.

Ho Wood

Here is one that would pack a punch into your life if it was a constant aroma coming from your clothes. It’s an antidepressant, a sleep aid, and it is a stimulant for the immune system.

Who Should Purchase This?

If you like floral aromas but don’t prefer the stronger scents like rose, then this is a solid choice. Its light in is fragrance, and it relaxes everyone who smells its scent.

Joy by Young Living

Who doesn’t like to be happy? Well, I am sure there are a few people out there who enjoy being miserable, and I can think of a few right now. Still, the majority of us are on an endless pursuit of joy. How funny that this blend is named that very thing?

Young Living is a top essential oil company, and their oils are as pure as they come. This particular blend they created was designed specifically to give the smeller a sense of warmth and bliss. With ingredients like Bergamot, Ylang-ylang, Geranium, Lemon, Coriander, Tangerine, Jasmine, Roman chamomile, Palmarosa, and Rose, it’s no wonder it’s such a popular product.

Geranium

This essential oil is a stress reliever as well. It battles depression, eases high blood pressure, and can improve the circulation of your blood.

Coriander

Uplifting in its aroma, this essential oil works as a strong deodorant, a stimulant, and an aphrodisiac all while killing fungi.

Tangerine

Citrus oils are always a great way to get your things smelling clean, which is a good thing since the benefits of this essential oils are via topical use mostly.

Who Should Purchase This?

If you like floral aromas but don’t prefer the stronger scents like rose, then this is a solid choice. Its light in is fragrance, and it relaxes everyone who smells its scent.

Citrus Blast by Lisse Essentials

Lisse Essentials may not be a household name like some of the others we’ve mentioned, but their blends are interesting, and this one, in particular, might just make those clean clothes smell cleaner. How is that possible?

With citrus. We already discussed how lemons make everything smell crisp and there is no denying that Sweet Orange is another great citrus cleaner. Other ingredients include Tangerine, Mandarin, Clementine, and Vanilla. The latter is the only non-citrus oil in the blend.

Sweet Orange

In the area of this application, this oil will help fight depression and can aid with sleeping.

Clementine

This essential oil can help boost your immunity all while adding to the fresh citrus smell in your sweater.

Vanilla

As the only non-citrus oil in a citrus blend, this essential oil has a great many benefits when it comes to inhalation. It relieves depression, works as a sedative, and a tranquilizer.

Who Should Purchase This?

If you are a citrus fan but are looking for something that offers a little more, then this might be a good choice for you. It takes a few of our favorites and adds a hint of vanilla to add a bit of sweetness.

Awake & Aware by Edens Garden

After our morning showers, all we want to do is have enough energy to move about our day. That’s why I added this blend to our list of scent to add to your dryer balls. Sometimes focus and determination are not that easy to come by, that’s when we call in this blend from Eden’s Garden.

This spicy scent was created to get your blood and your body moving when it needs a shove. It is a special blend of West Indian Sandalwood, Patchouli, Frankincense, Lime, Ylang Ylang, Sandalwood, and Chamomile. Let’s take a closer look.

West Indian Sandalwood/Sandalwood

This essential oil boosts memory and lowers blood pressure all while making your clothes smell fantastic.

Patchouli

Known mostly as a hippie scent, this musky odor can serve as an aphrodisiac as well.

Frankincense

This biblical essential oil is a scent that one might relate to the Catholic church and mass, at least that’s when I first remember smelling the earthy scent. It serves as a reliever of anxiety and stress while smelling amazing.

Lime

Just like all the other citrus scents we have gone over, this one just leaves everything smelling fresh and clean.

Who Should Purchase This?

Anyone looking for their laundry to have a scent that will energize them should seriously consider this blend. It’s also a good choice for anyone who appreciates spicy aromas.

To Conclude

While there are a ton of essential oils out there and any one of them would work in your new wool dryer balls, there are certain scents that work better than others. Eucalyptus has a ton of benefits, but the scent is strong and might not smell great the first time you wash that new dress.

If you can think of an essential oil that would work well in this application but wasn’t mentioned here, leave a comment below. If you know someone who would like to read this article, please pass it along.