How to choose and use laundry balls

How to wash a down jacket yourself without unpleasant consequences?
This question is very relevant. Dry cleaning services are quite expensive, but keeping things in good condition is necessary.

Washing balls have become an indispensable assistant for owners of down jackets. These simple items help to wash the jacket efficiently and maintain its original shape.

What are balls needed for: description, principle of operation

The purpose of the balls when washing down products is to bounce the item and make washing even more efficient.

The balls can be 5-10 cm in diameter and made of rubber, polymer or plastic material.

Rotating in the drum, the washing balls seem to massage things, helping to remove the remains of detergents: powder, additives, gels containing difficult-to-remove phosphates, and also helps save detergents and water consumption.

During the washing process, they ricochet off hard surfaces and hit things, thus preventing the down filling from getting together in one place and forming lumps.

How to dry the product

Even after a gentle wash with tennis balls, you still need to dry your jacket properly. If you do not follow the rules, the product may lose its shape and stop providing warmth in cold weather. The best option is to use the drying program, which is found in modern models of washing machines. Then the process will be fast and safe.

If you use an old model without such a function for cleaning, you need to do this:

Hang the jacket inside out on hangers. They must be made of wood or plastic.
Dry in a well-ventilated area.
Do not expose such clothing to direct sunlight. Dry away from heating devices.
During the drying process, you need to periodically shake the down jacket and try to knead any lumps of fluff with your hands.

After complete drying, the clothes can be turned inside out. You cannot iron it with an iron. This can not only ruin the outer fabric, but also the filling. Therefore, steamers are used to remove bruises.

Advantages and disadvantages

The advantages of the balls are as follows:

the mechanical principle of the balls does not allow fluff to be knocked down, which allows you to maintain the desired shape of the product;
their high-intensity interaction with fabric effectively combats contamination, allowing the use of washing powder to be minimized, thereby providing significant savings;
they effectively knock out excess and remnants of detergents from fabric fibers and internal filler, preventing the formation of streaks;
the balls perfectly soften the fabric and prevent the formation of pills;
With them, clothes are rinsed without repeating the rinse cycle, saving energy and water consumption.

The only shortcomings identified are that:

they can knock loudly on the drum in the machine;
If the material used to make the balls is of poor quality, they can fade and ruin the items being washed.

Drying Features

Even if washing rules have been followed, you should definitely pay attention to drying.

How to hang a down jacket correctly so as not to harm the down and maintain its shape

During drying, you should adhere to the following recommendations:

You can only dry a down jacket vertically - this way the down dries better, which eliminates the possibility of it rotting.
Periodically during drying you need to fluff the jacket. This will allow the dried fluff to separate from the wet fluff and fluff up.
If lumps still form in some places, they can be removed by using a vacuum cleaner at low power. You need to move it from the inside of the jacket and break the formed seals.
You can speed up the drying of your down jacket by using a hairdryer on it.

After drying, the down jacket is ready for use. However, it may be a little wrinkled after washing machine. Therefore, owners of such a wardrobe need to additionally purchase a clothes steamer. This device acts on clothing with steam and does not harm the material contained inside the jacket.

This is interesting! Review and characteristics of steam generators for the home.

Variety of balls

Specialized balls for washing down jackets can be of the following types:

PVC balls with spikes

They are the most popular, accessible and cheapest means to add to the wash of down jackets.

In appearance they resemble massage devices due to the pimpled surface. Due to the protruding pimples, the quality of the laundry process is improved, the down filling is fluffed up during spinning, and better air circulation is ensured. The package consists of two balls.

Magnetic

They consist of a magnetic core covered with a rubber shell. This type, in addition to mechanically beating the downy item, also demagnetizes the water, making it softer.

These balls allow you to eliminate old stains without using conditioner and significantly saving powder. The service life of such a product is ten, or even two decades.

Anti-pilling balls

They are made of polypropylene, and on the outer surface they have loops that comb out pellets from things when sliding over them during washing.

Recommended for down jackets with wool or knitwear inserts. Anti-pellet balls also collect debris remaining in the drum, which prevents filter clogging.

Tourmaline

This product is quite expensive, but despite this, the ball helps you save a lot. You can wash with it for several years without using powders at all.

Outwardly, they resemble a baby rattle, inside of which small balls of tourmaline and ceramic are placed, which allows them to cope well with any degree of dirt.

This detergent also contains minerals that improve the quality of water and disinfect it.

When washing, the water becomes saturated with alkali and when it comes into contact with dirty clothes, they begin to foam and remove dirt. That is, the process itself occurs without adding detergents.

It is worth highlighting several nuances when using a tourmaline ball:

when washing by hand with these balls, you need to soak the items being washed for an hour; when washing automatically, you just need to put the balls in the drum;
using the balls for the first time, they must be kept in sunlight and “charged” with positive ions;
The water temperature when washing should not be higher than 50 degrees;
after each wash, the balls must be thoroughly dried;
you can completely dispense with them without detergents and rinsing;
operational life - 3 years.

The use of tourmaline balls is recommended for people and small children suffering from allergies of various kinds. They are environmentally friendly, without phosphates, improve water quality, eliminate mold and fight germs.

What quantity is needed

Through experience, many housewives have found that in order to achieve the desired result, you need to put four to eight balls in the wash.

This amount provides the best mechanical effect, depending on the volume of the washing machine and the size of the down jacket itself.

The manufacturers themselves write on the packaging how many balls are needed to wash a down jacket, which may differ slightly from what is written above. For example:

PVC products and anti-pilling - it is optimal to use 4 pieces;
Magnetic balls and tourmaline balls will give a good effect with 6 pieces for a half load and 12 for a full load.

You should not save balls in delicate washing of a down jacket. This may not live up to expectations, especially since they are designed to be reusable.

Where can I buy

Finding and purchasing tennis balls or other types of laundry balls is very easy. To do this, just look at the following establishments:

sports stores - for example, "Sportmaster", which is in every city;
large hypermarkets;
hardware stores;
shops with kitchenware and household goods;
large online stores - OZON, Aliexpress, iHerb, etc.

The range of balls for washing down jackets is very large, so choosing something suitable is not difficult. The price range is approximately this:

tennis - from 150 to 800 rubles for a set of three pieces;
plastic - from 30 to 200 rubles per piece;
tourmaline - from 200 to 1000 rubles per piece;
magnetic from 150 to 500 rubles per piece.

There is an especially large selection and affordable prices on large online sites.

Recommendations for selection

A few tips will help you understand what kind of balls you need to wash your down jacket:

With magnetic and tourmaline balls you can wash almost all things from any fabric - socks, T-shirts, jeans, down jackets, shirts.
anti-pilling balls will be useful for wool and knitwear products - hats, sweaters, dresses;
PVC - designed for cleaning outerwear. The smooth version of the balls is suitable for delicate fabrics.

Before purchasing balls, it would be useful to familiarize yourself with popular and widespread manufacturers. This information will allow you to make your choice and spend the money correctly.

Saving on balls is unacceptable not only in terms of achieving the desired effect, but also by purchasing a fake you can seriously ruin an expensive down jacket. In particular, you should be careful when choosing tourmaline balls; they are produced only in South Korea.

Price

The price of special washing balls is approximately 65 rubles per piece. A set of 4 devices costs from 260 rubles. It's not that expensive, but not available to every housewife. Those who want to save money take packs of tennis balls of 3 pieces at a price of 100-120 rubles.

A bigger savings is to buy tourmaline balls at a cost of 500-600 rubles and give up the powder.

Down jacket washing balls bring real benefits. With their help, you can not only remove dirt from your jacket, but also reduce time and money costs. But before washing, you must take a closer look at the labels on the product and understand whether the item can be washed and whether the feathers are coming out of it. If prohibited, machine washing using balls is not possible.

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Proper Use

Before using a ball for washing down products, you need to test their color fastness to warm water and various detergents.

To do this, it will be enough to place them in hot water for 30 minutes and add bleach. Then wipe them with a light cloth to reveal the paint.

If the fabric is clean, the balls can be used for their intended purpose. If the fabric is stained, you need to soak them again in hot water, and then in some product containing chlorine, which will remove excess paint from them.

Before loading the drum, the down jacket must be fastened with all possible locks. The balls in the drum are placed evenly throughout the down jacket.

How to replace balls for washing down jackets

If the washing is already underway, but there are no balls and there is no opportunity to go to the store, you can replace them with something similar.

It is immediately necessary to clarify that non-specialized washing balls will not give the effects described above, but the level of washing quality will undoubtedly be higher.

In the absence of special balls, you can wash your down jacket with tennis balls for tennis. Three or four balls will do the job quite well.

How can you replace tennis balls when washing a down jacket?

How to wash a down jacket if there are no tennis balls? You can use alternative options: if you rummage through children's toys, you can probably find silicone hedgehog balls. After checking them for color quality, they can be applied to washing.

If the balls are less than 7-10 cm in diameter, you do not need to take them.

Ordinary rubber balls may also work. Alternatively, you can use a ball of thread of the desired size, first inserting it into the sock.

How are tennis balls different from washing balls?

Before using these attributes, you need to prepare them:

soak or boil in boiling water;
boil, adding stain remover, bleach and powder to remove paint

Tennis balls will be ready to use in the machine if they are thoroughly rinsed.

When washing, the balls make noise so much that the washing machine moves. This should not worry the owner, since neither the equipment nor the drum will be damaged.

These balls do not have spikes, like special ones, so they are thrown into the drum in larger quantities: 6 or 8 pieces.

Recommendations for washing down jackets

The filling of the down jacket makes this item very difficult to wash. However, there are certain rules and recommendations for washing down products.

The first, and also important rule, is to always pay attention to the information located on the clothing label. It contains brief information on caring for this item.

Preparing and washing the down jacket itself includes the following steps:

the product is turned inside out;
the zipper must be fastened to protect the front part from any damage and so that the zipper itself does not deform during washing;
Do not wash your down jacket with other things;
You need to know that it is almost impossible to completely wash the powder from down items. It is necessary to use only liquid detergents for delicate fabrics;
Balls that fly over the drum will help you wash a down jacket correctly in a washing machine; they distribute the down evenly throughout the jacket;
washing should take place at a temperature no higher than 30 degrees;
It is highly undesirable to set high speeds on the washing machine; the minimum - 400-500 revolutions per minute will be the best option.

After washing, a down jacket should never be dried on a heat source other than natural.

You can’t dry it on a radiator - this will not only give the thing an unpleasant smell, but also the inside - fluff and feathers - can rot.

The correct way is to shake the jacket and hang it by the hangers on the clothesline. It is better to let the item hang in the air longer. During the drying process, you can distribute the fluff with your hands, straightening out any lumps.

Reviews

"Good afternoon! I washed my down jacket using tennis balls and detergent for knitwear and wool. Before this, I repeatedly used simple powder without balls, and ended up with a summer jacket instead of a winter one: the fluff all rolled into clumps and sank to the bottom. What's more important here: the balls or the product? I have to wash a few more down jackets, and I want the filling to be in its place, even if things become less bulky” (Marina);

“When I took the down jacket out of the machine, I was scared at first. But in the end everything turned out great. You just need to take out the jacket and immediately put it on the hanger. Let it dry completely, and then work with your hands. Every fluff ball needs to be straightened out. Then place the down jacket on your knees and tap each square. All that remains is to let things hang” (Igor);

“We must not forget that down feathers have a covering layer that protects from heat and water. Such things should be washed only with special liquids specifically for down, so that the protective layer does not wash off and the material does not stick together. Balls improve the quality of washing and prevent lumps from forming. But tennis balls do not completely replace washing devices” (Vitaly)