Dispensing ball

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For the device used in tumble dryers, see Dryer ball.
top-loading washing machine

A dispensing ball is a special plastic ball used to dispense liquid fabric softener in clothes washing machines that lack built-in softener dispensers. Liquid fabric softener has to be added at the correct time to a load of laundry (the rinse cycle) in order to work effectively. In top-loading machines, the ball accomplishes this with no user input, other than the initial loading, and filling of the ball.

Operation

In a top-loading washing machine, the ball floats on the surface of the water during the mild forces of the washing process, and remains sealed. The stronger forces of the later spin cycle causes the seal on the ball to be broken, releasing the liquid softener.[1]

These balls can not be used in front-loading tumbling washers, because the tumbling releases the fabric softener before the rinse cycle.[2] They cannot be used at all in the dryer.

Downy Ball

The

Newton's first law of motion, allowing the fabric softener to spill out onto the clothes, just in time for the rinse cycle.[3]

References

  1. ^ "How does the Downy fabric-softener ball work?". HowStuffWorks. 11 July 2001.
  2. ISBN 978-0-7432-7145-5
  3. ^ a b How does the Downy fabric-softener ball work?, HowStuffWorks
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