The Downy Ball is a special plastic ball used to dispense liquid fabric softener

Fabric softener

Fabric softener is used to prevent static cling and make fabric softer. It is available as a liquid, crystals and dryer sheets.- Varieties :...

 in clothes washing machine

Washing machine

A washing machine is a machine designed to wash laundry, such as clothing, towels and sheets...

s. Liquid fabric softener has to be added at the correct time to a load of laundry (the rinse cycle) in order to work effectively; the Downy Ball accomplishes this with no user input. Although the name Downy ball implies that it can only be used with Downy

Downy

Downy is a brand name of fabric softener produced by Procter & Gamble and sold in the United States. It entered the U.S. test market in August 1960 and went nationwide in December 1961...

brand products, any brand of liquid fabric softener can be used with this product to achieve the same results.

Operation

Liquid fabric softener is poured into the ball through a hole on the top side. Then a soft rubber plug is put in place to block the hole and keep the softener inside. The ball is then tossed into the washing machine with the clothes and detergent, where it performs no function until the spin cycle between the wash and rinse cycles, where the violent spinning motion and centrifugal force knock the rubber plug out of the hole, allowing the fabric softener to spill out onto the clothes, just in time for the rinse cycle.

The ball is specifically designed for use with traditional agitator-based top-loading washing machines which lack built-in fabric softener dispensers.

The Downy Ball can not be used in all top-loading High Efficiency (HE) washers or front-loading washers, and cannot be used at all in the dryer.