Classic examples of "Why make it?"

Hot pads that don't prevent your hands from getting burnt.
Tripods that don't support a reasonably sized camera for the tripod.
Vioxx.
Baby toys made with lead paint (What???).

As we come across products which shouldn't have been made, we'll let you know so you don't accidentally buy them. Of course, feel free to comment or send us email if you feel strongly that something you've used should earn the "Why Make It?" dishonor.

Dryer Balls

A few weeks ago we ventured into Bed, Bath & Beyond for the specific purpose of finding my mother low-energy LCD nightlights (they work great by the way). It's not a normally that I make an impulse purchase for an As Seen On TV product, particularly at BB&B. However, these Dryer Balls caught my eye.

My wife and I are trying to use fewer synthetic chemicals around the house, especially to clean, particularly to avoid disrupting our 1-year-old's growing endocrine system (no pun intended). These days, we avoid dryer sheets for our baby's clothes. I thought Dryer Balls might solve the problem that we have in doing so, namely that our clothes (especially when in the same load as his) aren't as soft after being washed and dried; so, I bought a pair.

At this point you may ask me, "What about the effects of heating plastics or synthetic rubber?" and you would be right to point out there might be some leeching of chemicals from the Dryer Balls at high heat. But, I ignored that question, and as you'll soon see, it was going to be moot anyway.

A few days later I cut open the package to use the Dryer Balls and after one load in normal dryer heat, one of the balls had been torn apart during the duty cycle. I wish I had taken a picture to show you what a frayed, cracked Dryer Ball looks like (this occurred pre-blog), but needless to say, this didn't inspire confidence.

When I took the Dryer Balls back to BB&B, the helpful woman at Customer Service began the refund process and mentioned to me that what probably happened was that the hole at the "pole" of the Dryer Ball was not properly punched when/after it was molded, leading the water in the air inside the ball to superheat, which caused the ball to explode. She reassured me that "if you get another set, they'll probably work just fine." She'd used hers for four months without problem even thought "a lot of customers" had already returned their Dryer Balls.

Consider that a) I would really need to use the Dryer Balls for several years (not just four months) for my investment in Dryer Balls to be at cost parity with dryer sheets on a per-load basis, b) many customers had already returned theirs as they were prone to exploding and c) this superheated synthetic material probably wasn't not going to release endocrine-disrupting particulate.

I came to the conclusion that the advertising claims for Dryer Balls were dubious at best (feel free to read the website to see what I mean) and that the manufacturing process was poor enough to obviate the claim that the Dryer Balls would save you hundreds of dollars over their lifetime, since their half-life, at least in my case, was 1 load.

Why make them?

Why Make This?

"Why Make It?" is what we say when confronted by a product or experience that operates in a manner contrary to its fundamental purpose. Like a printer that doesn't advance paper or knee-high stockings that don't stay up, these are things that make you wonder - not what - but if the designers and engineers were thinking.

To a lesser degree, "Why Make It?" also applies to things which a reasonable person would assume should make life more convenient but actually make life harder.

It does not refer to the occasional manufacturing defect (but does apply if the manufacturing process is flawed), nor does it apply to the formerly wonderful gadget which was gloriously easy, fun and helpful to use in its own day but is now failing with age.

"Why Make It?" is what we say just before driving back to the store and self-possessedly demanding an immediate refund in cash, not store credit.

We want you to avoid having to exclaim "Why Make It?" yourself.