Stop Sheets From Balling Up — Here's The Right Way To Load Your Dryer

We've all been there while washing our bedding, specifically our sheets. You open the dryer expecting a fresh, fluffy load, only to be met with a dreadful ball of tangled fabric. Out tumbles a giant laundry blob that's swallowed up socks, undergarments, and anything else it caught in its path. And of course, the worst part is that it's still damp. That means you have to pull it apart, toss everything back in the dryer, and run another cycle. Not only does this waste precious time, but it also uses more electricity, which can cost as much as 75 cents per load. It might not seem like much, but if you wash your sheets once a week, that adds up to roughly $3 a month or $36 a year just to re-dry your bedding.

The good news is that there's a simple hack to keep your sheets from turning into a tangled mess, and it all comes down to how you load them into the dryer. You'll want to start by creating a little separation between your sheets and smaller items, like pillowcases, as you transfer them from the washer. Give each piece a good shake before tossing it in. This helps reduce the chances of smaller items getting caught in those elasticized corners on your fitted sheet, the usual culprits that trap everything else in the load and snowball into one giant laundry ball. Shaking out your sheets helps reduce creases and stop early tangles, but that alone won't completely save your laundry from balling up. Luckily, there are a few other loading methods that can help.

To keep your sheets from balling up in the dryer, and leaving your laundry damp, load them piece by piece, giving each one a good shake to create space instead of tossing them in already tangled from the washer. Load fitted sheets in first, followed by flat sheets, then pillowcases. If you're washing a duvet cover, be sure it's buttoned or zipped so nothing sneaks inside and gets trapped in the corners. And while you'll want to avoid overloading the dryer (since cramped sheets don't have enough room to tumble freely and dry evenly), Whirlpool suggests adding a clean, dry towel to the load to improve airflow and create extra space between items.

Dryer balls, typically made of wool, plastic, or rubber, are another good option to prevent sheets from turning into one big laundry ball. They bounce around during the cycle, keeping your sheets from twisting together by creating extra space. You can toss in three dryer balls in a small load, five in a medium load, and about six for larger loads. And if you don't have any dryer balls on hand, don't worry, you can also toss in a tennis ball since they work too. Just pause the cycle halfway through to check for breakage and give your sheets another shake. Finally, once your sheets are loaded, consider lowering the heat setting. Lower heat helps them hold their shape and makes them less likely to clump together.