Dryer sheets reduce static and soften your clothes, but they also leave residue on laundry and can become costly over time, so we at House Digest tested a popular DIY alternative.

This trick claims that a tennis ball wrapped in foil can reduce static, dry clothes faster, and fluff fabrics. A few drops of essential oil on the ball can even add a fresh scent.

We scented the tennis ball with oil, wrapped it in aluminum foil, and threw it in the dryer with two blankets. Unfortunately, the ball created a lot of noise as it bounced around.

At the end of the cycle, the foil had left the tennis ball and was wrapped up tightly in one of the blankets. Still, there wasn't any static and the blankets were strongly scented.

We wrapped the foil tighter around the ball on a second try, and it stayed on much better, breaking apart only slightly. Small pieces that came off were found in the lint catcher.

If you want to try this hack, make sure to tightly wrap the aluminum foil around the tennis ball and pack it down. Using more foil may also keep it from breaking apart.

While this hack worked, we're not convinced it's better than wool dryer balls or reusable dryer sheets. The foil is unstable, and this trick also makes doing the laundry noisy.