Why You Should Throw Tennis Balls into Your Dryer
- Lifestyle
- Exienent
- · Updated
Tossing a few clean tennis balls into the dryer is a cheap, reusable alternative to dryer sheets. As the drum spins, the balls bounce through the load, breaking up clumps, improving airflow and gently beating the fibers, which can help clothes dry faster and come out softer. The main catch is the noise.
Why Look for an Alternative to Dryer Sheets?
Traditional dryer sheets are coated in synthetic waxes and fragrances that can leave a residue on your clothes and in your machine over time. They are also a single-use product you have to keep buying.
For many households, laundry runs on autopilot: wash the clothes, move them to the dryer, throw in a heavily scented dryer sheet, and hit start. If you want a routine that is a bit more eco-friendly and less reliant on disposable products, a classic, slightly old-school laundry hack from zero-waste circles is worth a look: using tennis balls as homemade dryer balls.
What Do Tennis Balls Actually Do in the Dryer?
The concept is incredibly straightforward. When you toss a few clean tennis balls into the dryer with your wet clothes, they bounce around as the drum spins.
This bouncing action does three useful things:
1. They Prevent Clumping (Especially with Towels and Bedding) If you have ever tried to dry a heavy comforter or a large load of bath towels, you know they tend to roll up into one massive, damp ball. The outside gets bone dry, but the inside stays wet. The tennis balls act like little agitators, constantly pounding into the fabric and breaking up those clumps so the hot air can circulate evenly.
2. They Can Reduce Drying Time Because the tennis balls keep separating the clothes and improving airflow, laundry can dry faster, especially heavy towel loads. Shorter cycles can also mean using a little less electricity over time.
3. They Naturally Soften Fabrics As the tennis balls gently beat against the fibers of your clothes, they soften the fabric and reduce stiffness, which can replace chemical fabric softeners or dryer sheets. Clothes can come out feeling soft and fluffy.
How Do You Set Up Tennis Balls as Dryer Balls?
Getting started is as easy as it sounds, but there is one crucial step you absolutely cannot skip.
You must use brand new, perfectly clean tennis balls. Please do not go outside, throw a ball for your dog, and then throw that slobber-covered ball in with your clean white bedsheets!
- Buy a fresh can: A cheap, pressurized can of three generic tennis balls from the sporting goods section is enough.
- Pre-clean them: Before the very first use, run the tennis balls through the washing machine on a hot cycle (with no clothes), then dry them on high heat. This helps strip away any loose fuzz or manufacturing dyes before they touch your clothes.
- Keep them handy: Store those three dedicated tennis balls on top of the dryer, and toss them in on top of every load.
Are Tennis Balls in the Dryer Noisy?
Yes, this hack is not silent. When the dryer first starts, you will definitely hear the thump, thump, thump of the tennis balls hitting the metal drum.
If your laundry room is right next to your bedroom and you like to do laundry late at night, this might drive you a little crazy. However, once the clothes start to fluff up, the noise gets significantly muffled. In my view, a slightly annoying sound for the first ten minutes or so is a fair trade for the benefits.
If you are looking for a zero-waste, inexpensive way to make laundry softer and dry faster, you can skip the expensive wool dryer balls online and grab a can of tennis balls next time you are at the store. It is a strangely satisfying life hack worth trying.
