There are plenty of reasons to have tennis balls lying around the house. Maybe you like to hit the court with friends or your local tennis club, or perhaps you just like playing fetch with the dog in the backyard. You might even use them as massage tools or to stabilize outdoor furniture. In any…
The next time you do a load, get a new tube of tennis balls and throw two or three in the dryer with your wet laundry. Skip the dryer sheets, which can leave behind an unpleasant residue. The power from the tennis balls bouncing around will break up clumps of clothing, which, in turn, improves the overall airflow and helps your laundry dry quicker and more efficiently than it would otherwise. The force from the tennis balls can also help pound out wrinkles, leaving your garments smooth and ready to wear, no ironing board required.
Tennis balls are especially useful for bulkier items such as comforters and pillows. Much like hitting a pillow helps fluff it up, the force from the bouncing balls helps distribute the material to keep it evenly fluffed.
They’re similarly helpful when it comes to washing down jackets. Putting your down jacket through the wash will likely cause it to lose some of its puffiness. To restore its original shape, put the jacket in the dryer with two or three tennis balls. Then set the temperature to the lowest heat setting or, if possible, no heat at all. As you run the dryer, the balls will pound away at the jacket and evenly disperse the down filling, helping to revive the jacket’s volume and fluffiness.
If you’d rather not use tennis balls for any reason, wool dryer balls are another excellent option. Though they’re lighter and thus lack the force of tennis balls — meaning they’re less effective at pounding down jackets and comforters back into shape — wool dryer balls can help reduce wrinkles and static electricity. They’ll also work to separate tangled clothing and cut down drying time. As an added bonus, this means lower energy bills each month, as you’ll end up running the dryer for shorter periods.
