How To Dry Sheets In The Dryer Properly

It’s a scenario most of us have experienced. You go to get your sheets out of the dryer expecting them to be nice and dry, and instead find a tangled blob of fabric that’s still wet in the middle. So frustrating, especially if you’re in a hurry to get your bed made! Luckily, you can apply several techniques to ensure your sheets dry evenly in the dryer. Read on to find out what to do!

Add a dry towel to your load

One commonly used hack for ensuring that your sheets dry evenly and don’t get tangled is to throw a dry towel in the dryer at the same time as the wet sheets. The dry towel helps aerate the load of sheets and the rougher texture of the towel prevents the sheets from clumping together as much. This is a great technique because it doesn’t use any fancy equipment—everyone has a dry towel at their house!

Add dryer balls to your load

Dryer balls work on the same principle as the dry towel method but tend to be a bit more efficient. They’re rubber, plastic, or wool spheres designed to separate your laundry and allow air to circulate in the dryer. This speeds up drying time and saves electricity and money. 

To use, simply place a few tumble dryer balls in the dryer drum along with your sheets. If you prefer to avoid plastic, use wool dryer balls, which are not only fully biodegradable but also quieter in the dryer.

Use dryer sheets or fabric conditioner

Fabric conditioner and dryer sheets both do the same thing—they reduce static electricity, which stops your sheets from clinging together as much when they’re in the dryer. Whether you use a fabric conditioner or put a dryer sheet in the drum, you should find that this significantly alleviates the issue of your sheets clumping together in the dryer. 

Shake out your sheets thoroughly before drying

Most of us throw a load of laundry from the washing machine into the tumble dryer without thinking twice. But this could be contributing to the problem.

Before the drying cycle even begins, your laundry may be twisted, crumpled, or entwined from being in the washing machine. Instead of just chucking them in all at once, shake each item as you unload the washing machine. You’ll need to separate any sheets, pillow cases, or duvet covers that have become stuck together in the wash before adding them to the dryer drum.

Button your duvet cover before drying

More often than not, the duvet cover is the culprit when you discover your sheets have not dried properly. It’s easy for pillow cases and flat or fitted sheets to work their way into the duvet cover, and then get bunched into a knot of damp fabric in one corner. 

Once this occurs, no matter how long the dryer runs, the tight lump of fabric is unlikely to properly dry. Luckily, you have a solution for this! If you button your duvet cover before you put it in the dryer, it prevents it from “swallowing” other items in your dryer, which vastly reduces the likelihood of tangled sheets.

Make sure your dryer isn’t overloaded

If your bedding doesn’t have enough room to move around inside the drum, it may tangle and scrunch. So, if you’ve done a large wash load of more than one set of sheets, resist the urge to stuff it all into the tumble dryer at once.

Instead, split the load and dry it in two batches if necessary. It may appear to be more work at first, but it’ll save time in the long run if each load dries efficiently and you aren’t having to separate half-damp twisted sheets wrapped up with dry ones.

Dry each sheet separately

This method may seem over the top, but hear us out! Did you know that if you put a sheet into a dryer on its own, it can be totally dried in 10–15 minutes? This means if you have a load comprising a fitted sheet, top sheet, and duvet cover, you can get them all dried within 30–45 minutes. 

The only downside is that this method is a little more hands on as you need to be around in order to switch out the dry sheet for a wet one. If you’re going to be around anyway, though, it can be a great way to make sure you have perfectly dry sheets. It’s also easy to fold each sheet as soon as it comes out of the dryer while it’s still hot, which means your sheets will have fewer wrinkles. 

You can also dry all your pillowcases together in 10–15 minutes, or simply add them to a regular load of laundry to dry. 

Finish drying on the line

This one only applies if you have a washing line and if the weather is suitable to line dry your sheets. If you’re having repeated issues with your sheets not drying properly in the dryer, you can try finishing off the drying on the line. After you get the sheets out of the dryer, while they’re still hot and damp, hang them on the line. The last vestiges of moisture should dry in about an hour, and your sheets will be well-aired and wrinkle-free by the time you get them in again.