Few laundry problems are more frustrating than opening the dryer and discovering that your freshly washed sheets have twisted themselves into one enormous ball. The outside feels hot and completely dry, but when you pull everything apart, the center is still damp and a pillowcase may even be trapped inside.

This happens because large sheets can wrap around one another as the dryer drum rotates. Fitted sheets can be particularly troublesome because their elastic corners create pockets that catch flat sheets, pillowcases, and smaller items. When everything becomes tangled, warm air can’t circulate evenly through the fabric, resulting in damp areas, wrinkles, and sometimes another complete drying cycle.

Fortunately, you don’t necessarily need a new dryer or expensive laundry products to solve the problem.

A few surprisingly simple changes before pressing the start button can dramatically reduce those frustrating tangled bundles.

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