How can I prevent my duvet cover from balling up in the dryer?
October 15, 2012 2:08 PM Subscribe
How can I prevent my duvet cover from balling up in the dryer?
Whenever I put my duvet cover in the dryer, it will get tangled in a ball after a few minutes and won't fully dry. As a result I have to go check on it every 10 minutes or so and untangle it until it's completely dry. Is there a way to prevent this? I've tried using dryer balls (well, tennis balls) and it seems to help a little but I'm still having to sort this out every time I wash bedding.
Any help would be appreciated!
Whenever I put my duvet cover in the dryer, it will get tangled in a ball after a few minutes and won't fully dry. As a result I have to go check on it every 10 minutes or so and untangle it until it's completely dry. Is there a way to prevent this? I've tried using dryer balls (well, tennis balls) and it seems to help a little but I'm still having to sort this out every time I wash bedding.
Any help would be appreciated!
Are you drying it closed up (buttoned or zipped or however it closes)? That will help a little, but generally I find that bedding in a home-size dryer just needs to be shaken out a couple times per cycle.
posted by peachfuzz at 2:17 PM on October 15, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by peachfuzz at 2:17 PM on October 15, 2012 [1 favorite]
whenever I have to wash lengths of fabric (to pre-shrink it for sewing) i fold it in a zig-zag...ie by holding the beginning in between my arms, grabbing the next arm-length, repeat...until it makes a bolt (does this make sense?...i mean like the way you fold anything big like a blanket)...then i put big safety pins through the top two corners...this keeps the whole length from wrapping around itself...hope that helps...
posted by sexyrobot at 2:20 PM on October 15, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by sexyrobot at 2:20 PM on October 15, 2012 [2 favorites]
I find that if you just grab the duvet cover straight from the washer and shove it into the dryer, it's already kind of balled up and only gets worse as it tumbles. Try pulling the duvet out of the wash and folding/pleating it similarly to what sexyrobot describes (the way you fold a paper fan, but on a much larger scale) before putting it in the dryer. Those folds (plus dryer balls) keep things loose and moving for my duvet covers, sheets, blankets, etc.
It also helps to dry multiple items at the same time so they tumble against each other, and towels work but sometimes they can be rough on finer fabrics.
posted by illenion at 3:17 PM on October 15, 2012
It also helps to dry multiple items at the same time so they tumble against each other, and towels work but sometimes they can be rough on finer fabrics.
posted by illenion at 3:17 PM on October 15, 2012
Sneakers. Or they sell a ball with little spikes especially for that, I think.
posted by Kazimirovna at 4:05 PM on October 15, 2012
posted by Kazimirovna at 4:05 PM on October 15, 2012
The dryer balls have little spikes on them that help keep everything open. You can get the cheap ones in the dollar discount section of the drugstore or maybe even the 99 cent store and they work just as well as the more expensive ones.
posted by amapolaroja at 8:39 PM on October 15, 2012
posted by amapolaroja at 8:39 PM on October 15, 2012
If you have some tennis balls, they should help stop the bunching - instead of purchasing a dryer ball. But I've only used them on low heat. That, and unbunching it between the washer and the dryer.
posted by youngergirl44 at 9:46 PM on October 15, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by youngergirl44 at 9:46 PM on October 15, 2012 [1 favorite]
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If you're doing this at home, you might consider taking it to a high capacity dryer at the laundromat-- where it would have more room to spread out while tumbling.
These are just theories though.
posted by vitabellosi at 2:14 PM on October 15, 2012