It’s a good idea to wash your blankets regularly because you want them to be nice and clean at all times.
Some people go ahead and have their blankets laundered professionally, but that can get rather expensive and it isn’t necessarily practical for most people. You can definitely wash your blankets at home and get very good results if you want to save some cash.
The only issue that many people encounter that will make things annoying is that sometimes blankets will ball up in the dryer.
Yes, drying the blankets is a bit more problematic than washing them in some instances and you don’t want your blankets to ball up.
If your blankets ball up too much in your dryer, then they might not dry properly and they’ll wind up being an annoyance.
What can you do to keep your blankets from balling up in the dryer? Well, there are actually a few steps that you can take to make things go much easier.
Read on to learn how to dry your blankets without encountering issues.
1 – Dry One Blanket at a Time
It can be tempting to try to dry multiple blankets at once, but this isn’t necessarily going to be ideal.
If you try to dry two or more blankets in your dryer, then they’re going to be that much more likely to dry unevenly. You’ll run the risk of having things ball up quite a bit and this is going to make the drying process much worse than it should be.
Even if it’s going to be more tedious to dry your blankets one at a time, it’s going to be for the best. You’ll get a better experience if you dry them one at a time and your blankets will come out feeling very dry and soft to the touch.
The vast majority of people who are using traditional dryers will want to only dry one blanket at a time.
Of course, there are some dryers out there that are a bit better at drying several larger clothing items at once.
It’s up to you to decide if your dryer can handle two blankets at once without having things ball up on you. You’ll need to use your better judgment and if your blankets keep balling up on you, then going down to drying only one at a time is likely in your best interest.
2 – Add Tennis Balls to Your Dryer
Are you a bit of a tennis connoisseur in your spare time? If you happen to have some tennis balls somewhere in your home, then they can be put to use to help you dry your blankets.
If you place a few tennis balls in your dryer, then they can work to help keep your blankets from balling up on you.
You are going to want to place the tennis balls inside of a clean white sock for this to work out properly. Once the tennis balls are inside of the sock, you should go ahead and tie off the end of the sock so that the balls can’t escape.
Going this route should help your blanket to dry much nicer than it would otherwise.
Many people even report having their blankets be softer and fluffier when they utilize the tennis balls in this fashion.
You might not necessarily want to go out of your way to purchase tennis balls if you don’t have some already, but it’s a good idea that you’ll get a lot of use out of.
Anyone who has access to tennis balls will find this to be a reliable solution to the problem of having blankets ball up in the dryer.
3 – Rearrange the Blanket While It’s Drying
Rearranging the blanket while it’s drying can also help you to prevent it from balling up on you.
One reliable method is to simply check on the blanket every 20 minutes during the drying cycle. Open up your dryer and rearrange the blanket once the 20-minute mark has passed so that it won’t ever ball up on you.
Admittedly, this is kind of tedious and many people won’t want to stand around waiting for blankets to dry all day. It’s up to you whether you want to take things this far.
This will definitely work to help you from having your blankets ball up on you in the dryer, but it might be a little annoying as well.
If you want to find a good middle-ground option, then you could try to check on your blankets in the dryer once or twice during the cycle. This will allow you to make adjustments if necessary but you won’t feel like you’re standing around waiting for an hour.
Just know that keeping an eye on your blankets in the dryer can be good when you want things to dry properly.
4 – You Could Hang Your Blankets Instead
Some people choose to go ahead and hang their blankets instead of drying them in a machine.
This is something that can prevent the problem of having your blankets ball up in the dryer because you’re taking the dryer out of the equation.
Hanging your blankets dry can also potentially give them a nice scent depending on where you’re hanging and the time of the year.
Of course, the problem with this method is that it is not going to be nearly as fast as using your dryer.
It will likely take many hours for your blankets to dry properly if you’re simply hanging them from clotheslines. This might not be a big issue for you, though, and it’s worth considering if you don’t like how your dryer dries your blankets.
It’s also going to be less practical to do this during certain times of the year. Drying your blankets on a clothesline outside isn’t so simple during the autumn or winter times of the year in many locations.
Even so, this is something to consider if you find yourself fed up with your dryer due to constant balling issues with larger items such as blankets.
Start Drying Your Blankets More Reliably
Start drying your blankets more reliably by making use of the above methods.
For the most part, you should be able to get much better results if you dry one blanket at a time as suggested. If you combine that advice with the idea of using tennis balls, then you shouldn’t have too many balling issues moving forward.
The only caveat to this is that different types of dryers are going to perform differently when it comes to drying blankets.
There are some dryers on the market that won’t have many balling issues even if you don’t use tennis balls. Others might still have some minor balling issues even with the tennis balls, but you’re still very likely to have a better experience when using them.
Just start using whichever ideas make the most sense for your situation and you won’t have to worry so much about blankets balling up in your dryer.
Having your blankets ball up in the dryer will be annoying when it does occur, but you can limit the number of times that you have to deal with significant balling problems.
Be ready to make the necessary adjustments and your blankets will dry nicely each and every time.
I have two Associate’s degrees, one in Medical Assisting and the other in Computer Technician, and I am roughly five classes from a bachelor’s degree. Though I never ended up working in the medical field, I have five and a half years of experience in IT. I recently became a stay-at-home mom to my two young boys, and I’m so excited to start this adventure with them! In my spare time, I love to bake and read pretty much anything I can get my hands on.