Aluminum Foil

In the clothes dryer?

This all started when I opened the new box of dryer sheets. It had a little cardboard placard on the top instructing on how many sheets needs per laundry load size. Excuse me, what? I have never used more than one on any size load of laundry. I immediately thought this was some sort of ploy to ensure people use more sheets more frequently so the company can sell more.

Then today, I was adding a load of towels into the dryer and thought I should look it up on how many sheets to use with a large load of towels. Come to find out the actual answer is zero. Apparently, dryer sheets are not magic, like I had assumed previously. The sheets themselves have fragrance and a thin coating of wax. When the wax heats up as the dryer runs, it carries the fragrance and "softening" wax from the sheet and binds to your clothing or other articles you are drying. This makes the laundry smell fresh, and "feel" soft, as well as reduce static cling. Things covered in wax won't conduct electricity, at least, that is the assumed science behind it.

Maybe this is supposed to be common knowledge, and as a fan of science (thanks Bill Nye!), I feel like I should have realized this at a much younger age. After today I have come to the realization that adding a wax-like substance to your towels makes them less absorbent. Well, duh? Right? This had me chasing down the rabbit hole, and apparently, you can make balls of aluminum foil and add this into your dryer while drying towels. It is claimed, this will help reduce static electricity and will not add wax to your towels reducing absorbency. Make sure the foil balls are smooth so they won't snag on your towels!

I have not tried this, and I am scared to. I keep having flashes of igniting my house from the foil and combusting with my gas dryer. Maybe I watched too many Final Destination movies. If you have tried this, or you do this, please let me know if it works, is it safe, and what is your common practice when it comes to towel laundry? We have used the wool balls in the past with success, but once we moved we lost the balls in the dryer we got rid of when we got our new set. Yes, I forgot they were in there, and poof, they were gone.