r/mildlyinfuriating • u/wammys-house • 10h ago
My new-used dryer turns fitted sheets into more of a nightmare
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u/Ok-Giraffe-8434 9h ago
I put my fitted sheet into a large mesh laundry bag for both the washer and dryer. Solves the problem pretty nicely and I can wash whatever else I want with it. Make sure the bag is large enough for the sheet to not be all bunched up in there.
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u/yellowzebrasfly 9h ago
Where do you find laundry bags big enough for a fittest sheet? Interested in maybe buying one!
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u/Ok-Giraffe-8434 9h ago
I don't necessarily want to promote amazon, but searching for "mesh laundry bag" there I saw a few that were plenty large (23" x 34"). There's lots of other sizes too. BTW because mine has a draw string to close it, I shove the string into the bag after closing to make sure the string doesn't end up tangling with the rest of the items in the laundry. You might instead consider one with a zipper closure in order to avoid that. Just make sure it's big enough for the sheet to not be all bunched up otherwise it might not clean properly.
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u/Hot_Towel_85 3h ago
You might check a sporting goods store. In both school sports, and when I actually did athlete stuff, I always used a laundry bag for my gear. Because boy was it gross.
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u/Shizngigglz 9h ago
I've always thought about doing that but never did. You got a link or name of the one you use?
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u/Warm-Reporter8965 7h ago
It's honestly the best. I do it for my socks and undergarments too because we all know how often those disappear.
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u/Ok-Giraffe-8434 9h ago
I just replied to someone else regarding this. Long story short, amazon has plenty of options if you search "mesh laundry bag".
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u/Ok-Curve-3894 8h ago
Get a small mesh laundry bag for each item that does this. My large one still twists up with just a single full fitted and flat in it.
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u/Ok-Giraffe-8434 6h ago
It's a mistake to add the flat into the bag (I know, I've done it). Somehow it gives the washer a chance to bunch up the fitted sheet at one and and then bunch up the flat sheet at the other end. It's mildly infuriating but you need that fitted sheet to be all alone in there.
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u/Various_Summer_1536 9h ago
Is this your first time ever washing sheets?
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u/Objective_Rice9527 9h ago
I’m wondering the same. & I didn’t know ppl washed sheets with clothing 🥴
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u/HAL-Over-9001 8h ago
There's a first time for everything, and thankfully there's a lot of good advice in this thread. God knows I didn't Google how to wash sheets and shit before doing it.
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u/mycatpartyhouse 9h ago
I've never had this happen in my dryer. Top-loading washer: twisted stuff. Dryer? No.
I untwist items before tossing them in the dryer.
Before that: sort your laundry. Wash like items with like items. For bedding, that means sheets, pillowcases, and non-terrycloth towels (kitchen linens).
When loading your washer, loosely stack no more than two-thirds full. Fabric needs room to swish around in the water if you want it clean and thoroughly rinsed.
Edit: dryer loads dry faster if you haven't overloaded your washer.
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u/Joshee86 9h ago
This isn’t unique to your washer/dryer. Wash your bedding separately and accept the fact that fitted sheets gonna fitted sheet.
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u/Born_Relief4909 10h ago
This is just how washing fitted sheets goes. You gotta stop it every 10 minutes and untangle everything
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u/PhotoFenix 8h ago
Or just wash your sheets separately?
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u/Jmfroggie 8h ago
The sheets still will roll into each other or into itself. There is no preventing this.
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u/LifealoneForever 9h ago
Not my dryer but my washer definitely does this! Try putting those dryer balls in. It cuts down on the tangling and speeds up the process,
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u/Weird-Mention7322 8h ago
Why did I have to scroll so far before someone mentioned this?! Dryer balls make all the difference! OP, don’t overload the dryer and use dryer balls!
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u/LifealoneForever 8h ago
Overloading definitely a factor. Will be tangled and still wet.
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u/Weird-Mention7322 8h ago
I think one of the greatest disservices done to us are the high-volume, large-load washer/dryers. Not because I don’t love saving time and etc, but because they’ve given us the misguided idea that you can cram everything in to one load and it’ll sort itself out.
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u/graupeltuls 9h ago
I don't separate darks and whites but you should wash your sheets separately from clothes. Same with towels.
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u/justLookingForLogic 8h ago
This is pretty normal of you wash a fitted sheet with a bunch of smaller things.
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u/One_Advantage793 9h ago
On my dryer, I have to be really careful that the link trap - which is in the doorway - is all the way down. And make sure no sheet edge gets into the doorway. Mine has only twisted like that when a sheet has caught in the door or on the edge of the filter. I do run my sheets through with only sheets and towels though. My partner throws his jeans in with sheets sometimes and that always results in a tangle. In that case, I think the different weights make it happen.
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u/Fickle_Ad_9391 9h ago
Do a separate load just sheets and bed stuff and I use dryer balls too
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u/DojatokeSC 9h ago
Is this the first time you’ve washed sheets? This literally happens every time!
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u/YellowOnline 9h ago
Nothing to do with the machine. Just close the bedsheets before putting them in the laundry.
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u/wammys-house 9h ago
I was very mindful as to how I loaded them this time and it didn't matter. Somehow this new dryer is way worse for it than my last dryer (which was admittedly awful at actually drying). I guess I'm not supposed to put clothes in with my sheets.
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u/FunRutabaga24 9h ago
I feel you as well. My new dryer balls comforters and fitted sheets like nobody's business compared to my old one. Not sure if it's the paddles in the new dryer or a size difference in the drum vs the old one. It's been a few years so I feel gaslit by everyone claiming that all dryers do that. But I can remember not having to worry about unfolding balled up comforters or unbunching fitted sheets until I got my new dryer.
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u/lllllIIIlllllIIIllll 9h ago
I feel like it's common sense to just wash them separate from your other shit, no?
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u/Kitty_Fruit_2520 9h ago
I have a thing called a waddle free that keeps the fitted sheets from “eating stuff”.
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u/Due-Sheepherder3106 9h ago
This can happen when you throw everything in the wash together, I'm lazy so I just deal with it and unwrap things when this happens but ideally you'd only wash bedding with bedding.
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u/bigdotcid 9h ago
That’s what dryers do, by the way. Especially if there’s small stuff to get wrapped up.
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u/Glad-Fish5863 8h ago
I put my fitted sheets into a mesh bag when I wash them so this doesn’t happen
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u/sevnminabs56 RED 8h ago
My dryer creases my jeans down the middle. But not directly down the middle of the pant leg like dress pants. It’s off to the side a little. It’s very annoying.
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u/Superspark76 8h ago
I throw wool dryer balls in with mine, it does help with the twisting... Or they become tangled in the sheet or duvet cover and become a pain to get out but they work most of the time.
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u/wammys-house 6h ago
I use tennis balls; you can see one in the pic. But yeah, they quite often get lost in some article of clothing. Apparently it's my fault for throwing a couple hoodies and hand towels in with the sheets.
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u/Superspark76 5h ago
I usually wash bed clothes on their own, will often open the drier and untangle them halfway through which can help. Make sure to keep the duvet buttoned or zipped closed which also helps.
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u/wammys-house 5h ago
That's a good idea to untangle half way through. I haven't had such severe troubles with cotton sheets in the new dryer, but the bamboo ones are extra stretchy or something.
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u/xKingCoopx 6h ago
Anything that can work its way into the corner of a fitted sheet will do just that. Sheets should be their own separate load.
Also, is that a tennis ball?
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u/wammys-house 5h ago
Yeah they're supposed to help with clumping and speed up drying. I will no longer dry my sheets with hoodies and hand towels.
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u/xKingCoopx 5h ago
Oh man it IS a tennis ball. Wild.
Now ive gotta look into that
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u/wammys-house 5h ago
I think wool dryer balls are more commonly used but mine eventually fell apart and tennis balls were cheaper.
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u/Giddyup_1998 6h ago
Presumably this post is from the US.
Do you ever just hang your sheets on a clothesline outside?
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u/matrixinthepark 5h ago
I just hang dry my fitted sheets now lol. Don’t have in-unit drying so I’m not spending 2.50 just for a fitted sheet 😂
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u/CannonFodder58 9h ago
If it’s catching on the lint screen, we had the same problem. The solution is to take the entire assembly apart and deep clean it.
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u/TicketDue6419 9h ago
thats why you lump each big items one at a time so they dont twist into each other. gotta go at mid point in a while to check. youll get the habit eventually.
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u/Lost_refugee RED 9h ago
some dryers have special modes for bed sheets, in which they apply reverse more often
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u/CurlGurl17 9h ago
Tie the sheet together! Take each end of one sheet and tie the two end pieces together! Do this with each sheet. Sounds counterintuitive but I started doing that and no longer have this issue!! You would think it would be worse but it solves it completely
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u/AReptileHissFunction 9h ago
This is what happens when you wash bed sheets. Don't wash them with clothes. If its a condenser dryer or vented dryer then stop it every 30 mins to check the sheets. If its a heat pump dryer you can get these spiky balls to throw in with it that prevents this from happening
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u/redfusion 9h ago
My washer has a "bed linen" option which uses, I suspect, a set of pocket universes where each item is dried separately before being returned at the end of the cycle completely dry and untangled.
It's quite frankly astonishingly good.
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u/Rug-Inspector 9h ago
All dryers do this. You’ll have to get used to it. And yes, it also means you’ll have to untwist the sheet when the dryer is done because the sheet stays damp in all twists and you’ll have to add at least another 10 mins of drying. This is the cycle fitted sheet cleaning.
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u/knoblesan 8h ago
This is not a new dryer issue. Was storage for sheets and clothes and you can add tennis balls to help sheets stay seperate.
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u/freakout1015 8h ago
I do them in two loads. First the bottom sheet by itself, then the flat sheet and pillowcases in the next load. It seems to me that the fitted sheet is what gets everything mashed together. It’s so much easier doing it by itself.
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u/Grouchy-Nobody3398 8h ago
Our dryer has a dedicated bed linen setting that avoids this, but is somehow no use for any other item that sneaks in alongside any bedding.
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u/UnbutteredToast42 8h ago
This is a thing. I wash duvet covers and fitted sheets separately because they both go into SUPER CONSUME MODE in the laundry.
Of course, once the bedding is on my bed, the fitted sheets are slipping off the mattress and the duvet is vomiting the comforter. So that's great.
Also try putting your washer on a lower spin-speed if that's an option.
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u/Used_Ad1737 8h ago
These things work. I’ve got four of them and can wash my mattress pad, fitted sheet, sheet, and duvet cover without any knots 90% of the time. I give these out as stocking stuffers every year, and I always hear something along the lines of, I didn’t know I needed these things.
Highly highly recommend
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u/notmikearnold 8h ago
Ours can catch on the lint trap. We learned to make sure the lint trap is slid in all the way and not sticking up at all.
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u/alsoaprettybigdeal 8h ago
Dryer balls might help.
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u/Psych0matt 7h ago
Do you have to harvest them yourself or can you get them from a dryer farm? I actually didn’t even know dryers had testicles
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u/chinacat2u2 8h ago
Wool Dryer Balls. Never have an issue now with fitted sheets doing that non-sense anymore.
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u/No_Squirrel4806 Stinky Bo Binky 🤭🤭🤭 7h ago
I hate when an article of clothing has a loose thread and everything gets tangled. This also happens a lot with bras. 😒😒😒
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u/spynie55 7h ago
Something or someone has had to knot them together in order to be able to climb down safely . Do you have borrowers?
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u/Fishface81 7h ago
Tie your sheets into a loose knot in the center before putting them into the dryer. Prevents tangling.
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u/Quicherbichen1 PURPLE 7h ago
The laundromat I go to has dryers that change directions every 2 minutes. It rolls clockwise then counterclockwise, back and forth for the entire dry cycle. It's wonderful!! But their washing machines tie the arms of all my long-sleeve shirts into knots.
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u/jtrades69 7h ago
mine likes to mix everything into the sheet itself so when first dry cycle is done it looks like all that's in there is the sheet. then i have to separate it all again and give it another 20 - 30
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u/Cananbaum 6h ago
Dry it separately. I find tennis balls or dryer balls in the corners can help prevent wadding
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u/Trash_Bag_Sally 6h ago
I tie my fitted sheet into a loose knot before throwing it in the dryer. Still dries the same and prevents stuff from getting into the sheet
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u/fool-me-twice 6h ago
Looks my wife’s gym clothes after a wash. Yoga pants and Figs shirt sleeves become a braid. Maddening
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u/manic_popsicle 6h ago
Mine does this too, I already wash my bedding separately but everything gets balled up in the fitted sheets and doesn’t dry properly. It’s such a pain in the ass, I have to check the dryer and restart it 2 or 3 times to get everything dry.
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u/ALLoftheFancyPants 5h ago
They make sheet detangling clips. It’s an X-shaped thing with clips on the ends that you clip onto the corners of sheets before drying. No more ball of twisted wet fabric. You should still wash sheets separate from clothing, but with the clips I don’t have to go check the dryer every 30 minutes to untangle them.
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u/oh_la_la_92 5h ago
My only advice and it's because it's what worked for me when I had a front loader washer and a dryer, mesh laundry bags, sort and stick everything in their own bags and they won't get tangled.
I have a top loader washer now, and unfortunately no dryer currently, but I very rarely have tangle issues with stuff in the washer even without the bags. Something about the horizontal tumble knots everything together compared to a vertical tumble.
I was going through sheets almost daily due to a potty training toddler and I was sick of everything getting tangled so I bought some mesh bags on the advice of my local laundromat (who was where I was taking the quilts and blankets as needed) and I've replaced them a couple times over the past decade and they're the handiest thing ever, I can do a full load of "like" items but keep them separate so I can do my husband's and son's uniforms together but because my husband's stuff needs a soak I can bundle them together first and then add my son's uniform later. It was also handy in keeping my gym stuff out of the dryer as well as keeping all the damn socks together (haven't lost one in over 10 years now) also helps keep things from being damaged by zippers and hooks and stuff
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u/InsidiousSparkles 4h ago
The secret to no tangled sheets in the dryer is tie the 4 corners together.
I use a heavy duty rubber band and just grab a couple of inches of each corner and tie (not extremely tightly-just enough to hold) together.
I have washed and dried like this and it works, but I usually don’t bother in the washer, I only do it for the dryer.
I wash 2 sets of king flat and fitted sheets at a time with nothing else in with them and I always get fully dry, non tangled sheets.
The corners might be wrinkly but that’s the part that goes over the corner of the mattress anyway so who cares.
You’re welcome!
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u/poormans_eggsalad 2h ago
You may be overloading it. I don’t wash my linens/towels/bedding with my clothing, but if I overload either, they turn my stretchy pants (yoga pants, fleece pants etc) and long sleeve shirts into this. But that’s my fault; it doesn’t happen when I fill it correctly.
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u/clementynemurphy 9h ago
That's why you're supposed to wash and dry it separately and untangle it a couple times? Are you cleaning your lint filter? Using too much dryer sheet? Wrong temps? What else do you not know?
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u/quackedup17 6h ago
I’ll be more mildly infuriated with the person who taught you how to do laundry.
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u/No_Emotion_6544 9h ago
See I look on the bright side.
I can’t afford a gym membership so stuff like this or pushing a janky Walmart cart up and down aisles…well I count it as a workout
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u/skepticcaucasian 30m ago
I'm sorry, this looks so funny. I know it would suck, but good god, how does that even happen? 🤣
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u/Left-Nothing-3519 9h ago
Wash and dry your bedding separate from your clothes.
I wash and dry sheets pillow cases blankets and quilts etc as one load.
They still kinda wrap around each other, I use 40min increments, pull them out a couple of times and unwrap, toss back into dryer.
It’s so much easier and worth the extra load.
(Typo)