You open the dryer expecting crisp, fresh sheets. Instead you pull out one enormous damp wad with the fitted sheet wrapped around the flat sheet like a burrito, and it’s still wet in the middle. This is one of the most universally annoying laundry experiences, and it happens to almost everyone.

The good news: it’s almost entirely preventable. Cleaning and laundry experts have a few consistent tricks that make a real difference — and most of them cost nothing.

Why It Happens And What To Do

Sheets ball up because of their size and shape. Large, lightweight pieces of fabric in a tumbling drum naturally wrap around each other and trap air pockets — especially fitted sheets, whose elasticized corners grab everything nearby. The bigger the bed, the bigger the problem. The more sheets you put in at once, the worse it gets.

“Because of their size and shape, it’s difficult to completely prevent sheets from balling up in the washer,” says Sammy Wang, a fabric senior scientist at Procter & Gamble. “But there’s a lot you can do to reduce it significantly.”

1. Shake Them Out First

Before anything goes in the dryer, shake each piece out individually. This is the single most effective step and the one most people skip. Giving sheets a good snap loosens the tangles that formed in the wash cycle so they start tumbling freely instead of already wrapped around each other. Elizabeth Shields, a laundry expert at SuperCleaning, puts it simply: “The more spread out they are, the better they’ll tumble.”

2. Don’t Overload the Dryer

This one seems obvious but it’s surprisingly easy to push too far. When a dryer is too full, sheets can’t move freely — they just compress against each other and clump. The drum needs room. A good rule of thumb: sheets should be able to tumble loosely, not pack in. Never dry sheets on top of an already heavy load of laundry; other items get caught in the corners of fitted sheets and make balling dramatically worse.

3. Pause the Cycle Halfway Through

This is the fix that professionals consistently recommend for king and queen sheets in particular. Halfway through the drying cycle, stop the dryer, pull the sheets out, shake them loose, and put them back in. Kathy Cohoon of residential cleaning service Two Maids calls it essential for larger bedding. “Pause the dry cycle halfway and shake out your sheets to keep them bunch-free and allow them to fully dry.”

Yes, it means being around when the laundry is running. Yes, it’s worth it — especially if you’ve ever had to re-run a cycle because the sheets came out still damp in the center.

4. Add Dryer Balls or Tennis Balls

Wool dryer balls or a few clean tennis balls tossed in with your sheets do two useful things: they physically interrupt the sheets as they tumble, keeping them from wrapping tightly around each other, and they help wick away excess moisture to speed drying.

No dryer balls on hand? A clean, dry bath towel dropped in with the sheets does a similar job — it adds bulk that keeps sheets moving separately and absorbs excess moisture at the same time.

5. Use a Lower Heat Setting

This one runs counterintuitive. High heat feels like it should dry things faster, but it actually compresses fabric and causes sheets to stiffen and clump more quickly. A lower heat setting gives sheets more time to tumble around freely before the heat locks them into position. Shields recommends it specifically for reducing balling. Lower heat also extends the life of your sheets — high heat degrades fabric fibers over time.

6. Dry Sheets Separately

Sheets and other laundry don’t mix well together. Other items — particularly heavy pieces like towels or jeans — get caught in fitted sheet corners and turn what would have been minor tangling into a dense, wet knot. Sheets should always get their own load, and ideally one set at a time rather than multiple sets together.

If you have access to outdoor space and reasonable weather, line drying is the cleanest solution of all. Sheets hung flat on a line with good airflow dry evenly and come out significantly less wrinkled, with no balling possible. It’s slower, but for anyone with chronic sheet balling issues, it’s worth doing when conditions allow.

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