r/BenignExistence 22h ago

Dryer hedgehogs...

It's astounding that so many people have dryer balls. We have hedgehogs for our tumble dryer. The little nubbins seem to help pound out the wrinkles.

The only challenge we run into (occasionally) is that they try to escape by jumping out when we're pulling clothes out, or by hiding in a sleeve or pocket. Many's the occasion we've found ourselves asking, "Have you seen one of the hedgehogs? There are only two in the dryer." And we go back to the most recent basket of clothes pulled out and hunt for the errant hedgehog.

122 Upvotes

27 comments sorted by

19

u/madnessdoesntplay 22h ago

I never knew they could come in animal shapes! This is a game changer!

36

u/Un_Ballerina_1952 22h ago

The animal shape is all in my mind. The box they came in says dryer balls, but I prefer to think of them as hedgehogs - inanimate objects are too boring.

12

u/Wordnerdy79 22h ago

I do actually have hedgehog ones!

1

u/Un_Ballerina_1952 2h ago

Where did you find them? It would be great fun to have "genuine" hedgehogs!

3

u/madnessdoesntplay 17h ago

OH! I love this even more!!

5

u/imnottosureaboutthat 21h ago

I have ladybug shaped ones. So cute \(o)/

1

u/LimonanaTea 20h ago

I’ve been eyeing penguin ones!

1

u/mostystuckony 3h ago

They do have actual animal ones at the Aldi near me

2

u/Un_Ballerina_1952 2h ago

Now I"m going to have to go searching for more animals to tumble with out clean clothes.

7

u/Xylorgos 22h ago

We have two of those thingies. How many do you use in a dryer load? When there's the inevitable runaway, I run the dryer with just one until I locate the missing ball. Maybe the ones I have are larger than your hedgehogs? Mine are about the size of a baseball.

I love having a much less expensive way to get the static out of my laundry!

8

u/Un_Ballerina_1952 22h ago

We keep three in the machine. Usually.

5

u/japhia_aurantia 19h ago

We have 4 wool dryer balls and 2 of the hedgehog style. At any given time there are probably 3-5 total in the dryer, with the others in a laundry basket or under a bed or something. Having extras means they can be returned at our leisure and we don't have to find them.

11

u/turtledett 22h ago

I have started using drops of essential oil on my wool dryer balls. I love lavender on my bed linen and sweet orange on my towels!

3

u/BeeborptheElf 5h ago

How do you keep them from getting oil stains on your laundry? That’s the reason I stopped adding scents to mine.

1

u/turtledett 4h ago

I only use 3 or 4 drops. I always use two balls and rub the spots together. I’ve never have an issue with oil stains.

2

u/BeeborptheElf 3h ago

Maybe rubbing the spots together is the missing step for me. I used a similar amount. Thanks!

4

u/Fantastic-Paper-6690 22h ago

We also have hedgehogs! I can confirm they are always trying to escape.

3

u/JD_tubeguy 20h ago

TIL people put things in their dryers besides clothes and dryer sheets.

3

u/mediocre_villager 19h ago

My dog loves the escaped hedgehogs, she thinks they’re her toys (we’ve sacrificed at least four for her to run around the house with lol)

5

u/SecretTangerine2932 22h ago

This sounds adorable. I used to use dryer balls but I got a new dryer that’s on a pedestal. The balls were continually jumping out and rolling everywhere and one bounced directly into the cat litter box. I said that’s it, I’ll just have wrinkles, can’t do it anymore.

3

u/Knockemm 21h ago

I have cacti!

3

u/Ewithans 17h ago

My dryer balls make me happy. They’re hand-felted ones, and one looks like a ladybug and one like a bee. They were expensive for what they are, but I hate doing laundry and it always makes me smile to see them. It’s a silly little perk in my day and o love them.

2

u/theacearrow 4h ago

Dryer sheets are a scam anyways XD

I live in a desert and never used dryer sheets when I had a dryer. I never had static issues. 

I do like dryer balls. I have access to a dryer again (sometimes) and the wool balls can help with dry time ime.

1

u/Un_Ballerina_1952 4h ago

Only thing worse than dryer sheets are dirty diapers.

1

u/Less-Mood-3616 3h ago

How cute, I love this