Rubbing Aluminum Foil On Your Clothes Is The Laundry Hack You Need This Winter

With winter bringing colder weather, more clothes need to be put in the dryer rather than being left to dry by themselves. Unfortunately, not only can the high heat of the dryer cause some items to shrink, but it can also make your clothes come out with major static cling. Nobody likes their freshly laundered clothing sticking, but there is a solution. To banish static, simply reach for kitchen cupboard staple aluminum foil.

Static cling occurs when fabrics rub against each other, which causes an electric charge to form. This then creates the annoying and uncomfortable shock sensation that often happens when clothes have been put in the dryer. While there are other solutions to getting rid of static cling such as dryer sheets, using an item you probably already have in your home will save you both time and money. Moreover, unlike these other solutions, you can reuse foil over and over again, making it a great choice if you're looking to be more sustainable.

All you need to do is run a piece of aluminum foil over the piece of clothing. That's it! It may sound a bit strange, but the way this hack works is actually relatively simple. When clothes are put in the dryer and spin around and rub against each other, they swap positive and negative electrons. This, in turn, leads to the negatively charged clothes interacting with the positively charged ones and creating static. When you get your clothes out of the dryer, these charges remain. However, putting foil against the clothing item will redirect the electrons to the foil, making this feeling vanish (or at least be less obvious).

Some fabrics are more likely to develop static cling than others. Synthetic fabrics like polyester tend to be more prone to it than natural fibers, though this isn't to say that natural fibers, such as wool, don't get static cling. To reduce static cling from the get-go, it might be worth evaluating which of your clothes are made from which fabrics and try not to mix the worst offenders together when drying them.

Since you literally only need aluminum foil to carry this hack out, you can even utilize it on the go by carrying around a small piece of foil to discreetly remove static when you're out and about (though you might want to do this in the bathroom to avoid confused looks).

Additionally, though using the foil after taking the clothes out of the dryer may work better for some, there is another way to get rid of static cling with it. Putting foil balls in the dryer and preventing static cling from forming is more of a time-saving solution if you're always in a bit of a hurry. All you need to do is scrunch up some foil and put one or two small balls in the dryer. Whichever way you choose to use foil, this hack is definitely a game changer if you're sick of your clothes sticking to each other.