Static is caused by clothes tumbling in your dryer. As clothes tumble around and rub against one another in the dryer, they exchange electrons. One piece becomes positively charged while the other comes away with a negative charge. When the dryer stops, all the clothes fall to the bottom of the drum and some of the negatively charged clothes will stick to the positively charged clothes. This is the dreaded static cling. And it only gets worse with cooler, drier air. There is the science behind it—now how to prevent static.

I’m sure you have heard of the dryer balls that some people use. I am a huge believer in these. There are various styles of dryer balls you can purchase, as far as my experience they all work. Do some work better than others? Yes, I think the best choice is the wool dryer balls. A set of wool balls will cost between $10 and $30. A good set will last for a thousand loads. I won’t do the math but that would be a good financial savings compared to dryer sheets hands down and doing the same job. Note on the wool balls they need to be charged every 100 loads and you simply put them in a cold-water gentle cycle in your washer and throw them back in the dryer and they are good to go. There is another common variety of dryer balls that are made of plastic. These will work but they have been known to release toxins from the plastic and tend to break apart. People also make aluminum foil balls and these work but don’t last long. You can use heavy-duty aluminum foil and make three or four about the size of a tennis ball.

The wool balls also help soften the clothes where plastic and foil balls do not.

Give the balls a try and save some money while you’re at it. Your clothes and your dryer will appreciate it and you won’t have to face the dilemma of clingy clothes.