How Putting a Dryer Sheet in Your Mailbox Can Help Your Mailman

It's something that my family does each time we close up our cabin for the winter but for some reason, I never thought about bringing this one simple thing home with us. Until now.

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I stumbled on a Reddit thread where someone asked if anyone knew why a dryer sheet would have been left inside their mailbox. It would be an odd thing, really, to reach into your mailbox to grab your mail and find a wadded-up dryer sheet stuffed in the back, wouldn't it?

While it might be strange to you and me, it's not so strange to your mail delivery person who sometimes sticks their hand in our mailboxes to find unwelcome surprises...like stinging or biting insects.

One of the reasons my family puts dryer sheets in every nook and cranny of our cabin when we're closing up is because they deter mice, spiders, wasps, squirrels, and a variety of other creepy, crawly things.

According to Reddit user u/istrx13, it’s well-known in the mail delivery world that dryer sheets help keep nasty pests from setting up camp in places like mailboxes. So, if you go to get the mail and see a dryer sheet, use it as an opportunity to check your mailbox and post for unwanted insects and if you spot any, get rid of them and save your mail carrier the possibility of an unpleasant sting or bite.

If you want to stop nest building or bug gatherings before they even have a chance to start, you can be proactive and put a dryer sheet in your mailbox instead of waiting for your mail carrier to do so. The Reddit mail carrier explained that the brand of dryer sheet you buy doesn't matter as much as whether or not it's a scented dryer sheet. The scent is what sends critters scampering. You'll know it's time to replace the dryer sheet when you can't smell it anymore.