If You See a Dryer Sheet in Your Mailbox, This Is What It Means

Warm weather means more time at the beach, more grilling burgers with the family, and lots of fresh-squeezed lemonade! But with better weather also comes our bug friends.

Now, sometimes our bug friends are a little more aggressive than we’d like, and they don’t always nest in the best places. Finding ideas to keep backyard pests away can be a hassle, but luckily there are options to help us out.

Your mail carrier left that dryer sheet

It might sound crazy. But the reason they left a dryer sheet in your mailbox is pretty simple: to deter wasps and yellow jackets!

If you’ve ever had the displeasure of experiencing a sting from one of these guys, you know it can really ruin your day. But, apparently scented dryer sheets can be used as a preventative measure to help keep the stingers away.

According to Reddit user u/istrx13, it’s well-known in the postal world that dryer sheets help keep nasty pests from opening up shop in cozy places like mailboxes. Being stung by a wasp hiding in a mailbox sounds like the worst possible situation! The dryer sheet in your mailbox is used mostly used for preventative measures, though, so if you see a nest forming, do your postal worker a favor and get rid of the wasps ASAP.

Why does this work?

Wasps typically dislike very aromatic things like eucalyptus, citronella, and even cloves. Because dryer sheets are meant to thoroughly freshen up our clothes, it makes sense that their scents would be incredibly strong. It’s probably why wasps dislike them so much!

Just remember to switch out the dryer sheet every so often so the scent stays fresh and strong. Your postal worker will thank you!

Next, learn about the mosquito-repelling plants you need in your backyard.

Get Reader’s Digest’s Read Up newsletter for more humor, cleaning, travel, tech and fun facts all week long.

Sources:

• Reddit: “u/istrx13”