Why Are Dryer Sheets Showing Up In Mailboxes Around New York?

New Yorkers may be surprised to find a dryer sheet in their mailbox as summer gets started. But there is a very important reason you may find the laundry staple where your bills usually go. If you haven't seen one in your mailbox, you may want to place one there yourself.

Summer 2025 officially kicks off today, Friday, June 20, at 10:42 p.m. ET, according to NASA and the Old Farmer's Almanac. Summers in New York bring concerts, fairs, boating, beaches, cookouts, and family fun. However, they also bring numerous unwanted visitors.

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In 2023, the number of pieces of mail processed and delivered was 127.3 billion. United States Postal Service mail carriers are outside in rain, sleet, hail, and snow, making sure New Yorkers get their mail. Mail carriers often face challenges in delivering mail, such as dogs, pests, and nature. One big threat is something many New Yorkers are familiar with - insects. This is the reason you may find a dryer sheet in your mailbox, or you should put one in it.

I was hosting an outdoor event a few summers ago, and there was an invasion of bees. Or, maybe we invaded their territory. However you look at it, they were making the event miserable. I did a quick Google search and ran to the nearest store to pick up dryer sheets. Everyone else and I at the event had them on tables, tents, and in our socks and pockets. They worked like a charm!

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In an effort to keep bees, wasps, or hornets from creating cozy homes in your mailbox, your mail carrier may slip a dryer sheet in it. A mail carrier anonymously posted about keeping yellow jackets and other flying insects from building nests in a Reddit thread,

"We’ve found that they hate scented dryer sheets. If we encounter a box that is a problem for nests, we’ll often put one in there, and it does the trick. So please, if you one day randomly see a dryer sheet at the back of your mailbox, just know that your carrier more than likely put it there to deter these Satanic creatures from building their home in it."

If you haven't seen a dryer sheet in your mailbox and you are aware of flying, stinging pests in your area, you can place one in it.

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