The anti-wad.

Every now and then some average person comes up with an invention to solve a minor vexing problem, a problem so common that everyone knows about it, but it’s just annoying, so no one ever thinks to solve it. This person is just one of the faceless masses, and yet shows a spark of inspiration that is truly something special. 

Like Tomima Edmark, the inventor of the TopsyTail, the inventor makes something that takes off and makes them rich, inspiring us all. We may not think that we could come up with a clever invention, but we're always glad to see one of us make good. 

But the big question is: Does it work?

Well, the TopsyTail (now owned by Conair) has a proven record, and I am proven to have virtually no hair, so there's no point in me fooling with that. But what I do have is laundry, and like everyone else I am frustrated by how the top sheet and/or the fitted sheet will conspire in the washer and dryer to ball up and net the rest of the load, keeping everything from getting clean and dry. 

Until now! (Maybe!)

Wad-Free is a simple but clever device intended to keep your sheets well-mannered on washday. The pack comes with two Wad-Free dewadders, or perhaps they should be pre-unwadders — plastic squares with nubs. You attach each corner of the sheet to a corner of the Wad-Free, and off into the washer with it! 

Of course my wife bought it, but it was up to me to test it. I made up a load with some socks, a couple pair of sweatpants, some T-shirts, a bunch of pillowcases, a fitted sheet, and a top sheet. The latter two were fitted with Wad-Frees, and a simple operation it is to do. (The educational video noted on the instruction card is barely over two minutes long, but isn't really necessary.) Then I put the whole load in the front-loader on the Power Wash cycle, to test if the Wad-Free would hold on in such violent conditions. 

And waddaya know (har!) -- it did! 

Moreover, neither sheet got balled up and captured other wash items. So far the Wad-Free was working perfectly. But the dryer is the real test -- that's where most sheets will form a ball of damp clothing while going round and round. Would Wad-Free free us from the wads?

Almost a perfect yes!

Strangely, the only thing that got wadded up in the bottom sheet was the top sheet. None of the other articles got bunched up, and everything got dry. Also, had I dried the load on a gentle cycle as recommended, it's possible even the sheet mix-up would not have occurred.  

Amazing! 

Wad-Free is the invention of Cyndi Bray, who took to the show Shark Tank to get investors. I don't watch the show, but I will give them credit for investing in this one. As I said, a simple solution to a common problem, but a solution no one had seen before. I would not have guessed that pinning the sheet corners would have prevented wadding such as (what Cyndi calls) the Tornado Wad (tangled ropes), the Hostage-Taker Wad (things inside stay damp), or the Burrito Wad (everything stuck inside, everything stays damp). Good for her, and much success to her company, Brayniacs. 

Let me leave you with the Wad-Free slogan, which I think we can all agree is a winner: 

Truer words are seldom spoken.