I Spotted This Clever Trick in a Vacation Rental, and I Had to Steal It

I experience frustration in my laundry room almost daily. I don’t particularly mind washing and folding clothes, but situations beyond my control sometimes thwart my efforts in completing the laundry. Here’s what inevitably happens: After I run a load through the washer and dryer, I use the top of the washer and dryer as a folding table, drying rack, or stacking spot, but there is a slight curve on the surface of the machines, so clothing will occasionally fall to the floor. Sometimes it’s just a few pairs of socks that fall (not a big deal), but other times an entire stack of freshly folded clothes eventually slides off.

But on a recent trip I finally discovered a solution to my “laundry avalanche dilemma.” My family and I were visiting a mountain town, where the colder temperature called for extra clothing, coats, and gear needed for layering. Rather than pack an entire week’s worth of clothing for each of us, we decided to rent a place with a washer and dryer so we could clean clothes every few days to rewear, which ultimately saved us suitcase space.

When I went to wash and dry clothes one day at the rental, I spotted a clever trick I had never thought of adding to my laundry room before. Draped across the top of each machine was a simple piece of non-adhesive shelf liner. The liner provides a very convenient non-slip surface, so there’d be no risk of laundry slipping off.

It was such an ingenious-yet-simple hack, and the very fact that no clothes had slipped to the floor the entire time we were there was a win in my book. I was astonished and couldn’t wait to implement it in my own home. I’m adding grippy shelf liners to my hardware store shopping list or ordering straight from Amazon ASAP.