I've been using this clever £10 trick in my tumble dryer – it really speeds up drying time, and the laundry comes out noticeably better

At this time of year, I'm finding that keeping on top of laundry feels a bit like a never-ending job in our house. With the weather turning a tad on the chilly side, I can no longer rely on the washing line; I've been looking at ways to dry my clothes faster indoors. Enter Beldray Anti-static tumble dryer balls, £9.99 on Amazon.

I'm a big fan of using one of the best heated clothes airers alongside a dehumidifier for speeding things up, but there are inevitably loads that end up in the tumble dryer too, such as towels, bedding and the bottomless pile of my daughters' tiny clothes. So this handy addition to my laundry routine has been a bit of a game-changer in our house.

Here's why you should grab a pack of these energy-saving must-buys.

There's nothing really complicated about these bad boys. You pop the two balls into your tumble dryer alongside wet laundry and start your cycle as normal.

How they work is pretty simple too. As the drum turns and the balls move between the clothes, they help lift and separate them rather than allowing everything to clump together. This means that more warm air can circulate around them, which Beldray says helps your laundry dry faster and more evenly. And they're right. They've really helped speed up drying time and have made a noticeable difference when I'm trying to dry mega loads.

My usual drying cycle takes around two and a half hours, and these guys have reduced the time to, on average, one and a half. However, it depends on how much I'm washing I've put on and the type of items I'm drying.

They've been most useful for bedding, because without the dryer balls the sheets twist themselves into one enormous bundle, leaving lots of damp patches trapped in the middle. And I'd say they've become invaluable when I'm doing several loads in one day on laundry day (aka most days).

Not only do they help with drying laundry faster, but Beldray have designed these reusable balls so they also help reduce static and soften fabrics as they tumble. And the biggest advantage is that the design can also help minimise wrinkles and creases too.

As someone who tests plenty of steam irons and steamers, and spends more time than I'd like tackling a mammoth ironing pile, I'm here for anything that makes that job a little easier!

Now I won't claim that these two little balls are going to dramatically slash your energy bills or suddenly make a full load dry in half the time, but I have noticed that my laundry dries faster and more evenly when I use them, and that is definitley not something to sniff at.

More tumble dryer balls I rate

They're a small addition to my routine, but I've found they make a big difference with the bulky loads I'm trying to dry at the minute. For £10 and with no effort at all to use, they'll be in and out of every drying cycle from now on!