See a Dryer Sheet in Your Mailbox? Don’t Touch It, USPS Workers Warn
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From unsolicited ads to pre-approved credit card applications, our mailboxes get filled with all sorts of things we never asked for. Among the most unusual items you might find in yours? A dryer sheet. But if you stumble upon one amid the bills and junk mail, you should leave it where it is. In fact, it was almost certainly left there by a U.S. Postal Service (USPS) worker, and for a very good reason. Read on to discover what that dryer sheet might be doing in your mailbox.
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If you’ve ever opened your mailbox and found a dryer sheet in there, you’re certainly not alone. This well-reported phenomenon has been causing confusion online for years. Back in 2016, one Twitter user asked , “Why is there a dryer sheet in my mailbox?”
Another person took to Quora in 2021 to ask a similar question , concerned that the discovery could potentially be connected to criminal behavior: “Is it a gang sign to find a dryer sheet in my mailbox?”
And in May of this year, local radio station WJLK-FM reported that people in New Jersey were also finding dryer sheets in their mailboxes.
“At first thought I had questions. A lot of questions,” Matt Ryan , a content creator for WJLK-FM wrote. “Why dryer sheets? Why are they in mailboxes? Are random people putting them there, or is the mail carrier?”
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Fortunately, this isn’t a prank gone wrong, or the sign of some nefarious activity. Multiple postal workers have now come forward to let customers know that they’re actually the ones putting dryer sheets in mailboxes—and they’re doing so for a good reason.
When another person asked about dryer sheets in mailboxes on Quora, USPS employee Christopher Valenze told them that it was something he and many of his fellow mail carriers do.
“Your carrier probably put it there to keep bees/ants out of the box,” Valenze explained. “I’ve done this for the ‘cluster’ boxes at apartment complexes.”
Another mail carrier who has worked with the USPS since 1999 backed up Valenze’s response about the dryer sheets in a separate 2022 Quora forum.
“They help to keep bugs out,” the carrier wrote.
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From hazardous weather conditions to aggressive animals , USPS workers often have to deal with a lot of potential dangers when delivering our mail. In a now-viral Reddit post from April 2021, a letter carrier posting under the username @istrx13 revealed that the risks during the summer also include potential contact with problematic pests.
“I’m sure you’ve noticed. But just in case you haven’t, this time of the year wasps and Yellowjackets (especially Yellowjackets) like to make nests inside of mailboxes,” the carrier wrote. “I can’t tell you how many times, especially during this part of the year, where I’ve opened up a box to see a little nest with three to five Yellowjackets just chilling. If I’m really unlucky, they will have made their nest at the very back of the box so I wind up sticking my hand in not knowing they are there.”
The Reddit user explained that they had been stung 10 different times the year prior. That’s where the dryer sheets come in.
“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,” @istrx13 wrote. “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.”
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If you want to make sure you keep getting your mail delivered, don’t remove a dryer sheet from your mailbox. In 2019, the USPS suspended delivery service to a neighborhood in Sparks, Nevada, for nearly a month after a mail carrier had complained about wasps at a cluster of community mailboxes, local news outlet Fox 11 reported.
“The situation could have turned into an unwelcome encounter for a customer or our carrier had the nest been allowed to remain where it was,” USPS spokesman Rod Spurgeon told the news outlet at the time.
Reddit user @istrx13 stressed the importance of using dryer sheets as a “preventative measure” because they said they’ve also halted delivery service when there is a huge nest in or around a mailbox.
“I just immediately leave a note on the customer’s door letting them know they need to take care of the nest before I can resume delivering their mail,” the carrier wrote. “It would be best to get rid of the large nest and then put a dryer sheet in to keep them from coming back.”
A USPS spokesperson told Today in 2021 that putting dryer sheets in mailboxes is a not a “ specific directive ” from the agency but made it clear that carriers are encouraged to report this type of pest problem, which may cause deliveries to be suspended.
“There is guidance in our safety regulations that cover how to handle insects,” they said. “The guidance includes, but is not limited to: reporting hazards to a supervisor (i.e., hornet, wasp, and bee nests) so they can be removed by the property owner; using insect repellant as needed/when appropriate; avoid wearing perfume or other scented products; watch eating and drinking outdoors, especially with sweetened drinks as this attracts bees and other insects.”
See a Sticker on Your Mailbox? Don’t Touch It, USPS Says
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Your mailbox serves a very simple purpose: receiving mail and leaving outgoing mail for a carrier to pick up. Still, some of us enjoy sprucing up our mailboxes, adding personal flair, color, or even decals to help an otherwise standard mailbox stand out. But if you notice a paw print sticker on your mailbox that you didn’t add, don’t start peeling it off just yet—it’s likely part of a program run by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to help keep carriers safe. Read on to find out what these stickers mean and why you shouldn’t remove them.
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In 2023, more than 5,800 Postal Service workers were attacked by dogs while delivering mail, up from 5,300 in 2022, according to a USPS press release.
Larger cities had the highest numbers of attacks, with Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, St. Louis, and Cleveland claiming the top five spots.
“Even though a customer’s dog is friendly to most people, it can always have a bad day,” said letter carrier Tara Snyder . “I know, from experience, even when a dog is in the house, customers need to make sure their door is secure so their dog can’t push it open and bite the letter carrier.”
To her point, the USPS writes that “all dogs can bite, even those perceived as nonaggressive.” In fact, many of the attacks that letter carriers report are by dogs whose owners told them, “My dog won’t bite.”
Such an attack can result in consequences for the homeowner, too. According to data from the Insurance Information Institute, the average cost per insurance claim for a dog bite is $64,555, the USPS states.
“When a postal employee suffers an injury, the owner could be responsible for medical bills, lost wages, uniform replacement costs, and pain and suffering for the employee,” they explain.
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To combat dog bites, the Postal Service shared tips on how pet owners can “support safe mail delivery.” These include keeping dogs inside the house or behind a fence, away from the door or in another room, or on a leash.
“Pet owners also should remind children not to take mail directly from a letter carrier as the dog may view the carrier as a threat to the child,” they state.
Mail carriers also follow protocol to keep them aware of areas where dogs might be present, and they’re equipped with scanners to remind them of possible dog hazards, as well as dog warning cards that are added during mail sorting.
In 2020, the USPS added another preventive measure: the PAWS Program . First introduced in Pennsylvania, the program uses mailbox stickers to keep carriers safe.
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The PAWS Program uses color-coded stickers affixed to mailboxes to inform mail carriers about dogs in the area. An orange sticker with a black paw print tells carriers that there is a dog at this home, while a yellow sticker with a black paw print tells them there is a dog at the next house.
Citizens are informed ahead of time that the stickers may appear on their mailboxes. In a notice sent to Lakewood, Ohio, residents, the Postal Service wrote, “Carriers will soon be placing a paw sticker on mailboxes to indicate that a dog or dogs live in the area —yellow indicates dog nearby/orange indicates dog at residence. The sticker will act as a reminder to the carrier that they should proceed with caution, especially when delivering packages to the door.”
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Removing these stickers may do more harm than good, as your mail service can be halted if your carrier feels unsafe. Not only does this affect the home of the dog owner, but it also applies to the entire neighborhood, the USPS said in a previous press release . Service isn’t restored in these instances “until the aggressive dog is properly restrained.”
At the end of the day, these stickers are put in place to “reduce the risk of dog bites and attacks that occur while delivering mail,” which is just another reason you should leave the sticker on your mailbox.
“We all love our dogs,” Kimberly Tilley , acting postmaster for Winston-Salem, told WGHP. “We love our animals, but we … have to take responsibility to protect the carrier and the people around us as well from our animals.”
Tilley added that dog bites are more common than you think, and they can be traumatic for carriers. “Once a carrier has been bit, it sets some fear in them long term for the rest of their life,” she told the outlet.
However, although these stickers are strongly recommended, if you object to having a sticker placed on your mailbox, you can opt out , Kyle Stevens , Southwest Carrier Annex station manager in South Dakota, told KELO in 2021. To do so, the first step would be to contact your local post office.
This story has been updated to include additional entries, fact-checking, and copy-editing.
