Throw your laundry into the dryer without a dryer sheet, and it comes out a rumpled, “staticy” mess.
不加干衣機用紙就把衣物一股腦扔進烘干機里,結果衣物肯定是皺巴巴,而且還帶靜電。
Toss one in and the results are much better.
而只要放入一片就會截然不同。
How can adding this flimsy sheet change the way all your clothes come out of the dryer?
這纖薄的一張紙究竟對烘干機內你的衣物施加了何種魔法?
When you first add a dryer sheet to your wet laundry, it does nothing at all.
當你第一次將干衣機用紙放到濕衣服里,一點用也沒有。
It only starts working when the dryer is on.
只有在你打開烘干機時才開始起效。

The warm air that circulates through the damp clothing releases chemicals from the dryer sheet, and these chemicals permeate all the clothing, even clothing the dryer sheet never directly touches.
干燥機的熱空氣在濕衣物周圍循環釋放干衣機用紙的化學物質,而就是這些化學物質滲透所有進衣物,甚至用紙都不直接接觸。
The chemical that a dryer sheet releases is known as a “surfactant.”
用紙上的化學物質被稱為“表面活性劑”。
Most surfactant molecules have two sides:
大多數表面活性劑分子都有兩個方面:
one that holds onto water, and one that holds onto fats and oils.
一個是保持水分,另一個則是保持脂肪和油。