Did you use a plain tennis ball or one of those special dryer balls people talk about? I always rolled my eyes at the whole thing, figured it was one of those tricks that only works if you squint hard enough, and I kept buying sheets for years. Then my sister left a couple of balls in my laundry room and I tried them on a whim with a load of towels, and honestly the towels came out soft and the static was pretty much gone. The part that really got me was the cost, since a three pack lasts forever and I was spending money on sheets every month without even thinking about it. I still keep a box of sheets under the sink for certain stuff, but for most loads I have switched over and my wallet is happier for it. Your mileage may vary depending on your dryer and how you sort your loads.

Two inches of felt is wild but let's be real, most folks truly believe they clean it because they glance at it and see it looks fine on top. The trap catches the big stuff first, so the top layer looks normal while there's a whole sweater compressed underneath it. Add in fabric softener sheets that leave a waxy film and that lint basically glues itself to the screen. Three calls in six weeks for overheating though, that's on the machine too, because a clogged trap alone usually doesn't cook a dryer that fast unless the vent run is also packed. I'd bet money the duct behind it was just as bad and the lint trap was the easy thing to blame. Spare traps won't fix a person who won't look, but man, showing them the wad you pulled out usually does the trick.