How to make Wool Dryer Balls
There are many reasons you may want to make wool dryer balls. Wool dryer balls substitute dryer sheets, but unlike their chemical laden counterpart, are totally biodegradable and environmentally friendly. Using two different felting techniques, wool dryer balls become an awesome beginner introduction to working with wool. They also make great gifts, and I find kids and adults alike enjoy the process of creation.
Wool dryer balls use two felting techniques totally unique to wool - Wet Felting and Needle Felting. You know what felting is right? It’s the reason you’ve been told not to put your wool sweater in the washing machine. It can shrink five sizes while the fibres interlock solidly and tightly together. Felting is wool’s natural ability and when you make wool dryer balls, you employ this special characteristic, instead of avoid it.
Wet felting basically means you use water and soap to shrink and interlock the wool fibres together. Wool felts naturally when temperature of water changes suddenly (hot to cold) and when agitated with soap. You can use wet felted wool as a fabric (for a jacket or toque for example), or even a lining for slippers or mittens. In the case of dryer balls, you can also felt it into a ball or another shape.
Needle felting consists of using special felting needles to poke the wool, which pulls up the fibres into each other. Through the needle action, the wool gets intertwined and felted together . Needle felting is a crafting topic in itself and a really fun hobby for all ages to explore. The possibilities are endless - creatures, decor, pictures, or other artwork. Fabric, wash cloths, or slippers can also be made with needle felted wool.
Let’s get started. The materials you’ll need for dryer balls are as follows:
Wool roving (long strips of carded wool) Half a pound (8 ounces) makes about four balls
Felting needle
Nylon Stocking
Washing machine
Coloured bits of wool or wool yarn are optional
Step One
Using wool roving, weave it tightly into a tiny ball with your hands. Wool felts together best when the wool is going in different directions, so try to weave the roving in different directions as you are making a ball. After each piece of roving, poke the wool using the felting needle just enough that the roving stays in place and you don’t need to hold it together with your hands, while you get another piece to enlarge the ball.
Step Two
Layer more roving onto your ball, and continue poking it in place with the felting needle.
Step Three
The ball will get really large and puffy. That’s okay because you are going to wet felt it later and it will shrink considerably. I like to make my wool dryer balls around two ounces, so you could weigh the ball to know if it is done. If not, keep adding more roving.
Step Three
Using your felting needle, you can decorate the ball with colored wool or wool yarn if you want to.
Step Four
Stuff your ball (or balls) into a nylon stocking. If you have more than one, separate the balls with non-wool yarn or a simple knot.
Step Five
Throw the nylon stocking into your next load of laundry. Wet felting works best with extreme temperature changes and agitation, so a hot/cold setting is ideal. When the machine is finished, squish the balls in the stocking. They should be quite shrunk and hardened. If they are still squishy, put them through the wash again. Check them again. They may need up to three washes to finish. Generally, I find they are ready after two.
Step Six
Remove the balls from the stocking and throw in your dryer. That’s where they will live for the next couple of years. Depending on how much laundry you do and how well felted your balls are, they will last anywhere from one to five years before they start showing wear and unraveling. For small loads of laundry, three to four balls are great. For large loads of laundry, I usually use about six.
This project is easy, fun to do with kids, and also makes great gifts. Working with wool connects you to the farm and the sheep that gifted you with this amazing, regenerating, and sustainable fibre. Avoiding chemicals in your laundry routine is also nice!
