Anything that saves money and eliminates some of the chemicals we use in our day to day life is good in my book. Plus, I have to admit I love the fun factor of being able to dress up these diy wool dryer balls!
Anything that saves money and eliminates some of the chemicals we use in our day to day life is good in my book. And with the loads and loads of laundry I do in any given week, those chemicals, and the associated cost, would add up quickly. That is why I love using wool dryer balls. Today I want to show you how to quickly and easily make these diy wool dryer balls.
But before we get to the tutorial, I wanted to give a little more background for those who are not yet familiar with dryer balls. Let’s talk about the benefits of using dryer balls and how they work.
Benefits of Using Dryer Balls
Wool dryer balls are a natural replacement for traditional dryer and fabric softener sheets, thus eliminating the perfumes and toxins introduced when drying clothes. They work great, keep laundry static free, and reduce drying time, thus saving energy and money. They can also be used over and over again … I have literally been using mine for years.
HOW DO WOOL DRYER BALLS WORK?
So now that we’ve covered the benefits of laundry balls, let’s get to how they actually work. When drying clothes, throw a few dryer balls in the dryer with your load. The dryer balls bounce around, separating clothes and reducing static to prevent them from clinging to each other.
Wool dryer balls also reduce drying time by wicking moisture away from your clothes. The shorter drying times saves energy and extra wear on clothing.
How to Make Wool Dryer Balls
Lastly, and perhaps best of all, is how easy and inexpensive they are to make yourself!
Once you make a set for yourself, you will be making them for friends and to give as gifts … they are especially great for housewarming and shower gifts!
How to Make Wool Dryer Balls
I have used a few different methods for making dryer balls and will share the how to for each with you below, as well as the pros and cons for each (at least in my opinion).
From Wool Yarn
For me, this is by far the cheapest, fastest, and easiest way to make felted wool dryer balls. You can buy a skein of 100% wool yarn for fairly cheap, just make sure it is feltable wool, not superwash wool. I can get 2 wool balls out of 50 g (110 yd) skein. The downside to this method is that if you don’t weave in a long tail really well, it can unravel.
Use a light color to eliminate the risk of any color bleed. Just start wrapping your yarn around itself making a ball about the size of tennis ball. Then, cut the yarn, and thread the end through a tapestry needle. Weave the tail back and forth through the ball a bunch of times and in a bunch of different directions to really secure it. Next, as I describe in my Felting Knitting & Crochet post, just throw them in the washing machine next time you do laundry. I usually throw them in with a load of towels and wash in hot water. They will need a good couple loads to really felt nicely. Once felted, they are ready to go!
From An Old Sweater
You know that wool sweater with hole in it? Yep, don’t throw it away just yet … you can use it to make dryer balls. A good indication of whether a wool sweater will felt nicely is to look on the label. If it says dry clean only or hand wash and dry flat, that is probably a good indication that it is made from natural fibers and will felt. The good thing about this method is that it costs you nothing. The downside is that it takes a little more prep time and it may take a few more cycles to felt tightly.
To turn that sweater into dryer balls, just start cutting it apart. I use each sleeve to make one and a few more from the body. Roll each part up in a ball and place them in the leg of a nylon stocking, making a knot between each one. As before, run them through a few wash cycles with your laundry.
From Wool Roving
A more recent method I’ve tried is needle felting. You will need some basic needle felting supplies for these, such as wool roving, a foam pad, and felting needles. Then just needle your wool into a nice sized ball. If you are new to needle felting, check out my Needle Felting 101 post where I give an intro to needle felting and needle felting techniques. This method takes little more hands on time because the felting is actually taking place from the needle instead of the washing machine like the previous two methods.
Scents and Whimsies
If you’re like me you like a pretty scent to your clothes. I like to add a little drop of lavender essential oils to the balls from time to time to freshen them up and keep our laundry smelling nice. But you can use whichever scent of essential oil you like best. And while definitely not a necessary part of the process, I do think decorating the dryer balls is fun. I needle felted some designs on these …
If you’re like me you like a pretty scent to your clothes. I like to add a little drop of lavender essential oils to the balls from time to time to freshen them up and keep our laundry smelling nice. But you can use whichever scent of essential oil you like best.
And while definitely not a necessary part of the process, I do love the fun factor of being able to dress up these homemade wool dryer balls! This is especially great making them for gifting. You can needle felt a design, the recipients initials, and so on.
Enjoy!
How big do you make them?
Great ideas and help – I just posted a link to your page on my Ravelry page (below)
Thanks so much!
superb blog post nice one for sharing. Jimmy
For felting, I have a couple of pairs of large jeans that I throw in the washer, and I always use hot water (the only time I do). I’ve found that both speed up felting.
Thank you for your information about making dryer balls, Just what I was looking for.❤️
I have been wanting to try these. Also I have an ole wool blanket that I plan to cut into strips & then roll into a ball & use wool yarn to weave through it in hopes of it working.
Hi, I’m so looking forward to doing these. I have a lot of super wash wool from an unfinished project – Do you think it would work to use super wash wool on the inside of the ball and then switch to a feltable wool for the outer layers? Thanks!
Hi Rebecca 🙂 I am not sure how that would work. The super wash wool won’t felt on the inside, but it may be work okay since the outside will be felted around it. There’s only one way to find out 😉
Can I use wool blankets to make dryer balls?
Hi Kara! Thanks so much for your ideas and techniques, I definitely will try them. I have a question, can a dryer ball made with wool yarn (roving kind) be decorated or just the ones made from wool roving?
Hi Catherine 🙂 Yes, absolutely!
These are very adorable
I am very allergic to wool but I bought the wool balls because I was told they wouldn’t cause allergic reactions. Boy were they wrong. Is there any other kind of yarn that you can use that will do the same thing?
you should request alpaca fiber…it does not cause allergic reactions.
I too made them. They didn’t reduce static. We’re back to dryer sheets : (
Can you wet felt the roving wool, or does it need to be done with a needle?
What a great tutorial! I am going to make the yarn dryer balls TODAY! I’ve been wanting some for a while AND I’m going to give a few sets for holiday gifts:) Thank you for sharing.
how do you do the decorative part? Is it before or after the felting? Is it more yarn or something different?
Hi Tara 🙂 The decorative part I added after felting the balls in the washer. It is called needle felting … you can check out my Intro to Needle Felting post here to see how it’s done: http://www.petalstopicots.com/2013/09/introduction-to-needle-felting/
I made some of these, but I think I “felted” them a bit too much. I could hardly get the panty hose off the balls!
Angelo – once they come out of the washer you need to wiggle them around a little in order to release them from the pantyhose before tossing them into the dryer (still in the nylon casing). Otherwise they might fuse to it.
I LOVE these dryer balls….I think I’ll make some too! 🙂
I am in the process of felting some dryer balls, and have broken a needle in the ball and can’t find it. Will this be ok or will it cause problems later? If so, do I restart or what is a good way to get it out?
I’ve done quite a bit of felting and think you should be able to get the piece out with a magnet. Might have to be a little stronger tho then a thin fridge magnet. Hope this helps.
I made wool yarn balls recently and love them but was wondering if adding metal buttons to the balls would further reduce static. I’ve used safety pins on a small cloth before and was surprised at how well it worked. The balls eliminate 90% of static but some of our synthetic blends still cling. Any thoughts?
When I try this the pantyhose felt to the dryer balls , so I hand felted them. I still have those on some of mine I just couldn’t get it off. What do you do to get the house off? Thank you, Darcie
What a fun idea. I have never even heard of this idea before. Clever.
So glad you like it!
I love the idea of making my own wool dryer balls, and I’ve read a few tutorials on it. Yours is a great because you right about all the different ways to do it. But I’m really not crafty and so I ended up buying these cheap Smart Sheep ones instead. They don’t nearly look as cute as yours, but they do the job well for those of us who are strapped for time. Smart Sheep 6-Pack 100% Premium Wool Dryer Balls (XL, Handmade, Eco-friendly, All-Natural Fabric Softener)
Could you crochet around the balls to help keep them from unraveling. It would also give them nice patterns.
Absolutely!
Hi Kara,
What a cute project! I love it so much that I decided to feature it in our roundup of spring cleaning crafts! Check it out here: http://www.favecrafts.com/blog/fc/spring-clearning-crafts/
Have a great day!
Yay! Thanks so much Julia 🙂
I made wool felted balls about 8 months ago. They worked great at first but no don’t do anything. I tried soaking them in fabric softener which helped for a couple of weeks. Any suggestions or do I just need to make some new ones.
Thanks very much for these instructions. Sounds less expensive than buying them like I’ve been doing. I have a question about the ones made from sweaters. After you’ve run them through a few washes, then do you cut them out of the hose? And they will be stuck all together so are a ball?
I’ve tried the tin foil one and my husband hated it. (Actually, since HE does the laundry, HE tried it and hated it.) I shall make him some of these and he’ll be happy again. I love these ideas, and he will be delighted. AND, since he never listens to me about sweaters (or anything needing a label read) he already has a sweater I can use. hehehehe I use it now as a teaching lesson. But as I am with economics, he is with reading labels. LOL THANKS!
So cute! I made some little felted ball sets as Christmas gifts for some of my baby nephews (one ball for each of the letters of their names), and I’d heard about the wool dryer balls – I didn’t realize they were simply the same thing! I love felting because it’s relaxing and you have such cute results! Awesome!
I’ve never made any of these, even though I have plenty of roving and yarn. But yours are cute enough to give away as gifts, so now I am tempted!
Going to do this right away! Just bought needle felting supplies, so this is perfect! Was wondering how many balls to put in for a large laundry load? And the wool I have for that are all darker colors, will it bleed? And should I send those through the laundry cycle first too? Sorry if you answered these in your post, in a hurry right now! Thank you!!
Practical, money saving, useful and …… fun! What a great idea, thanks for sharing Kara x
Ooooh, I’ve been trying the tin foil ball with only limited success (they disappear when a certain Libby helps me fold the laundry). I’m definitely trying this. Going to check my yarn to see if there is any wool in the midst. 🙂
I’ve wanted to make my own dryer balls but never sat down and tried…now I think I’ll be making some! Thanks so much for sharing these techniques, Kara!