Tutorial: Wool Dryer Balls. goodmama
Like many others (I hope!), I’m always trying to cut back on unnatural products if they aren’t an absolute necessity (I’m sorry. Deodorant is an absolute necessity in my house. I wish those crystal rock things worked for me but alas, they do not. Believe me, it’s much better this way…for everyone.)
We had given up dryer sheets a while ago and hadn’t really noticed that much of a difference in the softness of our clothes but ever the curious crafter, I decided we should give dryer balls a try. Sure, you could just throw a couple of tennis balls in with the laundry but have you ever smelled one right out of the package? The do not smell good. Very chemical-ly, yuck.
Goodmama’s tutorial was the perfect answer! These took quite a while to wind but it was actually quite meditative and relaxing (I made these before the arrival of our Little One, when I actually had time to sit and wind string.)
I had the bright idea to add green felt pieces to the finished balls to make them look like little Earths but I ended up finding pieces of Africa and Europe all throughout my first load of laundry. Turns out I suck at felting. Other then the unfortunate Continent Catastrope, the balls worked great. I could totally tell the difference in our bath towels. Eventually the balls began to to unwind and I had to throw them away but that was after quite a few loads (approx. 6 months). Not too bad!
Comments & Reviews
Rosanne says
Tennis balls start to leave rubber smelling clothing, tin foil balls suddenly break down at about the 6th time in dryer from the heat (leaves tin shards all over clothing). Plastic and rubber have chemicals/tear at towels and hems and are noisy. Raveled Wool Dryer Balls will unravel. Wool Dryer balls made at http://www.WoolDryerBalls.com are awesome and 100% felted wool (no unraveling here!) They work so well (cut drying time/no softener needed anymore and saves energy)that I began making for friends and family. I now have an online store and site where you can read more and see testimonials. They are wonderful!
Rosanne
Lizzy says
I found a site online about a year ago that had a great idea for making dryer balls with socks but for the life of me I cannot find it anywhere. So I’ll just tell you what I did and hope I don’t miss anything!
I took a tennis ball and pushed it to the toe of an old sock (my husband’s tube socks with tiny holes were it this time, but any strays will work). Then, with one hand in the sock I made the sock as tight as I could and twisted it once or twice, the twist right against the tennis ball. Then, I grab the tennis ball with the hand INSIDE the sock so it doesn’t untwist and I pull the now twisted-up tennis ball out. Back and forth it goes. To make it bigger you just use more socks. I found two longer socks worked perfectly for a good grapefruit size. Also, if you change where you have the twist on the ball it won’t make it football shaped. ;o)
Once I pulled the last layer around the tennis ball, I took my handy needle and thread and stitched it up, making sure the flap was completely sewn up. Voila! Sounds tricky, but once you get going it’s easier to understand. I made 15 the other night and really got into the groove (they were for gifts, I won’t have all 15 in my dryer…) So far mine have lasted a year and even with only three I still notice a big difference.
Hope it helps! I’m sorry I couldn’t find the site, it had photos to make it more clear. Happy laundry!