I am trying to get better at checking things off my gigantic to-do list, and after reading a story about how dryer sheets are loaded with carcinogens, making my own wool dryer balls quickly jumped to the top of the list. I found a tutorial online, swung by the fabric store to pick up some 100% wool yarn, and got to work.
Dryer balls are SUPER easy to make...so easy in fact that I feel sort of silly for having this at the bottom of my to-do list for so long. To start, take the yarn (make sure its 100% wool, or it wont felt in the dryer) and wind it around your fingers a few times to start the core of the ball. Once you have a little bundle, take it off your fingers and start wrapping the yarn around it to form a ball:
Then...keep wrapping! I wrapped until the ball was 5-6 inches in diameter. Once you have your ball to the size you want it, cut the yarn and tuck the end into the middle of the ball. It's easiest to do that with a small crochet hook. Then tuck your ball into a length of pantyhose, and tie the hose closed so that the pantyhose are snugly tied against the ball. You can add as many balls as you would like, just tie off the pantyhose between them. When you are have them all ready, throw the whole thing into the washer, and wash on hot. When the wash cycle is done, toss the balls (still tied in the pantyhose) into the dryer. They should come out felted - slightly softer and sort of fuzzed together.
The next step is to wind more yarn around the newly felted balls. I wrapped until the balls were about 9 inches in diameter - here is a small felted ball, and a large finished ball ready for felting to give you an idea of the size:
When you have the balls the size you want, tie them up in the pantyhose again, and wash and dry like before. The balls will be slightly felted again, and ready for use!
I am sort of amazed at how well these are working. Clothes seem to be drying a lot faster, especially loads of towels which used to take just shy of forever to dry. The most surprising thing for me has been how well they work at eliminating static. A couple times clothes have managed to get wound up together, and they get a tiny bit of static, but overall it really hasn't been much of a problem. I love that I am not paying over $5 for a box of dryer sheets anymore, the balls are reusable forever and don't have any nasty chemicals or yucky ingredients in them. Just another example of how homemade is always better than anything you can buy in a store :)
Dryer balls are SUPER easy to make...so easy in fact that I feel sort of silly for having this at the bottom of my to-do list for so long. To start, take the yarn (make sure its 100% wool, or it wont felt in the dryer) and wind it around your fingers a few times to start the core of the ball. Once you have a little bundle, take it off your fingers and start wrapping the yarn around it to form a ball:
Then...keep wrapping! I wrapped until the ball was 5-6 inches in diameter. Once you have your ball to the size you want it, cut the yarn and tuck the end into the middle of the ball. It's easiest to do that with a small crochet hook. Then tuck your ball into a length of pantyhose, and tie the hose closed so that the pantyhose are snugly tied against the ball. You can add as many balls as you would like, just tie off the pantyhose between them. When you are have them all ready, throw the whole thing into the washer, and wash on hot. When the wash cycle is done, toss the balls (still tied in the pantyhose) into the dryer. They should come out felted - slightly softer and sort of fuzzed together.
The next step is to wind more yarn around the newly felted balls. I wrapped until the balls were about 9 inches in diameter - here is a small felted ball, and a large finished ball ready for felting to give you an idea of the size:
When you have the balls the size you want, tie them up in the pantyhose again, and wash and dry like before. The balls will be slightly felted again, and ready for use!
I am sort of amazed at how well these are working. Clothes seem to be drying a lot faster, especially loads of towels which used to take just shy of forever to dry. The most surprising thing for me has been how well they work at eliminating static. A couple times clothes have managed to get wound up together, and they get a tiny bit of static, but overall it really hasn't been much of a problem. I love that I am not paying over $5 for a box of dryer sheets anymore, the balls are reusable forever and don't have any nasty chemicals or yucky ingredients in them. Just another example of how homemade is always better than anything you can buy in a store :)