Making Your Own Wool Dryer Balls

Last year I was lucky enough to win a box of dryer balls.

prudent living, frugal tips — Woolzies Dryer Balls

I was a little skeptical at first, I had never even heard of dryer balls!

Dryer balls are an eco-friendly alternative to dryer sheets and liquid fabric softener. Would they really help my clothes dry quicker with less static? Yes they do! They decrease the drying time, which saves you money on your utility bills. Unlike dryer sheets, wool dryer balls can be used over and over again. Wool dryer balls can be used for cloth diapers keeping them soft and chemical free. I loved the dryer balls and despite the fact that they often end up inside a sleeve or a pant leg I use them every time I dry a load in the dryer.

How hard could it be to make them myself? After searching the Internet I found several ways to make them. You can use yarn. What a perfect use for those small leftover balls of yarn I have in my yarn box! They are very easy to make this way. Just begin wrapping your yarn around your fingers like you would when making a ball of yarn for knitting. The only difference is that you actually pull the yarn tight! Make the ball about the size of a tennis ball. Use a needle or a crochet hook to tuck the loose end.

Use a needle to tuck in the loose end or yarn.

Make about 4-6 balls. Using an old panty hose leg put the balls inside the pantry hose and tie a string or a knot between each ball. Throw the whole thing into a load of wash. Wash the whole thing with a hot wash cycle with a cold rinse. Dry in with your laundry using the hottest dryer setting! Check to see if your balls have felted, you may have to repeat several times, the strands should not separate on the balls.

You can also make wool dryer balls using roving. I actually used some wool roving I won from Clearwater Farms! I used some extra pieces of wool I use to braid rugs to start the balls. I took a few strips and wrapped them around each other into the shape of a ball. I then covered the wool scraps with the wool roving. I also made a few covered with yarn over the wool scraps. Once the balls were about the size of a tennis ball I repeated the steps above. After running the balls through the wash twice they were well felted and ready to be used as dryer balls!