Make Your Own Wool Dryer Balls

These wool dryer balls are one of my new favorite DIY projects, because even for non-crafty people like me, they are pretty hard to mess up.

Why use wool dryer balls?

•  Soften and fluff without toxic chemicals. Wool dryer balls have no chemicals. About a year ago when I embarked on my natural journey, I learned about all of the harmful chemicals that are found in fabric softeners and dryer sheets (which are not indicated on the label). One of which is formaldehyde (#1 cancer causing chemical). Wool dryer balls can be used in place of commercial fabric softeners and dryer sheets. The chemicals from these products coat your clothes and end up on your skin. The effects of the chemicals are especially harsh if you have sensitive skin, like my husband.
• Wool dryer balls are green- apart from the color. They can be re-used for years, saving you hundreds of dollars.  They are also made from a renewable source.
• Wool dryer balls won’t affect the absorbency of your towels, cloth diapers, etc. like commercial softeners do.
• They reduce drying time, saving money (they fluff and tumble your clothes, and each load is done faster, reducing energy costs).

How do they work?

Wool dryer balls separate clothes so that warm air circulates better. They soak up some of the moisture from your laundry as it dries, and evenly distribute it into the air, thus reducing drying time, softening the clothes and lowering energy usage.  Some people just use a few, and others use more. The more you use, the faster your clothes will dry.

You can go about making them several different ways, but I’ve outlined the way I did it below. You can use wool roving (which is why my balls look the way they do) or wool yarn – and you can even reuse an old wool clothing item like a piece of a wool sweater or wool socks for the middle of the balls.

My favorite look is to use wool roving, which gives a unique felty look.

What you need to make your wool dryer balls:

• Wool roving or wool yarn  (You'll want at least 6-8oz to make 3 balls if you only use roving)
• Felting tool 
• Optional: Wool scraps (this will decrease the amount of roving needed)
• Pantyhose
• Scissors

 This is what wool roving looks like:

Directions:

1. Twist wool into a tight ball. If you are using scraps, cover the scraps with wool yarn or roving.
2. As you add pieces of roving, use a felting tool to get all of the roving to stay together in a ball. Stick the tool straight into the ball several times until it seems to stay together on its own. Make sure to poke it straight in, because otherwise the needles will break. (I use three needles in my tool). This process takes a few minutes. 
3. Get the ball to be about the size of a softball (they shrink down).
   Here is what it will look like at this point:
   
4. Tie the balls tightly and separately in pantyhose. They will look like this:
   
5.  Wash on HOT. You can toss into the washing machine alone or with other clothes. Then throw them in the dryer. You can do this twice to make sure it felts correctly.
6. Once dry, free the balls from the pantyhose! You may need a scissors. They should come out the size of a tennis ball.
7. Once complete, toss the dryer sheets and set them free into the dryer for future loads.

Don’t forget to scent!  Because I use non-scented laundry detergent, I put a drop of essential oil on each ball to make the laundry smell fresh. My favorite oil to use is Young Living’s Purification. Choose a high quality oil so your clothes won’t get stained.