How would you like to never buy another fabric softener product again AND cut your laundry drying time in half???
Would you believe me if I told you these little woolen gems can do that?
Wool Dryer Balls save you money, energy and time by cutting the dryer’s drying time and by eliminating the need to buy softeners. When you use 4 balls in your dryer, you can cut your dryer time by 25-50%!
HOW IT WORKS:
The balls circulate and separate the clothing and get the warm dry air right down to the core of the laundry load! The more balls you add, the faster the drying time. They also soften your clothes through gentle friction of the felted wool fibers against your clothing fibers. And as if that weren’t enough…..they LAST for YEARS!
I immediately fell in LOVE with this idea when I saw in on The Sleepy Time Gal. They couldn’t be simpler to make (all you need is some wool yarn, and a pair of pantyhose) and I just LOVE how PRACTICAL they are! I actually think these would make a wonderful gift! (Making mental note.)
Have I convinced you yet? Good! Let’s get started!
How to Make a Wool Dryer Ball:
Start with a skein of 100% WOOL yarn. (This cost me about $5 and I got four balls out of it.)
To start your ball, wrap the yarn around your fingers about 20 times and then slip it off and wrap the yarn around the middle of that circle you just made about 20 more times.
Now pinch the beginnings of your yarn ball together and keep wrapping! Make sure you wrap it nice and tight.
Pretty soon you will have something that looks like this. Tuck the end of the yarn under some of the other strands of yarn to secure.
Repeat above steps until you’ve made 4 or more balls.
Now you are ready to give them the “felting” treatment. You are going to need one leg of a pair of pantyhose or tights. Put the first ball into the toe of the pantyhose and secure it there with a piece of embroidery floss or acrylic yarn. Do NOT use wool yarn, you don’t want this to felt.
Toss the pantyhose “snake” into the washer (the hotter the water the better) and then into the dryer (again, the hotter the better. Speeds up the felting process.)
This is how they will look after the first felting. The fibers have fused and it’s much smoother and tighter.
At this point you can do another layer of yarn and “felt” again if you want a larger sized ball. I chose to leave mine as is. Keep in mind they will get slightly smaller over time as they continue to felt.
You just made your own wool dryer balls! Go ahead, give them a spin! If you want, you can even add a couple of drops of essential oil to the balls before you throw them in the dryer. I used 1 – 2 drops of lavender on each one and my clothes came out smelling sooooooo nice!!! I think the scent should last through several loads!
That is one VERY practical Good Thing. I’ve used spiky plastic drying balls for years without thinking much of them. This seems a much better idea, so thank you once again Jillee.
I use the plastic spiky dryer balls, too. I haven’t used fabric softener or the dryer sheets in close to a year now. My clothes are soft and fluffy and usually wrinkle free. (I do forget them in the dryer at times, but just turn the dryer back on and let them “iron” in the dryer.)
Do you think you could soak these in fabric softener, let them dry and use them like you did with the re-useable dryer sheets?
I think that defeats the purpose if you are trying to save money and cut down on the perfumes and dyes in fabric softener.
Perfumes and dyes don’t bother me (no sensitive skin here), nasty, mildew smelling clothes do though… Just wondering if they could be used similarly. You would still be saving money on energy, and have fresh smelling clothes.
With all due respect, as someone who is chemically sensitive, it may not be bothersome to you but the dryer vented exhaust that is generated into the neighborhood and the scent emanating from your clothes can be real hardships to those of us with highly sensitive systems. I wish this weren’t so as I used to LOVE fragrance; heck, scented candles were my guilty pleasure but unfortunately not anymore.
I thought soaking them in fabric softener was a great idea so I tried it, with the homemade fabric softener of course (water, vinegar & suave conditioner). So far the balls are holding their fragrance and I’m loving them!
Try something other than suave conditioner, something more natural, like the lavender oil, or a citrus scent. The suave conditioner is also harmful not only to our bodies, but the environment. I’m a hairdresser of thirty years. I’m also a sensitive scent person as well. Perfumes make me sick, as in a migraine.
With all due respect, its not our job to make sure our normal practices don’t effect your hardships. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sympathetic to your issue but the moment you expect other people to change for you is when I start having a problem.
I think you mean “affect”.
Is a person’s spelling REALLY so important that rudeness is necessary? People make type-O’s. DoN’t B sO iMaTuRe.
Nancy: Thank you for making me aware of this situation. I’m going to ask around and see if the Meyer’s sheets I use are irritating anyone.
Mike: With all due respect, when someone points out how your actions affect them, they aren’t saying what your job is or trying to coerce you. They are sharing with you how your actions affect them. Someone’s reaction to this kind of information can make things clear about his or her character.
For example, if someone makes you aware of a situation as above without actually attaching any expectations or without making any remarks at all about forcing you in one direction or the other, and yet you respond to them as if they did, well, someone might possibly give you the benefit of the doubt and think you misread the post. But pretty much everyone will just think you are a selfish ass and using a straw man fallacy instead of a valid justification for telling them that you could care less how your “normal practices” affect them or anyone. And if you didn’t even care enough to pay enough attention to their post to be certain of their intentions even though it influenced you to making it clear that you are “having a problem” with it, then it becomes further clear how much you could care less what people actually think as you clearly could care less what they’ve actually said.
I have a son who is very sensitive to scents, etc. It has gotten so bad that he is not able to attend church anymore because of all the scents people use. The situation for him is life or death as his throat closes and he can’t breath. I think we all should be a little more aware of these situations as more and more people are developing these allergies.
Years ago when I learned that a member of our church had difficulty breathing because of perfumes, etc, I quit using them. I felt it was the least I could do — I sure didn’t want her harm her in any way.
I can understand your situation. My husband has very bad allergies and we try to sit away from people at church because strong smelling perfumes give him an instant headache. I sometimes think people don’t realize how much they put on. It really makes me mad when people put a TON of perfume on and work in the nursery.
I agree with you Mike.
She is not the only one affected by your choices. This article is the only one I had “on hand”. Everything we put on our bodies (other than what it does to you, personally, or the smells that bother others) gets washed down the drain. Believe it or not, these chemicals do not disappear from reality. The chemicals (perfumes, softeners, cleaners, et al.) end up in our drinking water and in our streams and rivers and other water bodies.
So the change would not ONLY be for her.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/03/opinion/kristof-how-chemicals-change-us.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0
Thanks for sharing this article. I know the NYT is very “liberal”, so I read anything there with special care. The article does not point out that the common birth control pill is obviously one of the best sources of synthetic estrogen. I wonder how many people realize that in 2005, the World Health Organization (the medical arm of the United Nations), after studying EVERY study IN THE WORLD to that date concerning the “birth control pill” and cancer declared hormonal contraception as a Group One carcinogen, the most dangerous, in the same group as asbestos and tobacco? Use of hormonal contraception is as directly linked to breast, uterine, and liver cancer as tobacco and asbestos are to lung cancer. This blog article has nothing to do with that, but I wanted to share this link with Justme: http://www.bcpinstitute.org/home.htm It is sad how many people are ingesting chemicals in municipal water they would never choose to put in their bodies and that are not tested for by the municipalities.
I thank you, Jilly for your wool dryer ball information.
KUDOS TO YOU!!
I wouldn’t expect someone with your attitude to have enough respect for someone else to change anything anything you do. I was exposed to black mold and it caused sever allergies. The doctors thought I was going to die when finally admitted to the ICU. I had lost about 20 lbs. and weighed 92 lbs. at that time. When I didn’t die they thought I would have to live in a bubble which I pretty much had to for years. That was 30 years ago. We had to go through our whole house and pretty much gut it. It cost us thousands of dollars plur the medical expense. I had to quit work, had to quit walking which once was a passion of mine, we no longer could go out dancing and I couldn’t even walk down the detergent isle in the super-market with-out having an asthma attack. For years I had to set my alarm 3 times a night to take my meds. Believe me after going through what I went through you do what your doctor tells you. You have no idea what it is like to try and live like this. I LOVE scents, they just don’t love me. I just got out of ICU after a 7 day stay that almost took my life once again. When I was working someone had perfume on that was causing my asthma to act up along with a migraine. I told a fellow employee I was going home and she said just try laying down for a while. After a half hour I knew I was going to be sick so I came out and said I have to leave. She looked at my pasty white face and said I am so sorry, I had know idea that it was this bad. How would you like to live like this? I have to think about where I sit when we go somewhere. I don’t go to very many public places because of the reaction by body has. I wish I could wish it away. Thanks for your understanding, it is very appreciated.
What on earth does black mold have to do with sensitivities to scents?
Here, here, Mike!
So, not only can’t I eat peanuts anymore in public, I can’t fabric soften my clothes because my neighbor has allergies. Oh please.
Yeah, I can’t stop laughing. Good one :)
I agree with you too LJBrock. These gals need to get back to watching Oprah.
okay…
They have organic fragrance free, softener, if that helps :-)
Christmas presents for the neighborhood…thought that might be a suggestion :-) Hope this helps! :-)
Allergies are no joke Mike. My grandaughter has a life threatening peanut allergy. Been to the ER before 2 yrs. old. Hard to understand that others can die if you leave peanuts laying about but try to think of others. Life is not just all about us. And…I don’t like Oprah and am conservative.
My future brother in law is VERY allergic to nuts (only tree nuts, not peanuts). He can’t even smell them cooking or he will start to have a reaction. This makes it very hard for him to go to the mall around the holidays, since most have one of those cinnamon pecan stands. But does he write angry letters to the mall’s board of directors, demanding they shut down these stands? Does he go around to all the neighbors and tell them they can’t make certain Christmas cookies or dishes? No. He is careful about what areas of the mall he goes to, and always makes sure he has an epi-pen with him. Simple as that.
I didn’t leave this comment to be a bitch, or be snarky. I just want people to understand that you don’t have to be preachy to get your cause heard. And some of these previous comments are definitely preachy. You can’t expect everyone in your neighborhood to stop using fabric softener, in their own homes, just because you are allergic to it. And you can’t expect people to stop eating certain foods, in public, just in case someone who is allergic to it might be in the area….I’m stopping this comment now, because I’m beginning to get angry, and the purpose of this blog post wasn’t for that.
Great idea Jillee! I need to try these!
With all due respect, how do you even go outside or interact with other people if you’re that bothered by other people’s laundry exhaust and smells from people’s clothing? Really????????
My sister has Multiple Chemical Sensitivities and she had a neighbor who was running a laundry service in her home and using regular laundry products. My sister couldn’t go outside or even have her own windows open and had painful physical reactions to the chemicals in the “fresh” air. She politely explained to the neighbor what was happening and even gave her unscented laundry soap and fabric softener to try but the neighbor couldn’t have cared less. My sister’s health deteriorated until they were finally able to move to a rural area. Even now, years later, she’s not able to leave home or interact with other people much at all because every exposure can be debilitating. There are thousands of people who have Multiple Chemical Sensitivities and it affects every area of their lives. Until this struck my sister, I had no idea about any of this and the majority of people in the world have no clue, either.
Heavy metal poisoning? Tried the various allergen free detoxing diets etc out there? It’s not normal to just have to live with that. There are too many illnesses and conditions that we are accepting as “bad luck normal”. Try an eastern doctor…western medicine is terrible for curing anything but acute injury illness. Really they just manage the problem and you’re on your own until it goes away.
If your clothes smell like nasty mildew, adding a chemical fragrance doesn’t magically make that go away, any more than teenage boys dousing themselves in axe makes the smell of cigarette smoke go away – it just compounds the stink. If you don’t want to smell like nasty mildew, get your clothes out of the washer more quickly.
Also if you wash in HOT water with only vinegar adn dry on high 2 cycles with NO fabric softener it will kill the mildew. Seems counter productive on the energy savings part but you should only have to do it every few loads. This is the ONLY way I wash ,y towels (I live in SWFL and it is ALWAYS humid here and towels get yucky).
I AGREE! I think I’d be trying to GET RID of the mold or mildew NOT COVER IT UP!
try using plain white vinegar in place of fabric softener in your washing machine. I promise you, your clothes will NOT smell like pickles. They will smell so fresh and clean. Vinegar also will soften your clothes. White vinegar sanitizes as well (wich will help in mildew-y odors).
how much vinegar do you use?
I have an older washing machine–not one of the HE machines. If the clothes I’m washing have a strong mildew odor I use a 1/2 cup to a full cup of vinegar. If the clothes don’t have a mildew smell to them I use my Downy ball and fill it to the line like I used to with fabric softener.
Jillie has a great “recipe” for getting rid of nasty towel smell. I used it and it worked like a charm!
To help the mildewy smell in your clothes, use 1/4 cup of white vinegar in your rinse cycle instead of fabric softeners. It actually takes away the smell instead of just masking it. It especially helps with towels.
Why would your clothes smell like mildew? Not leaving them wet should rectify that issue.
To get rid of mildew smells on your clothes, use vinegar in the bleach section of your washer. It’s non-toxic and works wonderfully on the mildew…Better than fabric softeners, which don’t take care of the mildew problem, they simply mask it. Vinegar gets rid of the problem and your clothes don’t smell like vinegar afterwards – just clean.
I am sorry to see that so many used your question as a place to bicker. You can soak something in fabric softener whether its homemade or store bought and dry it in the dryer to leave your clothes smelling nice, but if every load comes out smelling like mildew again and again you need to tackle the washer and dryer without clothes first. There are several methods for cleaning out your washer. When I was a nanny I used bleach in an empty washer once or twice a month. It was a front loader so some of the wash water lingered in the rubber seal around the door and that was the way we found at the time to periodically clean it to make sure that it didn’t stink up the clothes. Now I use vinegar in my own.
If your clothes have been that way for a long time you also need to clean out the dryer at least wiping it out with something and allow it to dry
if you do all of that and the problem crops up again quickly you may need to make sure you dont have problems with mold elsewhere in your home
As for all the snarky comments, a person has a right to share their experience about how the world affects them, because those of us who are caring and compassionate want to know. Those who don’t care, for not caring you sure take a lot of time and energy to voice your own opinions on the matter, do you really think that someone who struggles with an issue that you do not care about is going to waste their energy caring how you think they should keep their experiences to themselves.
And do you really think Jillee created this blog for you to debate it all here…
Just because there is a comment box and a space to type doesn’t always mean its the right place or the right time to ridicule and criticize. Its still called bullying
Well said, Jessi!
I was so sad to have to scroll through that business while learning about wool dryer balls. I am excited to switch to them. I have been using white vinegar, one cup per EXTRA LARGE/SUPER washer load since my husband’s Grandma advised it when I first married, but only for towels, undergarments, and diapers. I liked the smell of a certain liquid fabric sofner for sheets and clothing. A washing machine repair man told me that some of our issues in the washer were caused by the liquid fabric softener. So, I switched to dryer sheets for a while, to save money, using 1/2 sheet per load. Then, a dryer repairman told me the corrosion on my dryer grill was due to fabric softner sheets! I used the blue spikey balls for a while, but had problems with static and there is no sent. I have since reverted to that old liquid fabric softner in recent years. I don’t know, I have had to wash up to 21 EXTRA LARGE/SUPER loads of laundry a week due to our large family and didn’t take time to research all this. No computer or Internet until they were all quite grown. I can testify that my vinegar loads are NEVER staticy and that I have often washed the washer out to get rid of the build up from the liquid fabric softner. But, very soon, I am going to have great wool dryer balls and be done with that stuff. I am quite excited. I am a little bit envious of you young people who can connect this way. I am here today because my married daughter, pregnant with our first grandchild discovered this new method.
As for all the people with allergies, my heart goes out to you. I do care and although I may not do it all well, I will most certainly not purposefully try to expose you to things. I assume that you are being proactive in watching out for the danger zones. We can work together on this quite reasonable with a spirit of love. I know my life isn’t all about me.
very well said. wrong place to be bickering!!
Fabric softeners contain so many chemicals that you really don’t want to use them unless you have to. The dryer balls work great without the fabric softener.
Helen
I wonder if there’s something else you can make them from, if someone in your family is allergic to wool?
I guess it depends on how allergic the person is to wool. I cannot wear anything made of wool, not even cashmere with a shirt on under it. I’m itchy just thinking about it. I have been using wool dryer balls since May of this year with no adverse skin side effects. Obviously this wouldn’t be the case with someone who goes into anaphylactic shock when around wool.
Sadly, the yarn won’t felt unless it’s 100% wool.
You could always use the plastic bumpy kind of dryer balls and achieve similar results.
Actually most animal fibers will felt, wool is just the best as it. Try angora(bunny) or some other kind of yarn.
Alpaca yarn will felt very well too. I would avoid angora because the hairs could get all over your clothes. Most folks who are allergic to wool are allergic to the lanolin that coats the fibers. Alpaca doesn’t have that.
Wool and cashmere are not the same; wool is from sheep and cashmere is from goats. If you are allergic to both of those you might want to consider trying alpaca, camel, bison, yak, or any of the other animal fiber yarns.
I’d love to know where to get alapaca or yak yarn. Okay, that makes me giggle…yak yarn!
Your comment was a welcome giggle! If you have local yarn stores nearby you can get it from there but 100% alpaca can be pricey and yak even more expensive. Large craft stores do carry alpaca but it’s usaully a blend of some sort.
Glad someone asked and answered this question! I’m allergic to wool – can’t let my skin come into contact with it as I get all itchy and can break out in a rash as a result. I use the spikey dryer balls, but would love to try these to see if I get better results.
Thanks!
It’s not yarn, and you can’t scent it (if you were planning to), but I have read that doing aluminum balls remove static just as well as the wool ones. You basically just take aluminum foil and ball it up as tightly as you can. I’ve not tried it, but have read in several places that it works. Here’s one, but you can google for more. http://www.greenideareviews.com/2012/03/18/aluminum-foil-dryer-balls-review-do-they-work/
It is a little different bc u are not staying in constant contact with the wool_ only basically letting it bounce around w ur clothes_ so id say unless the are REALLY super senstive it should be fine_
Ms Rachel Loveridge, I have heard that you can use tennis balls in the same way. I have never done this personally, but I know of people that do. You could try that if the wool allergy is too bad for these. It is an option to try anyway. Good luck!
My mother always uses tennis balls. I think they have a similar effect in seperating the clothes but I don’t know about the softening.
In the summertime I never really used my dryer anyway but I will definitely try these dryer balls sometime soon.
I would not recommend tennis balls. As the dryer heats up the rubber, it can release toxins.
I did these earlier this year, some for me and some for my best friend. I don’t know where you found Fisherman’s yarn for $5 but I’m jealous! I paid double that. Still worth it. Make sure you use 100% wool yarn, that’s very very important, it won’t work at all if you don’t (found that out, my first try was a wool/acrylic blend). I Love my felted wool dryer balls!
Fisherman’s wool comes in different weight packaging, depending on the outlet, hence the lower price (less yarn) Then there are the coupons and sales too.
What type of stores? Local? Online? I used a 100% wool sweater from the thriftstore! They worked great for awhile but think i need to put yarn around it to felt better. Bc they started to come undone sadly.
Mine came undone also….which disappoints me and Lord, what a tangled web…….
Besides making sure that you have 100% animal fiber (doesn’t have to be wool), make sure that it isn’t “superwash” yarn which basically means that it has been treated to not felt. Also, if you don’t get the undyed yarn, the lighter colors don’t usually felt as well as the darker ones since the light ones are sometimes bleached before dying.
I might have to try this! About a month ago I bought a set of four Wool Dryer balls from Etsy. The quality is really good, but they were 20 bucks and she recommends using 12 in big loads, especially ones involving towels and bedding. So that would be 60 bucks! Unfortunately, I haven’t noticed much of a difference in drying time using my balls, but my dryer is old, secondhand, and frankly a bit of a disappointment. Maybe I’ll try making some of my own to add to the four I already have and see if more make a difference.
Does it get rid of static, too? I’m using aluminum foil balls right now, but they are pretty noisy. Maybe if I used the aluminum foil balls WITH the wool balls?
This is what I do, I have 3 aluminum foil balls that I put inside a lingerie wash bag to keep them from getting lost in the arms/legs/pockets of my clothes; I use vinegar in my fabric softener spot in the washer then then 5-6 dryer balls and the bag of aluminum foil balls too. It is a bit noisy but if I close the door I can barely hear it. I’m so used to it now anyway that I just don’t notice anymore until someone comes over and says “what IS that noise?!” LOL
Tennis balls work just as well. I just bought a pack of two tennis ball dog toys at the dollar store and used them to test against my $10 Bed, Bath, etc. ones. Worked just as well. The only static cling I experienced was with a fleece Snuggie. Some things cling even with dryer sheets. I don’t use dryer sheets anymore because of the cost, obviously, but also because of the chemical fragrances, which are overwhelming. Essential oils could be added to an old wash cloth or piece of fabric and tossed in with the load to add an appealing smell if you must.
My concern with tennis balls would be-what are they made of? I’d much rather use something natural like wool.
I totally agree Karen. I am trying to keep it natural as much as I can. :)
I think, THINK, regular tennis balls are made of wool and rubber (unless they have been ‘redesigned’); I cannot attest to tennis ball pet toys being wool though.
Most dryers say not to put rubber products in them….look on the labels in the doors and you will see it.
The rubber in tennis balls releases toxins when the dryer heats up. I wouldn’t use them.
You can always use your coupons for Michaels or Hobby Lobby or JoAnn’s to save 40-50%. Great idea. Can’t wait to make some for presents!
U are so smart! Always forget about the 40-50% coupons!
Where do we find these coupons you’re referring to?
just google michaels coupons — you’ll find them — michaels will scan the coupon right from your smart phone — or you can just print it.
Everyday, I am amazed at all the ideas and things you think of! Do you ever stop! Great idea, I never even heard of wool dryer balls before so I will have to look into this one.
First of all LOVE your blog! I am wondering also about the static issue with theses?, I was
Also wondering if these present any kind of fire hazard?
Wool is naturally flame retardant, so no.
Read somewhere got tocheck dryer vent EVERYTIME bc makes extra lint though!!
You’re supposed to check the vent with every load anyway.
I have never used wool for anything so I didn’t know, thank you all and yes my lint trap gets cleaned after EVERY load
No fire hazard- cotton will burn before wool will, so unless your dryer goes up in flames, they are perfectly safe.
I made some of these a while back and really have to get to the business of using them. They ARE noisy, but since the dryer is in the basement, doesn’t really bother me. I’ll do a load with my new soap nuts and give the dryer balls a whirl.
Hmm I just realized what I said. I’m doing laundry with nuts and balls. hahahahahaha!
That gave me a chuckle. :-)
Me, too!
ROFL hahaha but what are soap nuts?????
http://www.roddyjones.com
I’m wondering if these do anything to help with the static cling. I bought some of the spiky rubber dryer balls from Bed, Bath & Beyond back in June. I love how they make everything soft and I “think” I see a difference in the drying time. However, the static cling is bugging me. And I also use the DIY fabric softner that you’ve posted on your blog.
Any ideas on how I can reduce the static?
I use vinegar as my fabric softener and I haven’t had trouble with static cling.
I used a recipe in the past for fabric softener that called for mixing vinegar with water and adding some baking soda to the mix and I had trouble with static cling with this recipe, but since I have started using vinegar straight up, I haven’t had trouble with static.
I hope this helps.
Probably because baking soda and vinegar neutralize each other when used together.
THANK YOU! I use wool dryer balls already for 2 reasons ~ it replaces the typical fabric softener which is full of harmful chemicals & then they dry my clothes more quickly. I purchased 6 wool balls from Amazon and they are great but making them is so much cheaper. I also love the idea of sprinkling a couple of drops essential oils.
I have been doing this for about 3 or 4 months. Not sure I notice a lower drying time, diffently a bit of static. But it does keep the clothes separate while drying. Not sure how you got 4 balls out of the skein, I can only get 2. Diffently use your coupons to buy the felting wool.
I am so doing this, what a brilliant idea!
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this idea!!
I only got 3 balls out of a skein and they are pretty small. I’ve been using the same balls for about a year now. I use a homemade vinegar/baking soda fabric softner which I love for the softening and clean rinsing. However, the static cling is VERY annoying and will only get worse as the winter/dry weather comes upon us. Do the aluminum foil balls help with static clean?
I have heard the foil balls work well. Someone commented above to contain them in a lingerie bag so as not to get lost inside socks, pant legs, etc. As for your static cling, the problem may lie with your fabric softener. Vinegar and baking soda neutralize each other, which may render some of the properties of the vinegar ineffective.
I never have trouble with static cling since I started drying less and setting the heat on low. My dryer has a dial for extra dry, normal dry, less dry and a dial for low, moderate, normal or high heat. I set it to just less than normal dry and use a low heat setting for most clothes. The clothes feel dry and warm but have the tiniest bit of moisture left in. It keeps static cling down.
I did this a few years back. Honestly i’m really mixed on the results. They were fun to make but tricky to keep track of. I have 3 sons, so one by one my dryer balls disappeared into the dark recesses of their bedrooms and toy boxes. Additionally, I didn’t find that the clothes dried any faster.
They sure where pretty and fun to make though. I eventually got used to the noise in the dryer too.
On a more positive note, they helped to fluff up my pillows when I would wash them, so that part is cool.
Do the balls cause pilling on fabric?
I think this is a perfectly yummy idea! Both for practical use and for gifts like (wool) stocking stuffers for my very organic and earthy daughter! I can’t wait to get started, Michaels just sent me some coupons and I am going to check right away to see if there are any I can use for yarn! Another Good Thing by Jillee!! Thanks.
I am making these for all my friends and family! I don’t ever use those poisonous fabric softeners…it is simply rubbing chemicals all over your skin which is actually the largest elimination organ of the body. Skin is supposed to remove toxins, using towels soaked in chemicals adds toxins and plugs up the skin preventing it from doing its job. Our society is so focused on artifial scent with candles, plug ins, hair and body products that it is oozing out of us. By the end of my exercise class I become nauseated from the perfume that is being released around me along with healthy perspiration. Martha Stewart is on a roll to warn the public about artificial scent and says to check essential oils too because even some of them are not natural. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Will the felted wool balls leave lint on the clothes? Just wondering if I should try a batch with dark wool and one with light colored wool.
You can make these wool balls from an old wool sweater – just unravel the sweater and wind up the yarn. Thin strips of wool fabric cut from an old wool garment will work too.
I was “WONDERING” about doing it this way myself! :) We Wisconsinites sure are thrifty! ;) I am thinking of making the balls “smaller” than tennis balls though. I am thinking that for the sake of the noise that the bigger ones seem to make that smaller ones may be the way to go. Even if I have to use a few more of them!
Just wondering if you’ve actually tried this? My thinking is that unwinding “used” yarn will not felt properly like store-bought yarn would, and will fall apart.
I felt thrift store sweaters all the time – works great as long as they are 80% wool or more.
As long as they use a nice thick yarn, they hold up great!
These can also be made using wool roving instead of the yarn, which I love because purchasing wool from a small, local farm is much more satisfying and beneficial than buying yarn from somewhere like Micheals. Check Etsy for yarn or roving that is sold specifically to raise money for no-kill farms and animal rescues or your local fairs for sheep shearers selling their product. I’ve never made the balls from yarn, but I have heard that these do not hold up for as long as the balls made from roving. It does make sense that the roving would felt better and last longer when you consider what the felting process is. No matter what you use, NEVER use superwash wool as it does not felt. As for drying time and static issues, make sure you use enough balls and do not over dry your clothes. Six balls is the absolute minimum to use if you hope to see a reduction in time, which by the way, 50% sounds very high. I’ve never seeen more than a 35% reduction reported before. Not saying it isn’t possible, but I’d wonder just how small the load was, what dryer was used, and just how many balls it took to achieve a 50% time reduction, among other factors. Dry only as long as it takes your clothes to dry, do not leave them in any longer or static becomes an issue.
Also, instead of using oils, try addding dried lavender buds to the center of your balls, the scent wont last forever of course but it will last for a decent amount of time.
I have used NEW tennis balls. When I wash & dry my down comforters. Set the dryer on lower heat & add 3 tennis balls to fluff & tumble. Works great, keep the tennis ball container in my laundry room cabinet labeled ‘MOM’S ONLY’. And no one touches them.
You know, I’ve used new tennis balls, too… wondering if wrapping those in a few layers of wool yarn and felting that would still be effective. Or combining the wool balls with the tinfoil balls, and wrapping the wool around a foil core. It would certainly increase your yield. The foil-and-yarn method, theoretically, might be the best route for really economical gift-giving. I will have to attempt this.
Lisa
Ok…. I am going to try these. I am REALLY trying hard to ditch store bought FS so far with mixed results esp on my towel…. Right now I am “stripping” them…. I like the wool idea and have made the FS recipe listed on the is site…. but I do REALLY miss the “laundry scent” of clean clothes, so I broke down and bought some downy unstopables and melted them and added them to the fabric softener I made, and like the scent…. I
I’m trying to go natural as much as posdible but hubby “must” have the fresh scented laundry. My trick is putting a few drop of EO ( usually lavender) on a flannel square and adding to dryer. Also, I use white vinegar with a few drops in place of fabric softener. I am very skeptical of what kind of chemicals are in those downy unstoppables. Will have to try these in dryer in place of the square of flannel!
This sounds like a great idea, but will this cause any pilling on some fabrics?
I want to make these but I can’t find the yarn for under 10.00 + shipping anywhere, how did Jillee find it for 5.00?? Anyone have any ideas? Thanks!
I bought mine at Jo-Ann Fabrics this morning. It was 10.99, but then I had a Michaels coupon for 40% off that they honored – so the yarn ended up being about 6.50. Good Luck!
Thank you Carrie, we don’t have either store in our town, in fact we have no fabric or craft stores in town.
I’m looking to see what Walmart has this morning.
You can Google a sheep farm that sells wool for this very purpose and get it through the mail.
I haven’t made these but I plan to. I live in Costa Rica and I can’t buy wool for under $20 so I plan to go to a thrift store and buy a big wool men’s sweater and unravel it. I should be able to buy one for $3 or $4 dollars and it will make more than 4 so I can make them for friends and give them as gifts. Did anyone know that using dryer sheets can ruin your dryer? It clogs up the filter and gets in the dryer parts and causes them to corrode. I haven’t used dryer sheets for years for anything other than mosquito repellant under my pillow or in my pocket.
Wish I had seen this sooner. We put in one of those new “dryer bars” and now our dryer is stuck on high heat and shrinks everything. It wasn’t even in for a week. Time to call the repair man.
Dryer sheets/bars WILL ruin your dryer as Yvonne says. To add to the points she mentioned, the dryer sheets will coat your lint trap, eventually preventing air from escaping your dryer – which can start a fire. Add that to the highly flammable lint in the lint trap and you have a recipe for disaster!
You don’t have to purchase that same brand, just be sure your yarn is 100% animal. Wool, goat, alpaca, etc. :)
I can’t wait to try these!! Where do you come up with this stuff?????
http://www.roddyjones.com
Thank you for sharing this wonderful idea. I am excited to try this myself but am wondering if using the essential oil would leave marks on the clothes you are drying? I have been researching essential oils but am not sure where to purchase them.
http://www.mydoterra.com/oliviasporinsky/
Got so excited after seeing these this morning. I went to Jo-Ann Fabrics, picked up my thing of Fisherman’s Wool, then to Whole Foods to get some pretty smelling essential oil and spent the afternoon making yarn balls. My hands are so sore – but I got my 4 balls done. I just got them out of the dryer and they look great (I think), I’m not sure what “felting” is, but I think the yarn sort of hardened into the ball shape. Pretty cool! Can’t wait to use them in my first load of laundry – no more dryer sheets for me.
the “hardening” is felting…..you did it right
now this is Brilliant !!!
What about static cling? Does it do away with that?
I have found that it made static cling worse, and based on other comments it appears these are not supposed to help with static cling, only with softening the clothes and cutting down on drying time
Okay, really stupid question. Do you take the yarn balls out of the pantyhose before you toss them in the dryer to be felted?
Melissa I left mine in the panthose when I tossed them in the dryer – (not sure if I was supposed to or not), but when I cut them out of the pantyhose after they had felted just fine, they were tighter/smaller and starting to ‘frizz’ a bit
OK, silly question…I inherited a ton of miscellaneous balls/skeins of yarn from my Grampy, some of which may be older than me.One is from (I’m guessing) the ’80s, it’s Kolorkraft 100% pure virgin worsted wool. It’s dyed a very vibrant purple. Would this be appropriate for this project? I’ve never used wool so I’m not quite sure of it’s properties and whether or not the color will bleed. Any suggestions?
If it’s pure wool, it should work for felting. You can try testing it by making a little ball of it, putting it in the hottest water you can stand, and rolling it between your hands (or wear kitchen gloves, then you can use hotter water and the texture on the gloves will help.) If you do this for several minutes you should be able to tell if the yarn is starting to felt (it will stick together, get denser, start to lose it’s definition), and you will probably get a good idea from this whether it will bleed or not.
I think I’ll make these by taking apart a shrunken wool sweater, I won’t feel so bad for shrinking it.
It’s hard to “frog” (unravel) wool that’s already felted. The fibers have already started to bind together, that’s why it shrunk. Absolutely positively the greener way of doing this would be to repurpose any kind of sweater made of 100% wool yarn. Those with allergies can try alpaca or angora instead of sheep wool. It can’t hurt. I know that wool diaper covers have to be resoaked in a lanolin solution after every so many washings, so I wonder if this is all a mechanical benefit or if there is any kind of chemical component from the lanolin that naturally occurs in the wool?
Will definitely try these. I have used the plastic dryer balls for about 2 years now. My motivation was that the heavily perfumed softeners wreaked havoc on my eczema and I refuse to pay $10 – 12 for a bottle of softener. Dryer balls save a lot of money and are just better on your clothes. Another plus:your clothes dry faster! Love your websit!
Awesome! I never would have thought about doing this. I have a whole skein of wool yarn in my yarn trunk, and was just trying to figure out what I was going to use it for. Now I know!
So going to look through my yarn stash and make these. I know I have some left over wool and some for a project I never started. Thanks for the idea!
Inspired by your DIY dryer balls, I repurposed my moth -hole-ridden scarf. Now I can enjoy these beautiful, vibrant colors year-round. I cut the scarf in half & wound each piece tightly. I used felting needles to start the felting process so the balls didn’t come unwound. Didn’t have hose, but small mesh fabric gift bags served the purpose. These are colorfast, so I washed & dried them in a load of colored clothes. They will felt more with each wash, but already they are felted sufficiently to hold their shape.
See pic in separate email.
Ok I just washed my first load of laundry with the 4 dryer balls I made yesterday – I made sure I used pure wool yarn, and washed and dried it in the pantyhose just like it’s shown above. I was very disappointed at the amount of static that was in my laundry when I pulled it out of the dryer, everything sticking to everything else – I was under the impression that using the dryer balls would help cut down on this, and take the place of using a dryer sheet. Is it possible I did something wrong? Are you supposed to wash the dryer balls more than once, after the first wash in the pantyhose? Also the total time it took to dry a load of laundry did not seem significantly less – do I need to use more than 4 dryer balls? My loads of laundry aren’t excessively large.
If your balls seem felted- a very tight ball that is considerably smaller than when you first formed the ball- you haven’t done anything wrong. However, you definitely want to use at LEAST six balls. And make sure you are pulling your clothes out of the dryer as soon as they are dry. Many people tend to over-dry which adds to static problems. In the future when felting anything, it is a good idea to wash in hot and rinse in cold along with a few pairs of jeans, dry balls in dryer and then repeat the wash and dry. Heat alone is not what felts wool, drastic changes in temperature and friction help the fibers to full.
Just wanted to add that as far as the static goes, these will do next to nothing for synthetic fibers, I usually pull these out after the wash and hang them to dry (most synthetic items don’t take long to dry). Also, the more wool balls you use the quicker your dry time since wool can hold a great deal of moisture, but I haven’t seen the 50% shorter time. All in all these are wonderful and I have been using them happily for the last couple of years.
Wanted to add one more thing, I used an old wool sweater for the center of my ball, then wrapped it in the wool yarn, saving me on yarn cost and getting to re use an accidentally felted sweater.
That is an EXCELLENT idea!
i can’t fine 100% wool is there any way that i can use acrylic or something like that?
No, unfortunately acrylic will not felt. You need to use 100% real animal fiber! i.e…. wool, alpace, llama…. those will all felt, but I think that for this particular project wool is definately the best and also probably the least expensive. Most hobby stores around here sell 100% wool yarn, and I know that you can also find it online….. Kelly
I bought wool sweaters at the thrift store and recycled them to make the dryer balls. For about $2 I got a pound and 1/2 of heavy wool yarn. I am felting the balls now and will let you know how they turn out. This project was lots of fun.
I’ve seen many tutorials, and of course used wool dryer balls by myself. To tell the truth, I thought that these wood balls would not cope with the problem. But I was wrong. Despite the fact that I didn’t follow the instructions of wool balls they had showed excellent results. And you will agree with me.
I’m gearing up for my first baby (Due 2/21/13!) and therefore lots of laundry, especially as we are considering cloth diapering. Thank you all for the great info about solutions to eliminate the toxins in comercial laundry products.
So from previous comments, if I am trying to rid my laundry of nasty chemicals while keeping all the perks of fabric softener/ dryers sheets, I should use:
Several homemade wool dryer balls for drying time and softness
(possibly soaked in homemade fabric softener = vinegar +water+ conditioner)
+ Vinegar or Aluminum Balls (in a lingerie bag so they don’t get lost) for Static
(Foil balls are apparently exactly what they sound like, but here’s a link I found on how to make them anyway http://www.ehow.com/how_7962935_reduce-static-dryer-foil.html)
+ Essential Oils for a pleasant scent
Does that sum it up? Will the vinegar and aluminum or Essential Oils react in the dryer if i use both/all?
Thanks so much everyone!
If you are trying to rid your laundry of nasty chemicals, DO NOT use hair conditioner – especially Suave. Hair shampoo/conditioners have bad chemicals in them, especially the cheaper ones. Generally, the cheaper the product, the cheaper the ingredients used to make said product. The cheap ones are many times the more dangerous.
If you are going to use the wool dryer balls, all you need to make your baby’s clothes soft and clean is vinegar! If you are having an issue with stains or smells, just run the load through the wash a second time with a cup of baking soda before drying. Do not use the vinegar and baking soda together, though. Vinegar is a mild acid and baking soda is a neutralizer, which will reduce the beneficial properties of each.
If you are going to use essential oils, use sparingly for the baby’s sake, and read up on which oils will be safest for baby. As far as the reaction, I’m not sure.
Hope this helps some, and congratulations on your upcoming little one!
Question? I told a girlfriend about these. She said that she is allergic to Lanolin which she says is in wool. Does the felting process eliminate the lanolin? Made my first 5 balls today!
Thanks for posting! This is such a great idea!
Why did my balls only partially felt? When I pulled them from the dryer, they had partially unraveled and there was a small layer of felt that came off the top! I put them in thick tights – maybe that was the problem and I should have used nylons instead?
It’s possible that your yarn wasn’t 100% wool, which would impair its felting ability. Also, felting happens because animal hairs are covered in scales that open up with heat (like pinecones!) and then interlock with friction and cooling. Some fibers need a few more runs through the washing machine before they felt nicely, and yeah, maybe the thicker tights protected the yarn from the agitation.
You can also felt by hand: hot water, little soap, rub the surface with your fingers and hands until you feel the felting is secure. Using thick rubber gloves is a good idea when the water is so hot.