Wool Dryer Balls

Well, I've used my last dryer sheet, well except for wiping the dryer sheet on the baseboards, if you do this it prevents the dust from adhering as easily and you will have to clean your baseboards less often...woo hoo!

I saw these on this site (great site...got so many good ideas from here!)
http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/09/save-time-money-and-energy-make-your-own-wool-dryer-balls.html#more-9156

I've been wanting to do this project for the longest time but I could not find 100% Wool, so finally after searching all the major department stores, I checked Michaels and finally found some there!! (oh and they had a 50% coupon...woo hoo!) So these cost me a whopping $3.00 ...great!!

The idea behind the dryer balls is that they are natural, costs less and are a great way to 'fluff' up your laundry.  I love the idea of putting lavender, orange scent on them to freshen your laundry!

So here is what you need...

1 spool of 100% wool
and about 20 minutes of your time
oh and a 'leg' of your panty hose!

You need to wind up the yarn into a ball, start by winding it around your fingers then go the opposite way and make a small ball and keep winding it around and around.  Go until you reach the size of a tennis ball (about) then tuck in the ends under the other strands.  Do this until you run out of yarn, for me I ended up with four balls.

Before 'felting' ...the strands are separate and are visible.

After that you will have to 'felt' the yarn, this means it will get fluffier and the fibers will 'stick' to each other and the ball will get softer.  Put the balls into a leg of your panty hose or tights and tie off each section on the end (use embroidery thread or something like that to tie the sections) so that they end up like a snake.  Toss this into a hot laundry cycle and then after into a hot dryer cycle.  Cut off the hose and that's it ...you can use them in your next dryer cycle.

After 'felting' the fibers are less visible and they have fused together.

You can add a few drops of lavender, orange, lemon, whatever essential oils you like!

One thing is that I did end up with a lot of static (ouch!) Yeah I'm a bit disappointed about that but I've read online about using aluminum foil formed into balls ...this should help with the static...I'll try this out next and update you all about the results.

** UPDATE**
I've put in a ball of foil with the wool and guess what, no more static!! Yeah...so there you go natural, clean, fresh smelling laundry with no chemicals!!

**UPDATE2** Don't use foil, the reason that there is static is that you have dried your clothes for
too long! Because of the dryer balls, it will take less time to dry!  So reduce the time you usually put the
clothes in for and see if that helps! I really didn't like the foil (because of the aluminum) but it did work, so if you don't mind keep using it. 


Otherwise I'm really happy with the results, the laundry has this great lavender scent to it now ...actually the laundry room smells of it as well!!  Best of all it is natural, you are not putting any added chemicals to your clothing ...oh and it's cheap, as these are supposed to last for years.  The balls will get smaller each time you use them.