How To Make Dryer Balls

Hey y'all, it's Madalynn and today I am going to teach you how to make Dryer Balls. If you've never heard of dryer balls before, they are a cost effective and eco-friendly replacement for dryer sheets. They are made out of wool and last for years. Many people also prefer dryer balls because they are more natural than conventional dryer sheets and are softer on your clothing, but provide the same outcome. Dryer balls keep your clothes soft and static free. They're also super easy to make. So if you want to save some money on laundry this year while also producing less trash, keep on reading!

For supplies, all you will need are:

• a pair of scissors
• An old pair of tights (If you don't have any, I bought these ones from Dollar Tree)
• 100% wool yarn (Be sure it is 100% wool. Anything else will not felt correctly.  I used this kind.)
• Essential oils (Optional)

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Right, so let' s get started. You will begin by wrapping the yarn around two or three fingers about ten times. Then you will slide that off your fingers and wrap the yarn around the middle of the loops, so it looks like a bow.

Then you pretty much just keep wrapping the yarn all around until it forms a ball. Be sure to keep spinning the ball as you go so that it will come out as an even ball. 
​You can make these as big as you want. I made mine to fit right in the palm of my hand, a little bit smaller than a tennis ball. Any size from about there to around the size of a softball will work. When you feel happy with how big it is, just snip off the end of yarn and tuck it under a few other layers of the wool.

Out of one skein of yarn, I made three balls, with a little bit of yarn left over. Three to four is about all you need for one load of laundry, so that was perfect!
At this point, you can add essential oils to your wool balls if you wish for them to be scented.

Next you will grab those tights and cut off the legs. Drop the dryer balls in there one at a time, knotting the tights in between each one. You can also tie them off in between each one with some thread, but don't use any of your wool yarn to do this as it will felt that way. At the end of the line I double knotted the tights to make sure that none fell out during the felting process. 
​Putting them in the tights is important because a) it keeps them all in one place and b) it keeps them from unraveling.

Now that you have them all knotted up in there, throw them in the wash. I would recommend doing them in a load with towels.
The way that works best for this is to run them through with a cold water cycle, then a hot water cycle. Then when you throw them into the dryer, run it on the highest heat setting.
You may need to repeat this process two or three times to get them to felt, so this will be a great project for laundry day!

You can tell when they are felted because the individual strands of yarn wont come apart from the rest when you run your fingers over them.

So I hope that you enjoyed this tutorial and found it helpful. Try these out and let us know how you like them! I have a feeling that you'll never go back to dryer sheets after using these. Happy Monday and I'll be back on Friday with my Friday Fave!