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You are here: Home / Naturally Frugal Living / DIY Wool Dryer Balls

DIY Wool Dryer Balls

October 11, 2018 by Alea Milham 2 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy here.
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Homemade gifts are so much more personal, giving something that is also useful makes it an even better gift.  If you have ever wanted to try making your own Homemade Wool Dryer Balls now is a great time, grab your kids and some wool yarn and make up several batches of wool dryer balls. Of course, you will want to keep some for your own dryer.

How to make Wool Dryer Balls - tutorial with easy directions

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Making homemade dryer balls is a simple project that even preschoolers can help with yet it comes out looking like a store-bought gift. Add the dryer balls to a pretty container, add a nice essential oil to scent the balls and you have a wonderful gift for grandma, aunts, teachers, or anyone else on your list.

Why use Homemade Wool Dryer Balls?

Wool dryer balls can cut your drying time by as much as 25 %. They also reduce static electricity. Dryer balls can be used to replace costly and chemical-laden liquid fabric softener or dryer sheets.

Homemade Wool Dryer Balls Tutorial

First, head to the craft store and let your kids pick out a pretty 100% wool yarn, or you can do like we did and let technology and the UPS guy help you out. I pulled up the 100% wool yarns on Amazon and let my daughter pick what color she wanted to make for grandma, I thought she would have chosen a bright color but she went with this black, cream, and grey wool yarn combo and it turned out lovely.

Items Needed:

  • 100% wool yarn
  • Scissors
  • Nylons
  • …and some willing little hands

homemade dryer ball supplies: wool yard and panty hose.

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Directions:

  1. Wrap yarn around your 4 fingers like this about 10 times. homemade dryer ball wrap around fingers.Pin it button
  2. Slide the loops off your hand and wrap yarn around the center of your loops a few times to create a bow. How to make wool dryer balls step 2 make a bow with wool yarn.Pin it button
  3. Fold your bow in half and just keep wrapping, pull yarn tightly as you go in different directions with every few wraps until your ball gets bigger and bigger. homemade wool dryer ball bumps in yarn ball..Pin it button
  4. At the end take the eraser end of a pencil and press the end of the yarn as far in as you can. Even if your child wraps loosely and ends up with loops and bumps sticking out like above, it’s a pretty easy fix, as long as at the end you go over it a few times with tighter wraps, this is the same ball that I went over just a few times. DIY wool dryer balls - push loops of yarn into ball with a pencil eraser.Pin it button
  5. Cut the one leg off a pair of nylons and drop one ball into the toe, tie off right above it, add another ball, tie again, repeat until you are done. homemade wool dryer balls knotted into ladies nylons.Pin it button
  6. To make the wool balls “melt” together, this is called felting, you need to wash them in HOT water and dry on high heat until they are dried throughout. Toss them in with a load of towels or sheets that need a hot water, dry until they feel dry throughout. homemade wool dryer balls - peel balls out of nylon stockingsPin it button
  7. Cut each section open and peel the dryer ball out, it will stick a bit. Your fibers should be melded together now and the ball will be slightly fuzzy. homemade wool dryer balls that are not felted wool after being cut out of the pantyhose.Pin it button

Your wool dryer balls are ready to use, just keep them in the dryer with each load. To scent your homemade wool dryer balls add a few drops of essential oil to each one every few loads.  

homemade wool dryer balls make a lovely gift

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To gift the homemade dryer balls, put them in a basket or pail. Add a gift tag and some clothespins. You can also add a bottle of essential oil if you wish.

More DIY Gift Ideas

Homemade Coffee Scented Candles

How To Make A Sugar Bowl Candle Or Tea Cup Candle

15 Gift in Jar Ideas

DIY Tile Coasters

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About Alea Milham

Alea Milham is the owner of Premeditated Leftovers and the author of Prep-Ahead Meals from Scatch. She shares her tips for saving money and time while reducing waste in her home. Her favorite hobby, gardening, is a frugal source of organic produce for her recipes. She believes it is possible to live fully and eat well while spending less.

Comments

  1. Pat says

    May 2, 2019 at 6:52 pm

    How often do you need to replace wool dryer balls?

    Reply
  2. Devon says

    April 2, 2019 at 5:50 am

    Hi~
    Is one dryer ball made per skein of yarn? If not, how big should balls be before felting?

    Thank you.

    Reply

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Welcome. I'm Alea!

On Premeditated Leftovers I share simple recipes made with whole foods, practical shopping tips, time saving techniques, and meal planning strategies. I also share tips for minimizing food waste, so more of the food that is purchased ends up on the table.

While volunteering as a budget counselor, I realized that food is the element of most people’s budgets where they have the greatest control. I set out to develop low-cost recipes from scratch to prove it’s possible to create delicious meals on a limited budget. Eating well while spending less is about more than just creating recipes using inexpensive ingredients; it’s about creatively combining ingredients so you don’t feel deprived and are inspired to stick to your budget.

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