Laundry Week - Homemade Wool Dryer Balls

Here is an easy tutorial to make your own homemade wool dryer balls. These are great to throw in your dryer because they help dry your clothes faster by lifting and separating them, and they decrease the amount of static electricity!

The first step is to buy 100% Wool Yarn

Start by looping the yarn around two fingers for 5 or 6 turns

Pull it off your fingers and pinch it together so it doesnt unravel. Then wrap the yarn around going the opposite way to keep it together.

From here you will need to start your ball forming.  Pinch it and wrap it to start to form a small ball. Continue to wrap around until your ball starts to take form and gets larger.

Continue to wind the ball. You will need to wrap it tight so that it won't fall apart in the wash (like one of my did -- horrible mess).  I made mine to about 2 or 3 inches in diameter. I made 4 of these size balls out of the yarn that I bought.

Once you have finished wrapping and have a good size, then you will need to "tie it off" so to speak.  Take a crochet hook and push it through the ball as far as it will let you, and pull the string into the middle of the dryer ball

You will then need to felt your dryer balls.  Stick them into a nylon or pantyhose leg and tie them off in between.

Run them through the washer and the dryer with a load.  Then, pop them out of the nylon sock and they are ready to use. I use 3 of my balls in a dryer load and then just keep them in the dryer in between the loads that I am doing.  They work great and they really help to save energy and time!  They could replace dryer sheets!