These DIY wool dryer balls are a great alternative to heavily-scented store bought dryer sheets that often contains harsh chemicals. Plus they’re fun to make!
I’ve been using dryer balls for a couple of years now and I love them. They eliminate the need to use any kind of harsh chemicals to soften my laundry and remove static, they’re environmentally-friendly, and they’re definitely cost-effective! One set of dryer balls will last you indefinitely so you’ll never need to buy dryer sheets again!… unless of course your dryer balls seem to bounce away and go missing like mine have been. I purchased my old set, but when I needed some more, I decided it made sense to just make my own DIY wool dryer balls since they’re so easy to put together!
Supplies for DIY Wool Dryer Balls
You’ll need:
- 100% wool yarn
- An old pair of stockings
- An old wool or non-wool sweater that you can cut up (optional)
That’s it! One regular size ball of wool should make about 3-4 dryer balls if you use the same method that I used, which is a good number to use for your laundry.
How to Make DIY Wool Dryer Balls
We’ll start off with an optional step. This will make the whole process easier, but it’s definitely not necessary. This is what I did though.
Start off by cutting a piece about three to four inches long off of the sleeve of an old sweater. The type of fibre that the sweater is made from won’t affect how well your dryer ball works, so don’t worry about that. This is just adding bulk and making it easier to wrap your wool into a ball shape. The sweater I used was an old wool sweater I had that I accidentally shrank a couple of years ago.
Fold the sweater sleeve piece up and tightly tie the end of the wool yarn around it. Start wrapping really tightly with your wool, beginning to encourage the sweater to go into a roughly round shape.
OK, now keep wrapping and wrapping and wrapping, covering up all of the sweater.
Then wrap some more, covering all sides of the ball until it starts to be a really nice round shape.
Repeat these steps until you’ve made enough dryer balls.
Finishing the DIY Wool Dryer Balls
The last thing you’ll need to do is to wash the dryer balls in hot water so that the yarn will all become felted together and the balls will hold their shape as they bounce around in your dryer.
To do this, cut a leg off of one of the stockings. I used this fancy patterned one because it was on clearance. 🙂
Put your dryer balls into the stocking and tie a knot on each side of each dryer ball so they’re held in place within the stocking.
Wash them in their stocking on a hot cycle either alone or with a load of laundry, then dry them on a hot setting as well.
Untie one end of your stocking and take a look to see if your dryer balls look sufficiently felted to maintain their shape. If not, throw them in the next load of laundry again!
Related: Tackle your laundry chore with confidence: The Creek Line House – The Every Day Laundry Routine That Keeps Mount Dirtyclothes Away from My Home
How to Use DIY Wool Dryer Balls
Use your wool dryer balls in place of dryer sheets when you dry a load of laundry. They’ll keep your laundry static free and they’ll even help it dry a little faster by fluffing things up as they bounce around!
If you like your laundry to have a nice, fresh scent, add about 3-4 drops of an essential oil of your choice to one or two of your dryer balls before throwing them into the dryer!
Have you ever made DIY Wool Dryer Balls before? Did you make them this way or did you do it differently?
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Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.