DIY Felted Wool Dryer Balls
on Nov 20, 2015, Updated Jul 11, 2024
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DIY Felted Wool Dryer Balls are a practical and eco-friendly alternative to dryer sheets and fabric softeners that you can make right at home. Even better – they can reduce drying time, soften clothes, and reduce static cling.
Don’t you love homemade gifts that you can use?! DIY Felted Wool Dryer Balls are little balls of foil that you wrap in wool yarn. Then, you use your washing machine and dryer to “felt” the wool yarn, which means it all smooshes together and turns into felt that won’t unravel.
Add the Wool Dryer Balls to a gift basket with some DIY Bath Salts and Sugar Scrubs or a mug that you can make at home.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Project
- A great eco-friendly alternative to disposable dryer sheets.
- A non-toxic way to reduce static cling and drying time.
- Dryer balls are a wonderful gift, especially for loved ones who enjoy handmade or sustainable products.
Supplies
- Aluminum foil: To put in the middle of the ball so you can use less wool.
- 100% wool yarn: Lion Brand Alpine Wool is what I used or you can use wool roving.
- Pantyhose: Old ones are great for this project.
How to Make DIY Felted Wool Dryer Balls
- Step #1. Cut a piece of aluminum foil about 24 inches long and crumple it into a ball the size of a ping pong ball.
- Step #2. Wrap the wool yarn or roving (about 3 ounces) around the aluminum foil until the yarn ball is about the size of a baseball or small orange.
- Step #3. Trim the end of the yarn and then tuck the loose end of the yarn under some of the yarn pieces on the ball.
- Step #4. Repeat until you have 5-7 balls (this is a good amount to use in your dryer to have them work well).
- Step #5. Add one ball to the leg of the pantyhose and push it down to the toe. Tie a knot in the pantyhose close to the ball. Drop another ball into the leg and push it down against the first knot and tie another knot in the pantyhose above the second ball.
- Step #6. To felt the wool, put your snake of dryer balls and a couple towels into your washing machine. Run a wash cycle on the hottest setting without any soap. You want there to be lots of room for the towels and dryer balls to swish around and rub against each other.
- Step #7. Dry the towels and balls (still in the panty hose) on the hottest dryer setting. Depending on your machines, the yarn you used, and how hot your water is, this should have felted your wool yarn. Repeat the washing and drying steps again if they aren’t felted enough.
Step #8. When the wool is felted, remove the balls by carefully cutting the pantyhose near each dryer ball.
FAQs
Yes. And make sure that the wool yarn you use is 100% wool. If it has cotton, linen, nylon or anything else blended with it, it won’t felt properly and your dryer ball may just fall apart.
No. Superwash wool has gone through a process to remove the scales that causes the wool to felt so it won’t work to make dryer balls.
Roving is wool that hasn’t been spun into yarn yet. It looks like big puffy yarn but it doesn’t hold together very well because it hasn’t been spun. If you use roving to make dryer balls, be careful that the roving doesn’t fall apart when wrapping it.
The felted yarn will look like it shrunk and smooshed itself against the rest of the yarn. When you rub your finger against it, it will feel smooth and not like little pieces of string but rather one piece.
If you make the dryer balls out of wool yarn, you will probably need to wash and dry the balls two or three times. If you use roving, you should only need to wash and dry them once.
Add 6 to 12 drops of essential oils to one dryer ball before drying your clothes to add a nice scent to your clothes or linens.
Expert Tips
- If you don’t want to use aluminum foil in the middle, you don’t have to. But if you don’t, you’re going to require more wool yarn or roving.
- Adjust the amount of water in your washing machine based on the size of the towels you’re washing with the dryer balls – I ran a medium-sized load.
- It’s a good idea to use old pantyhose for this project because they will get ruined.
- You can keep the dryer balls right in your dryer or put them in a cute basket if you have a shelf or cupboard available.
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I realized while doing laundry today……. I love these things. Its been 4 years since I made my six balls…wow….its about time to rewrap them! When the pandemic/self isolating first took place and the store shelves were wiped out of everything, I never gave dryer sheets a thought…..the sheets are just another manufactured item I have no need for anymore thanks to these little wonders!!! You changed me forever!!!!
Great tutorial! So I’ve done this a couple if times. Both times, the wool is completely felted to the nylon stocking. How can I prevent this from happening? TIA!
That’s so crazy! And it was a nylon, not some kind of cotton stocking?! I’ll have to look that up because I’ve never had an issue. Where you able to get them out and use them or did it ruin them?
Okay….I am out of dryer sheets….shopping road trip is on the list for next week (dread)(so I will procrastinate)(except I need some canned milk for snow ice cream, so I can’t stall forever!)…..oh…now, I don’t have to do laundry until sometime late next week or beyond….happy dance! Big question…..I love the concept of these, but do they help at all with static cling? Tis the only reason I use the dryer sheets! The perils of desert living! So, do I buy yarn and nylons(me in a dress…oh hahahahaha) or more sheets?? Happy day!! 🙂
If you are comparing them to traditional dryer sheets, they work less well on the static. If you are comparing them to using nothing (what I did for years when I stopped using normal dryer sheets) they improve it greatly. I’d say they are about 50% as effect as normal dry sheets when it comes to static. When I was silky things in with fleece like a baby blanket, it’s still a static ball but most other things are just great. You’ll love them Deb!
I have some that I love, but I bought them so I think they must be wool? When I wash my black yoga pants, the little wool fibers get all over them and they end up covered when they come out of the dryer (the materials like each other I guess!) – do yours do this too? It’s the only part I dislike…
I bought mine next time I will make the. Thanks. You can add essential oils to the wool balls too so your laundry smells like lavendar or lemon/lime. Also adding safety pins to the wool balls before they go into the dryer helps with static cling. Just make sure you put them on well!! Happy Thanksgiving!!
I’m so happy you wrote about this!! I was going to purchase some, but I love the idea of making my own. Looks like I now have something for a Thanksgiving crafter- noon!! I use DoTerra’s Purify in my laundry and hadn’t even thought of using Citrus Bliss. I’ll have to try that one!
this is so cool!!!! we don’t use dryer sheets anymore as they increase flammability of clothing but I do miss the fresh smell they provided. thanks for this
These are so fun and practical. Do the balls wear out over time? Do you know how many cycles they last for?