How To Make Wool Dryer Balls

Heather Dessinger

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I have, but at my house all she does is steal socks, spill my homemade laundry detergent and dump loose change everywhere. Since she doesn’t actually do laundry, I have to find ways to keep things interesting all by myself.

Set up message board for all the socks seeking sole mates? Check!

Wash the same load of laundry three times because I keep forgetting it in the dryer? Umm, that’s not actually interesting at all. 

Fortunately, I’ve found a way to help my dryer keep up with my washer, thus reducing the time I’m waiting to move a load over: wool dryer balls. In this post I’m going to show you how to make them, but first you’re probably wondering whether they’re really worth the effort. (Spoiler alert: Absolutely!)

Benefits Of Wool Dryer Balls

Saves time and money

Each load is done faster, which reduces your energy costs. Plus unlike dryer sheets and fabric softener, they’re typically good for 1000+ loads of laundry.

Softens and fluffs without toxic chemicals

As I wrote about here, “when several top laundry products/ air fresheners were tested they were found to contain at least one chemical labeled as toxic or hazardous by federal law, including the active ingredient in paint thinner.” (source)

Interestingly, none of the chemicals were listed on the label, and five of the six products emitted chemicals which are considered by the Environmental Protection Agency to have no safe exposure level.”

Dryer balls soften clothes naturally as the felted wool gently rubs against garment fibers, and they fluff by separating clothes that would otherwise clump together.

Reduces static

If over time you notice that they’re not doing this as well, put them in a sock or pantyhose and run them through a wash cycle.

Doesn’t diminish towel absorbency + cloth diaper safe

Commercial fabric softeners coat fibers with a thin layer of chemicals, thus reducing the absorbency and performance of things like towels and cloth diapers. (source) Wool dryer balls soften without chemicals.

How Many Do I Need?

Wool dryer balls work by separating clothes so that warm air circulates better. The more you have the more pronounced the effects – faster drying time, softer clothes, less static cling, and lower energy usage. Some people use just two, while others use up to twelve for large loads. I use six, but how many you use is really up to you.

I’m Not Feeling Crafty. Can I Buy Them Instead?

Absolutely. I like these eco-friendly wool dryer balls because they’re well-made and affordable.

How To Make Wool Dryer Balls - They reduce drying time, soften clothes without chemicals, and save money. And they're super easy to make. Here's a step-by-step photo tutorial.

How To Make Wool Dryer Balls

Makes 2-4 medium-sized dryer balls

Equipment

  • 2 – 3 skeins of 100% wool yarn – I used roving yarn in dark gray, light gray and low tide because roving yarn felts really well. Make sure not to get “superwash” or washable yarn because it won’t felt.
  • large-eyed felting needle or paint key (used to open paint cans – often free at hardware stores)
  • pantyhose

Budget Tip: A local mama told me that she picked up a 100% wool sweater at a thrift store, cut and wadded it up, then wrapped it in wool yarn using the technique below. This approach can be a very affordable way to make a lot of wool dryer balls with just a little yarn.

Instructions

Step 1: Make a small “V” with your index and middle fingers, then wrap yarn around them 10- 15 times. Remove your fingers from the yarn.

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Step 2: Pinch the middle of the coiled yarn and wrap the center 10-15 times.

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Then change the direction you’re wrapping in and wrap some more. You should have something that more or less looks like a fuzzy lump of coal. (Unless you chose another color.)

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Step 3: Continue wrapping until yarn forms a ball. Though it may seem more egg-shaped at first it will happen! Keep going until your dryer ball reaches the size you prefer. Mine a little bigger than tennis balls.

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Step 4: When the ball is about the size you want,  grab the loose end of yarn and weave it into the exterior of the ball using a paint key or felting needle. To do this, slide the key under a few threads, then take the tail and wrap it around the tip of the key a few times before pulling it through. Do that several times so that the tail is woven in well, then trim off any unused yarn. (See pictures below if that sounded confusing)

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Step 5: Place dryer balls in pantyhose, making sure to tie a knot between each one so they have their own separate compartments, then toss them in the washing machine and run through a hot cycle two or three times, preferably with a load of towels or other laundry. Place them in dryer and then remove from pantyhose. Voila, your dryer balls are ready!

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How To Use Wool Dryer Balls

Simply toss them into the dryer with your wet clothes – that’s it!

Don’t forget! Order 100% natural wool dryer balls via Amazon Prime here.

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About HEATHER

Heather is a holistic health educator, herbalist, DIYer, Lyme and mold warrior. Since founding Mommypotamus.com in 2009, Heather has been taking complicated health research and making it easy to understand. She shares tested natural recipes and herbal remedies with millions of naturally minded mamas around the world. 

Leave a Comment

118 thoughts on “How To Make Wool Dryer Balls”

  1. A nice reminder to make some more of these dryer balls. I saw this tutorial on The Seasoned Homemaker a year or two ago and they really do work great.

    Reply
    • How many balls did you make from one skein of yarn? Trying to plan a large make and take and I have to prebuy everything. Thx

      Reply
      • I used a 3 1/2 oz skein of yarn and made 2 balls. I read somewhere they should be the size of a hard ball for baseball. These were a little smaller than that. I wanted to make them for Christmas gifts and felt that a gift of 5 balls was sufficient. At $5 a skein, I spent about $13 per gift.

        Reply
  2. I made my own dryer balls this same exact way about 3 years ago when I first found out about how toxic dryer sheets are. However after about 7 months they began to come apart and I had a wool ball of a mess in the dryer with the clothes 🙂 I found that the dryer balls in the link you posted last MUCH longer! I have had no issues with those wool dryer balls coming apart; going on almost 2 years strong!

    Reply
    • I had the same experience. I liked the idea of making my own so I bought several skeins of wool yarn and made roughly 9 balls. After a while, each one started to unravel and I had a mess on my hands trying to untangle the yarn from arm holes on shirts, leg holes on shorts, etc., etc. I thought I didn’t felt them enough but I don’t think that was the problem. Somehow, the tossing of the balls against clothes zippers, collars, sleeves, and buttons, loosens the end yarn and they eventually become unravel.

      I am going to try ordering them from the link in this article.

      Reply
      • Sorry that happened to you! I learned the hard way that “superwash” yarn doesn’t felt well and will fall apart eventually. Roving yarn, on the other hand, works beautifully and holds up as well as pre-made options.

        Reply
        • Try using old wool socks instead tossing in the garbage. The sock ball will do a good job with static in your dryer. Put an old clean tennis ball inside for fluffy items.

          Reply
        • I am allergic to wool so I wander is there an alternative? Even when an article has no tag stating wool I itch the moment I put it on.

          Reply
          • You might try alpaca dryer balls. Alpaca does not have lanolin like sheep do. Lanolin is the culprit for many who are allergic to sheep’s wool. Buy them from an alpaca farm in your area – you’ll probably be able to meet the critters that produced the fiber for the balls. Or, go online and google “alpaca dryer balls.”

        • I bought roving yarn but it is not 100% wool. It is BERNAT Roving 80% acrylic and 20% wool. Should I return it and look else where or should I give it a try with the yarn I bought?

          Thank you

          Reply
          • Acrylic fiber will not felt, period. Get 100% wool, not washable , to get this to work.
            Good luck, they are great.

      • You can use your wool scraps to put the ball back together and refelt by doing the pantyhose step again. As your dryer balls begin to unravel, just put them in a pair of pantyhose and wash in hot water, then dry them to refelt and bind the fibers back together.

        Reply
  3. I have been using regular dryer sheets forever and I’m always concerned about the chemicals that are used in them. The one reason I keep using them though, is that they remove cat hair from our clothes after a wash cycle. Do you know if the wool balls will do this also?

    Reply
    • If I leave a Kleenex in the pocket and it comes apart in the washer over my clothes I put a piece of net in the dryer, it brushes it off into the lint trap. It would be worth a try for cat hair.

      Reply
    • There are little scales along the surface of natural animal fibers like alpaca and sheep’s wool. These grab together and shrink/felt when agitated in warm water and soap. Cat hair also has these scales, so cat hair might cling to the balls.

      Reply
  4. I am wondering if you have a suggestion for using these that doesn’t result in a crazy amount of static? I made my own and used them many times over many seasons. Every time I would have huge static issues in those loads. Even with fabrics that don’t normally develop static. Thoughts?

    Reply
    • I also made my own last year. Put them thru 5-6 wash cycles, had horrible static, and they eventually unraveled! I was so disappointed as I loved the idea!

      Reply
      • I’m so sorry to hear that! Chara, washing the balls will “reset” them so that they don’t cause static. Zandrea, my first set fell apart after about a year, and I realized at that point that I’d used the wrong kind of wool (superwash). Roving wool felts much better, which is the process that holds them together.

        Reply
        • It turns out that any natural fiber should felt ok and all the man made fibers will not felt. Superwash is a natural fiber that has been treated with man made substances. This makes it behave like a man made fiber. Roving is a term which means that it hasn’t been spun yet. Spun yarn can also be used to make the balls as long as you make sure the fiber is natural.

          Reply
          • There are little scales along the surface of natural animal fibers like alpaca and sheep’s wool. These hook together and shrink/felt when agitated in warm water and soap. Synthetic yarn does not have these scales and because of that, they do not grab together. Superwash doesn’t work because it has been treated to remove those scales. That is why your superwashed wool socks don’t shrink, but your natural (not superwashed) animal fiber socks might.

          • Silk, cotton, linen, etc do not felt. Only wool felts out of the natural fibers.

            Weird question, but I live in an apartment and don’t really want to be running communal machines three times in a row at $2 a go, especially since the hot water in the laundry room isn’t very hot. Could I felt these balls in boiling water? I’ve felted other flatter things on the stovetop but am worried that something as dense as these balls wouldn’t get enough agitation! I know I could just buy some but I have fluffy wool yarn going spare and this seems a great way to use it up!

        • I too have static even after following all the directions and buying 100% roving wool and I’m only on my 4th time using them. The 2 skeins made 5 balls and I use them all with each load. Today I tried adding the homemade dryer sheets and I still have static…so I am still looking for a static free homemade recipe. Any ideas?

          Reply
    • I’ve been using this style of dryer ball for about a year. Once in awhile I start to get static cling, so I run them through a wash/vinegar rinse cycle and it sort of “recharges” them and we’re good to go for a couple of months with no static.

      Reply
  5. Hi Heather, I ordered the dryer balls you linked to and was eager for them to arrive. I had a set of wool dryer balls in the past, and they sort of got lost, used as toys, etc. And I was glad to find an organic set, since I’ve wondered about wool being treated with chemicals (as you’ve written about elsewhere), and then being heated in the dryer and potentially releasing those chemicals. Anyway, the balls arrived and smell horrible. I’m going to have to try to send them back. They’re bad — as in, I might as well use brand-new chemical-smelling tennis balls. I didn’t use them in the dryer, just opened the box and could smell them, opened the little cotton bag they come in, and wow, strong smell! I’m wondering if they are treated with something because they are imported. I’ve read about wool rugs that they can be treated with pesticides and such when imported. I suppose some people might not mind; just letting you and any other readers who might be sensitive to chemical smells know that the organic set you listed (HeartFelt) didn’t work for me. I’ll try to smell them again after they’ve sat for a while longer and see if whatever it is has worn off. If not, I’ll need to contact the company and try to return them.

    Reply
    • Oh, I’m so sad to hear that! HeartFelt has gotten wonderful reviews from several mamas in my community, but I’m definitely glad that you shared your experience. I’ll be doing some research to see what I can find out . . .

      Reply
      • I purchased wool dryer balls from “Molly Suds” and they score an A on the EWG website.
        I also purchased a set of “Woolzies” and they also are 100% wool.

        Neither set had any toxic smells or any additives. Just 100% wool! Both I purchased on Amazon and I have been pleased with the results so far except for one static incident with some exercise pants. I blame the plastic fibers in the pants. Most of my clothing is cotton or wool so the dryer balls have worked great.

        Reply
  6. Really love the deyes ball idea…
    But I seem to have a wool allergy. If I wear anything with even 10 percent wool it terrorizes me..
    is there an alternative to using wool for making dryer balls?

    Reply
    • Have you tried alpaca? 100% alpaca will also felt, and it doesn’t have the same makeup as wool, so many people with allergies can use it instead.

      Reply
  7. I have a question. Where does Heather get the 100% unwashed yarn? There are so many different kind out there, I just want wanted to get the right kind.
    Thanks

    Reply
  8. If you make your own dryer balls, when you tuck the end of the wool strand in at the end (either with the paint can key or a needle), tuck it in down deeper within the ball. You should be able to get way down in there, grab one strand of yarn (it is kinda stretchy), then tie the loose end to another strand with a double knot. Hopefully this will keep the whole thing from coming apart at least for awhile. When you are winding up the ball originally, try to wind it kinda on the snug side (yes, I know you still need to “felt” them later). The looser you wind them, the more likely they will be to come apart. Does this make sense? I want to make my own, so hope this works (I am familiar with the properties of yarn but haven’t made any dryer balls yet). Thanks for all the good ideas & productive comments.

    Reply
  9. Forgot—re the “smell” some have noticed from the unwashed yarn. Unwashed yarn may still contain some of the natural oils from the source (ie, the animal from which it came).

    Perhaps if you wash it several times (as you will need to do to felt the dryer balls) & then use your essential oil of choice, the “natural odor” will have gone away or diminished enough that it doesn’t cause a problem.

    Would like to hear comments on this suggestion please. Thanks.

    Reply
    • Wet wool stinks. When I made mine and ran them through the wash they came out smelling like an old sheep. But once they were dry they were fine. I wash them occasionally and they smell again (less each time) until they are dry. My clothes never smell like old sheep 🙂

      Reply
  10. I made mine out of old sweaters and a wool jacket. I have sheep’s wool so I could stuff them with that but my original ones that are still working, are stuffed with the sweater and jacket material like the outside.

    Reply
  11. I, too, made mine out of old wool sweaters and wool roving. Roving is a long, combed wool fibers that are used to spin wool into yarn and can be easily ordered online (try Etsy). I first washed and dried the old wool sweater to shrink and felt it. Then I cut strips out and started rolling them up and tucking in edges.Think of a Chinese pork bun shape. You’ll be covering it with batting, so don’t make it too big. Then I carefully rolled the wool roving around the bun, covering it well. This was placed in an old nylon stocking, washed and dried as in the instructions above. The problem I encountered was many of the wool fibers penetrated the stocking making it exceedingly difficult to peel the stockings off. I haven’t found a solution to this yet. Perhaps use tights instead of nylons? The balls come out dense and substantial, and I haven’t had any problems with them unraveling the roving.

    Reply
    • Stores like the Dollar Tree often have pantyhose and knee high socks out of the same material. I don’t wear them but they are wonderful to tie up plants in the garden. At $1 a pair or 2 pairs of knee highs they are a good deal.

      Reply
  12. Hi Heather,

    I have two dogs and a cat…..I have a lint and animal hair problem. 🙂 The dryer balls I have made do not help this issue when I do laundry…. the black items still come out covered. What else can I do to fix this?

    Thanks!!

    Reply
  13. Wool can be very expensive. I buy wool sweaters at thrift shops to use for felting and unraveling for projects like this. Upcycling is great.

    Reply
  14. Hi Heather,

    This is the first I have heard of dryer balls and would like clarification on the instructions. Do you actually wash the balls several times with soap, or do you just run them thru with hot water? After the hot water treatment, you say to place in dryer and then remove pantyhose. Do you mean dry them with the pantyhose on and when dry, remove the hose? Or do you mean to take off the hose and put them in the dryer to use immediately while still wet? Also, when you use them with your other loads of wash, do you put them in dry, or do you wet them before adding to the dryer with your load of wash? Sorry if the questions seem silly, but I just want to get this right when I try this for the first time. Thanks.

    Reply
      • Throw the tied up balls in the washer with a load of towels, hot water, cold rinse. Keep the balls in the stocking for the dryer. You may have to do this 2-3 times until they’re completely felted. It took me 3 times. Once felted, remove balls from stocking & use in dryer.

        Reply
  15. Hi, I was just wondering the reasons for not putting the essential oils on at the beginning of the drying cycle? Does it just not properly fragrance the load or another reason?
    Thank you!

    Reply
    • The heat of a dryer run will cause most of the nice smell from the eos to go out through the dryer vent. If you want the clothes scented, you have to add the eo at the end.

      Reply
  16. Has anyone tried to make dryer balls with 100% wool felt fabric? I have a box ful from making civil war uniforms and hate to toss. lots of nice colors. Rolling fabric pieces isharder than yarn skeins, but think if i hand sewed it it may hold. any ideas?

    Reply
  17. Absolutely brilliant!! Seriously. I hate dryer sheets but use them for the softness they give my towels and, this time of year, my flannel pjs. But.. I also discovered that the major brand breaks down and leaves hundreds of hair-like fibers on my clothes. At first I thought it was cat hairs. I have a semi long haired kitty that leaves tufts of hair throughout my house. Then one day, alas… I figured it out! It wasn’t my kitty cats hair! It was fiber from the dryer sheets! Of course I was using five or six per load since I love to get my towels, tees, and flannels extra extra soft.
    This is by far a most brilliant idea. Heather, and I cannot wait to make my own wool balls! One question: I have an old mohair cardigan that I keep saying I want to repurpose it but couldn’t decide how. I’m wondering if I can cut it apart and roll it up this way and that way, to somehow form a ball. Then stitch it together, make the pantyhose balls, and finish up with the felting process in the extra hot water and of course the dryer.
    What do you think?
    Thanks for all the efforts you make on our behalves!!?

    Reply
    • I wind cheap acrylic yarn into a ball and then just wrap a few layers of wool roving around the ball, needle felt it a bit (sometimes with several colors for variety), then stuff into the nylon stocking or knee high & wash in hot water and toss in the dryer. Saves on the cost of the roving if you make a “core” of cheap yarn. Check thrift stores for acrylic yarn.

      Reply
  18. Hi! I was just wondering if when you said ” Place in dryer and remove from pantyhose” if you meant put them through a cycle in the dryer?
    Thanks!

    Reply
  19. Thank you so much for the how-to! I followed your suggestions and it turned out great…well except the one my two year old got his hands on, that one unraveled 🙂

    Reply
  20. Thank you for the Instructions for Wool Dryer Balls !!!
    Great fun. Great idea. Thank you for sharing this info and also your Soap Nut liquid laundry detergent.
    And love your sense of humor – the opening comments about the laundry fairy.

    Cheers

    Reply
  21. Thanks so much for this “how to”. I have made a dozen dryer balls, half of which I sent to my daughter and her boyfriend. Our entire family is now using them. They were fun to make, too!

    Reply
  22. Wool, which is factory farmed is what you are recommending. Factory farming is by far the worst polluter (not to mention cruelest) in the world. So I’m forgoing dryer sheets to save the environment and using something that is even worse for the environment.

    Reply
  23. I made 5 of my own dryer balls. I used worsted wool (I couldn’t find roving at the store I was at). It took about 5-6 washes for them to felt. I added some lavender essential oil to each one, tossed them in with a load of towels, and was actually quite disappointed. My towels came out smelling almost burnt. Has anyone else experience something like this? Although I don’t want to use chemicals if possible, I much prefer the smell of my clothes when using liquid fabric softener. Any suggestions?
    Thanks!

    Reply
  24. I made my own dryer balls last year with wool roving yarn. Before washing them in hot water I boiled a big pot of water and dunked my dryer balls in the stockings into it to make sure they got good and hot. Mine have held together beautifully but they get pills on them. Has anyone had that happen? They don’t seem to come off onto my clothes but the balls don’t look nice and smooth like they used to when I first made them. Just wondering if there is a solution.

    Reply
  25. I asked at the yarn shop for their best felting yarn. After making the balls I soaked them in very hot water then rolled them around in a large baking sheet with some Dawn detergent—according to felting instructions. Then I soaked them in hot water again and squeezed and rolled on my cookie sheet repeatedly until the detergent was gone. [I used a cookie sheet with an edge all around, and small ridges although that’s not essential.] Then I washed them in hot water with towels and dried in a hot dryer–setting them in an airy place to make sure they dried through. They were well-felted by this time.

    Reply
  26. So when you start the felting process do you…
    1) wash with no soap for the cycles?
    2)do you wash, dry repeat until felted or wash, wash, wash, then dry?

    Reply
  27. I bought a felt ball at a local craft fair and the surface is quite worn through. I bought roving at a fiber festival last spring to repair my felt ball and don’t know how to begin. I want to keep using the one I bought. This is is what the felt ball maker advised me to do when I saw her again over the summer. It is quite holey. Happen to send you a pic. Please advise on how to do this and keep this one “alive”. Reusing is important to me rather than making a new one. Thanks.

    Reply
  28. I am findind all the comments so helpful. Hoping this will be a fun project to do with me granddaughters for their parents Christmas presents. The only roving yarn I found at Hobby Lobby was loose fibers that had not been turned into yarn yet. Not sure how that can be turned into a bal or perhaps it is not the right roving yarn.
    Also, I have a new top loading washer and thinking it might be too gentle to felt the yarn. Of course the other problem, thanks to the government, is trying to get the water hot enough for the job. I think I might try heating the water on the stove and placing the balls in that for a bit of time. I’m sticking wit it until I’m successful.

    Reply
  29. I recently made wool dryer balls to start using them instead of dryer sheets and yes we made them of complete 100% wool. The wool dryer balls are making everything in my laundry extremely staticky. Before when we used dryer sheets nothing was staticky at all not even exercise pants or silky items either. Now that we’ve used dryer balls from the very first load that we used them on, they have made all of our clothes staticky. I am wondering if you can help us with this I do not want to abandon hope and go back to dryer sheets but it’s getting worse with every load. Thanks

    Reply
      • Hi I loved the Idea of not using dryer sheets so I made them as you instructed. They haven’t worked well for me with any of the ways you mentioned it should as far as static, fluffier towels or shorter drying time. What am I doing wrong? I was very disappointed as I made many to give as gifts and now I’m afraid to give them to anyone. Thanks for any suggestions.
        Myrna

        Reply
  30. I am allergic to wool. If it touches my skin, I break out in a rash. Someone gave me a set of wool dryer balls, but I am a bit afraid of using them. Have you done any testing or heard about anyone who is allergic to wool who CAN use these without ill effect? Thanks so much.

    Reply
  31. Thank you for the great idea. I have been making mine the last couple days for gifts. I have a question though. I am trying a few different ways to see which works best. I have bought a couple 100% wool coats and a sweater from a thrift store. Should I wash them on hot before I use for the center of the ball or start with it unwashed. I would prefer to wash it first but then I was thinking about the felting process. Would it start to felt before I get the wool yarn wrapped around it? Maybe it would not matter? What do you think?

    Reply
  32. Sorry for this repeated question, but do you wash the dryer balls in hot water several times before throwing them in the hot dryer? Or do you wash, dry, wash, dry and repeat several times? I made the wool dryer balls last night and am washing today so I want to get it right. Thank you so much for your fantastic posts!!! Our household is going “no chemical” and your blog is a tremendous help!

    Reply
  33. I have made my own dryer balls, felted them and have been using them almost a month. I noticed that when I took the nylon off the balls, it was a little tough removing. Also I just noticed my dryer balls have started piling. Does anyone experience with that?

    Reply
  34. I am making the wool dryer balls now and was wondering; do I wash and dry them the three times with my regular laundry or should I wash the wool balls separately? Thanks!

    Reply
  35. I have an old wool army blanket that has some holes in it. I am wondering if I could cut up pieces of that to use as the ‘center’ of my wool balls and wrap the yarn around it?

    Reply
  36. Hi Heather,

    I was wondering if you have had a lint problem with these wool dryer balls? Do the darker wool balls leave lint on your light colored clothing and vice versa? Or would you suggest only using light wool balls with light colors and dark wool ball with dark colors?

    Reply
  37. Hello Heather!
    Great post! I have been using organic lavender essential oil on mine. However, it appears that perhaps this is leaving some oil stains on my husbands work clothes! 🙁
    Is there a recommended number of drops or a trick you can suggest so that I do not damage any more clothing? I typically use 4 drops on two wool balls. I LOVE how my warm clothes smell and feel with using the dryer balls, but want them to be oil free as well!
    Thank you!

    Reply
  38. I’m part of the older generation. I like to print anything I’m going to do. I can’t see where I can easily print how to make these wool balls. Am I missing something? Wellness Mama, for instance, has a “print” button do the article comes together nicely on paper. If I press Control P I know I’m going to have all the extra advertising etc. which I don’t want on paper. Thanks

    Reply
  39. Hi there!
    Love this idea. Is there a way to purchase faux wool? I don’t use any animal byproducts so I was wondering if there is an alternative without using real animal fur!

    Great post, I’m excited to try this out! 🙂

    Reply
    • They’re meant to be put in the dryer dry. The only reason they’re put in the washer after they’re made is so that they can felt, which keeps them from unraveling. 🙂

      Reply
  40. I’ve been using will dryer balls for years. I add a few drops of lavender essential oil every few loads (especially on towels and sheets). Between that and the lavender vinegar I use in the rinse water my towels are fluffy and absorbant and smell great.

    Reply
    • Can you please explain the vinegar rinse? What kind of vinegar do you use? How much per load? Does it do anything to color or white clothing like bleach? I do my laundry at the laundromat would I just add it to the fabric softener hole in the top of the wash machine? I use front loaders so I fill the soap from the top and I don’t have an option to open the door to add anything direct to the wash drum while the machine is in use. Thank you in advance!

      Reply
      • You can use 1/4 or 1/2 cup white vinegar to the fabric softener or bleach container in the washer. It will help remove residue and soften your clothes.

        Reply
  41. It is possible to use alpaca yarn or roving from locally raised alpacas from small farms, not commercial farms. Check your local fiber arts groups, crochet, knitting, spinning, or weaving guilds, or locally owned yarn shops for information on nearby alpaca farms or fiber arts events where vendors may be selling their yarn and roving.

    Reply
  42. Hi Heather, An old post how to get rid of static cling naturally https://www.mommypotamus.com/get-rid-static-cling-naturally/ redirects to this page. I’ve been using salt in the cotton muslin bag since I saw that post in 2018, and was just checking back for specific directions again. Since the page is down, does that mean you no longer recommend that approach (salt in the muslin bag)? If you don’t recommend it anymore, why? I do notice rust on my dryer lint screen since using the salt.

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  43. Hi, not sure if you can help me. Do wool dryer balls have lanolin in them, I would love to use them but can’t if they have lanolin because my husband is allergic to lanolin.

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