Contributor post written by Kelly from New Leaf Wellness.
Looking for an all-natural alternative to store-bought dryer sheets? Wool dryer balls are your answer! Not only are wool dryer balls all-natural, they’re so easy to make!
Benefits of Homemade Wool Dryer Balls
- Shorten drying time
- Reduce wrinkles
- Decrease static
- Soften laundry
- Save money
- Fragrance-free (or naturally scented with a few drops of essential oils)
You can buy wool dryer balls on Amazon or Etsy, but they’re also incredibly easy to make yourself. All you need to make your own is 20 minutes and four basic supplies: wool yarn, a crochet hook, scissors, and pantyhose.
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I’ll admit that I know nothing about using yarn to knit and crochet, but I know a heck of a lot about doing laundry. Between me, my husband, and our three young daughters (ages 4 and under), laundry is just a part of our everyday life.
Doing laundry isn’t exactly what I’d call “fun,” but an easy, practical craft sure is. These homemade wool dryer balls rank up there with my homemade coconut oil lotions and sugar scrubs. They’re a simple DIY that I absolutely love and want to share with all of my friends.
Actually, I think making these wool dryer balls would be a really fun craft to make with friends. I made my first two wool dryer balls with the help of my super-crafty mom and then asked for a crochet hook and wool yarn for my birthday so I could make more.
The more dryer balls you have, the more they will bounce around with your laundry and help it to dry quickly. Six to eight wool dryer balls that are between the size of a tennis ball and soft ball seem to be just right. The tutorial below shows you how to make two dryer balls from one skein of yarn.
The best yarn is 100% wool. After wrapping your yarn into balls, you wash them in pantyhose so the yarn “felts” together and becomes a solid ball that won’t unravel. Thick, wool roving yarn felts perfectly.
The best colors for homemade wool dryer balls are ones that are bright and will be easy to pick out of your laundry. Avoid red or other colors that might bleed. (I learned that the hard way.)
Have I convinced you to make your own wool dryer balls yet?! Let’s get started!
Homemade Wool Dryer Balls
Ingredients
- 1 skein 100% wool roving yarn 120 yards
- 1 crochet hook
- 1 pair knee-high or pair of pantyhose, no need to buy new, use an old pair
- 1 pair scissors
Instructions
- Start your first wool dryer ball by wrapping the yarn around a couple of fingers 10 times.
- Remove the yarn from your fingers and wrap about 10 times around the middle.
- Continue wrapping around the ball from every angle. Make your way around the ball, wrapping 5-10 times before moving to a new angle. (There’s no exact science to this. Just keep trying to form a round ball.) Wrap the yarn tightly and hang onto your ball so it doesn’t pop out of your hands.
- When your ball is a little bigger than a tennis ball, cut the yarn and pull the end through the ball with your crochet hook.
- Repeat Steps 1-4 to make a second wool dryer ball with the remainder of your yarn.
- Place your wool balls in your pantyhose, knotting the pantyhose between the balls.
- Run your wool dryer balls through your washer and dryer with separate loads of laundry until they “felt” and become solid balls. (Mine “felt” in 3-4 loads.)
- Remove balls from pantyhose and use in the dryer in place of dryer sheets.
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Just reading the comments here and as a knitter, I want to say that you’d be best with a hot/cold cycle on the washer to felt these. It’s the agitation AND the “shock” of temperature switching that helps wool to felt 🙂
Thank you, Helen!
I do have one question though. Our balls caterpillar had gone through about 5 wash/dry cycles with hot water and hot dryer settings but I still don’t see the felting, the strands of yarn still look like they are separate. Could I take them out of the pantyhose and throw them in the washer/dryer directly to speed up the felting process?
I believe so, Natural Mama. From conversations with Kelly (the author) it sounds like that will work.
Thank you for this article. We are a very ‘green/natural/organic’ conscious family and the one thing that we were still using that wasn’t green and that was really bothering me not being able to find a less wasteful and more natural replacement was dryer sheets. I had almost purchased organic wool dryer balls off of Amazon when I came across this article. I’m not at all crafty and wasn’t sure I could pull this off but withmy husbands help, we now have 6 balls (albeit of varying sizes) going through their 3rd wash-dry cycle to felt. I am so excited to try them out with essential oils because I love it when clothes come out smelling fragrant. I am also super excited about not having to buy (and throw away) so many dryer sheets. I hope the balls work as good as I am hoping for at reducing drying time and static and all those tiny wool fibers floating around my living room because of rolling the yarn into balls is all worth it in the end.
Thank you once again.
You’re welcome, Natural Mama! Congrats on your dryer ball success. I love being able to replace products with natural homemade alternatives!
To save on yarn, could you cut up a old 100% wool sweater into strips and start with that as a base and wrap your yarn around it?
Yes, if it’s 100% wool then I think it will work!
Now THAT is brilliant, Kimber!
I don’t think so, but that’s a good question. I’ve been using mine for about a year now.
Is there a limit to the number of times you can use the balls in the dryer (after the initial felting process)?
I wanted to try these out and I only made 2 so far, but my clothes are still soooo staticy. Do I need more dryer balls? How many?
Hey Andrea, I’ll ask Kelly (the author and dryer ball expert) and have her stop by with an answer :).
Six-eight seem to be a good number for me, but sometimes I’m left with a little bit of static no matter what I do this time of year. It’s so dry here in Pittsburgh!
Wow! This is an wonderful tutorial. Many thanks for supplying these details.
You’re very welcome, Melissa!
I made them. They look great but I have done done them in about 10 washer & dryer cycles and they don’t look any different. I used 100% wool as you said to :/
Hey Julie, I’ll ask Kelly to help you out :). She’ll have some tips and comment here soon.
Will the yarn unravel if you pull on it? If not, then I’m sure they’re fine by now. The appearance of mine doesn’t change that much – the wool just starts to “felt” together.
If it will unravel, then I would check the heat setting of your washer/dryer. I’m not sure why 100% wool wouldn’t felt if washed and dryed that many times on a hot setting.
Hope that helps and you get to start using your dryer balls sometime soon!
make sure your wool is not “superwash” as it does not shrink and felt
I had one ball fall apart in the nylon hose. Is there any way to use that yarn? It has become all unraveled….any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
I have made several so far, this is the first “problem” I have had. I don’t want all of that yarn to go to waste….
Thank you in advance.
tam
Same experience for me. The wool is the right kind, I washed them on the hottest setting and dried them on highest heat three times but the balls didn’t meld together; you can still see the individual stitches. Is it necessary for the balls to be felted in order to work?
Hey Clara, As long as they don’t unravel, they’ll work :).
Thank you 🙂 loved the tutorial. They were so easy to make and honestly a bit of therapy after I put my kids to bed the past few nights haha! Nice & relaxing thing to make
Julie, I’m so glad to hear that, we all need that relaxing mommy therapy :)! Enjoy the dyer balls!!
Well they are all done being wrapped up. They look good 🙂 I Am a tad confused as to how to wash/ dry them to form a solid ball. I made 12 of them. I put them in the stockings. Do I put them in the washer & dryer with clothes or just by themselves?
Hey Julie, You can place them in the washer and dryer (in the stockings) with clothes. It may take 3-4 washes/drying sessions before they are ready.
This may be a very silly question lol. But what if you just wrapped a tennis ball a few times till it was fully covered? I’m actually making these right now and my husband was like..why don’t you just wrap up a tennis ball and save yarn?..got me thinking
Never mind! Guess I should have read all the comments first!
Glad you figured it out, Julie :). How did they come out?
I have run my balls through the washer and dryer three times and they still have not felted. What am I doing wrong?
Hey Monique, I let Kelly (the author of this post) know about your question…she will answer shortly :).
Monique, make sure that you aren’t using a “superwash” wool yarn. If the label says it’s machine washable, it’s not as likely to work. If it cautions you that it won’t felt, it really won’t work.
Thank you for the awesome tutorial. I have been wanting a natural fabric softener/static remover to use!
I set my colours into my fabrics by soaking in the wash machine with Epsom salts & water (a trick a science teacher taught me)
Start with warm water & 1 cup of Epsom salts, using hand to agitate until dissolved. Set the cycle to small, switch temp to cold, place garment (dryer balls) in. Turn the machine on for a minute. Then walk away. I usually let them sit for 45 min-1hr. Put through a regular wash cycle, & voila your garment will retain it’s colour!
In an attempt to make more balls with less yarn, has anyone tried using a tennis ball and then wrapping the yarn a couple layers over it? Can you think of any cons to doing that? Any other suggestions to use less yarn?
Honestly, I’ve never tried it Trudy. If it works, it would be a great idea though!
Tennis balls are made of rubber/plastic so if you are wanting to avoid the chemicals and have a more natural drying process you will want to avoid the tennis balls. That said, I do not know how it would work to make a dryer ball onto a tennis ball.
Hey Heather, This “recipe” doesn’t call for tennis balls :). The balls should be the size of a tennis ball once you are done. A tennis ball was mentioned to provide a size reference.
I think Heather was responding to Trudy’s comment about the possibility of wrapping yarn around tennis balls.
Oops, I think you’re right, Melissa. I don’t always have a chance to see the “reply” comments/thread in my comment section (behind the scenes).
I don’t think I would like the rubber smell of a tennis ball especially in the dryer.
I have used tennis ball many times when drying blankets and pillows to help fluff. They do not smell like rubber when used. However, I am excited to make some wool balls to use instead of dryer sheets!
You need heat to felt. I use a hot cycle with a cold rinse. Hope everyone loves your homemade gifts!!
I Kristin I will be making a lot of your things for Christmas presents the foundation, blush, dryer balls, and some of the other items , I don’t believe I read if the dryer balls are to be washed in cold or hot water, or dose it make a difference, I love your website thx, Debbie
Thank you so much, Debbie :). What wonderful Christmas gifts. Kelly provided the answer to your question as she is the creator of this awesome DIY.
Thanks for checking!! I’m going to run in and check my JoAnn’s again. 🙂
Where do you buy 100% wool yarn locally? I’ve looked at Michaels and JoAnns without success 🙁 Would love to make my own and also to give as gifts
Hey Tracey, I need to check with Kelly, the author, and I’ll get back with you. I believe she found the yarn via Amazon, so I’m not sure about a local place. Kelly will probably know.
Hobby Lobby stocks 100% wool yarn. That’s where I got mine.
Thanks for sharing, Carol!
I believe my yarn is from Joann Fabrics. (We have a really big Joann store in Pittsburgh.) If not, it could be from Michael’s. I got so much yarn for my last birthday that I still haven’t used it up!
I found Paton’s 100% wool at Michaels.
Awesome, Debbie! Thanks for sharing.
Hobby lobby has some. Only a few different ones but they do have 100 % wool
If you are buying yarn online, try Knit Picks “wool of the andes”. Only $2.79 a ball. You may need more than 1 for a ball. Or look to see what all wool (NOT superwash) yarns they have on sale. They sometimes have great deals on discontinued colors. Or search for a local yarn shop. Some are pricey but others have some lower priced yarns. Check with a friend who knits for their leftovers.
Have you attempted to make these scented by adding essential oils to the yarn? I love really scented laundry and I use Bronner’s lavender soap for my homemade laundry detergent, but would like to add a little more during dry time….
Hey Kristin, I’ve heard of other readers adding essential oils to their dryer balls with success. I think EOs are a great addition!
Would you add the EO at every dryer time, or does it last for a while?
You’ll need to add it every time (I believe), since the heat will cause the essential oils to evaporate.
Great tutorial! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Kimberly!
Hi Kelly,
Are you good at DIY patterns on the dryer balls? I usually buy some SUPA MODERN pure dryer balls from Amazon. https://amzn.to/2BoKUgx. After few years of using dryer balls, i only prefer this store. If i want to send them to my friends as gift. I would prefer to DIY some patterns on them. Can you give me some advice or can you share some DIY patterns with us? Thank you.