Wooly Bully!

I have a love affair with dryer sheets. I couldn't start a load of laundry without throwing in one (or two) of the static cling reducing wonders. But then I read how they can be bad for dryer lint traps. Without cleaning off the wax build up released over time, a fire hazard is possible.

I had read about wool balls as a solution to dryer sheets, offering static cling reduction with no wax build up, but was reluctant to buy my own. I doubted their abilities.  So I scrubbed my lint trap with an old toothbrush until water ran through it easily every few weeks.

Then my mother in law bought some while we were living in their upstairs. They worked beautifully! I almost couldn't wait to buy my own.

Once we moved in, we tried to cut costs everywhere, so I didn't buy my coveted wool balls, as planned.  But running across some wool for felting at Hobby Lobby that had been marked 90% off, I decided I would make my own!

I did some research, and played with techniques until I came up with the following:

All you need is some wool, nylon pantyhose (I used knee highs), a washer, and a dryer.

Begin by wadding the wool into a ball. You'll be ripping pieces off of your wool bunches, then squeezing and rolling them together as tightly as you can.  This part was probably the most difficult for me. It seemed I couldn't get it to be "ball-like" enough. Or tight. So just do your best.

Work until your wool is about the size of a baseball.

Next, you will stuff that ball into your panty hose, nice and tight, and then tie a knot so it stays in place.  I managed to put around three per hose.

Once I had them looking like this, I pulled another knee high over them all for added protection.

I placed my arm into the knee high, grabbed the end ball, then pulled the hose down and over the other balls. Easy!

Now toss the balls into the washer with your next load of clothes.  Then dry.  I actually dried mine three times, but that was my OCD overkill tendency.

Now that they are out of the dryer, little wooly hairs will be sticking out everywhere. Do Not Worry. This is normal.  Tear a hole in the pantyhose (oddly enough, super hard to do when you NEED to do it) and rip those little buggers out!

You have your own wool laundry balls!

If you're like me and you enjoy the fragrance of the dryer sheets as well, grab some essential oils (I like lavender and eucalyptus) and sprinkle a bit on the balls every week or so.

I have noticed that the homemade wool laundry balls get better with each use. We have virtually NO static cling now.  Even better than using a dryer sheet. And no fire hazard!

It is always a plus if you don't burn your house down at the end of the day.

Let me know how it works for you.