Wool Dryer Balls DIY

Tip of the Day: Here's a quick tip to extend the life of your velcro and keep the tabs from curling so much.  When you put them in the wash, attach one to it's laundry tab, then bring the other over to attach on top.  This works with any diaper that has tabs similar to Bumgenius (Rumparooz, Thirsties, Bummis, etc.).

Wool Dryer Balls seem to be the major craze right now in cloth diapering accessories. There are lots of WAHMs that make them, but none seemed ready to part with a pair of balls for a giveaway for this event. So... I decided to DIY it up!

Lucky for you... I did the research and you get to reap the benefits... it's all here in one place!

I used the goodmama tutorial, but did my own tweaking.

[1] Supplies:  You will need: Wool Yarn (be sure it's 100% wool), Regular Acrylic Yarn, Scissors, Crochet Needle, Old Pantyhose/Knee High, and a set of hands that won't be writing for awhile.  Rolling these balls gave me some major hand cramps... You've been warned!
I bought two types of wool yarn.  The pinkish/red yarn was thicker and the brown yarn was thin, like a regular yarn.  They both made two balls, even though the brown was about twice the size.  I would definitely use the thicker yarn next time, as it's easier to roll and doesn't take as long.

[2] Start rolling your Core:  Start by rolling around your fingers.  Here's where I made a deviation from the original...  I chose to use a REGULAR acrylic yarn for the core.  Why?  100% wool yarn is price-y!  I made 2 dryer balls with an acrylic core and 2 with a wool core.  They both have held up and perform the exact same!

[3] Roll your core into a ball.

[4]  Finish off your core.  I made my cores 6 1/2 in. in circumference.  If you are making your core out of acrylic, you will still need to wrap around the acrylic core, with the wool yarn in order for your core to felt, or it will unravel in the washer/dryer.  I put a few rounds of wool yarn (just enough to where you couldn't see the red acrylic shining through).

[5] Tie your balls into the hose for core felting.  

•  How to felt the balls: After tying them into the hose, put them in the washer with a regular load of laundry.  Wash in Hot Water and then dry with Heat.  This speeds up the felting process.  It did take them quite a long time to dry, as I suppose the wool holds the water.  The balls still measured 6 1/2 inches.
• Once the core is felted, you need to wrap your balls again to desired size.  I wrapped to have about a 9 1/2 inch ball.  Once you are done, repeat the felting process.
• I felted my balls twice, at this point, (repeated the wash & dry twice) just to be sure.  I saw no difference from 1 to 2 felts, but I worked so hard that I didn't want these little guys to unravel!  After two feltings (word?), the balls shrank anywhere from 1/4 - 1/2 inch. 

[6]  Scenting your Dryer Balls:  One of my favorite things about the dryer balls that I already had, was the smell, well, when I first got them.  The scent wears off quite fast, so I was very excited to try to re-scent them myself, after finding this tutorial.  I purchased a bottle of Orange Essential Oil from GNC and a Marinade Injector from Target.  According to the tutorial, she used 1/4 oz for 6 balls.  I used this much for my 4 balls, and they lost their scent within a week.  I was highly disappointed, but I will try again, with a larger amount of oil.

[7]  Let the balls dry overnight:  Once you inject them with the essential oils, it's best to let them dry overnight so that they won't leak any EO's on your clothes or your cloth diapers (eek!).

[8]  My Dryer Ball Hangout:  Here is where it all happens... my 4 dryer balls that I made, hanging with my 4 Buddha Bunz and 1 Bouncing Woolies' Funktastic!  I now have 9 dryer balls and to be honest, am a bit disappointed as I thought it would really take care of my static problems to add 4 more.  I do believe they cut down on drying time, but I would really like to find a way for them to keep their scent longer... and reduce static more!

[9]  DIY Success!  If I can make these myself, you can!  They were quite easy, once I got the hang of it, but I do understand that these take time to make and aren't the cheapest.  I spent about $10.00 for the yarn for 4 balls, with coupons from Hobby Lobby.  If you add in the price of the oils and injector, that's another $10.00, but those can be used a few more times!


I may not have been able to get a dryer ball sponsor for my event, but Angela from Life With My Littles has a great giveaway for a pair of Buddha Bunz dryer balls, sponsored by Happy Baby Company, coming up tomorrow during her Birthday Blessings event.  Be sure to visit here tomorrow to participate in our Joint Giveaway!