Making Dryer Balls
Dryer balls are a great way to save energy while drying your laundry. They can shorten the drying times as well as working to soften your clothing, eliminating the need for dryer sheets with their nasty chemicals. As the balls tumble around in your dryer, they help keep the clothing separated. This lets the heat distribute more evenly and absorb moisture from the clothing faster. Your clothes dry quicker.
Years ago, I was interested in learning to knit (and yarn was a LOT cheaper). I picked up a lot of knitting needles and a quilted holder for all of them. But none of it has seen much use in recent days. These days, I don’t have time to knit anything as complicated as a sweater. I do, however, have a desire to have warm throws to use in cooler weather. I still remember the toasty knitted afghan that my grandmother used for years. Real wool yarn is rather expensive, and the synthetic yarns don’t have the warmth of wool. I’ve actively started reclaiming the wool from old sweaters that have outlived their usefulness as clothing. The first one to tackle was an old Irish wool cardigan.
The most challenging part was finding the seams in the old sweater. Eventually I managed to de-knit whole thing and rolled the yarn into balls. I wrapped the yarn balls into skeins and gently washed them in the bathroom sink and hung them to dry over the bath. Once dry, I rolled the yarn back into balls and stashed them in a bag to keep them clean.
I happened to have an old sweater that fit the bill for this project, but it would be just as easy to find a few old wool sweaters at the local Goodwill store for a few dollars each and de-knit those. Considering the cost of real wool yarn, this option would be far cheaper. providing an inexpensive alternative to store-bought yarn and keeps some old sweaters out of the landfill.
There was quite a bit of yarn after unraveling the sweaters, as you can see by my basket full of balls ready for the next step.
Making the Dryer Balls
Once I had all the little balls of yarn rolled up, it was time to stuff them into old stockings for the felting process. I located an aging pair of stockings, and managed to fit all of the yarn balls into the legs, with ties in between each ball. I used strips of cloth from old t-shirts for the ties. Next, the stocking-covered chains of balls went into the washer for the first round – hot water on a short cycle with plain water, followed by high heat drying. I did a total of three rounds of wash and dry.
I removed the now-felted yarn balls from their stockings and they were ready to go!
We gave the dryer balls their first test as we tossed four of them into a load of wash in the dryer. They worked like a charm – less static and faster drying time! And best of all, we no longer use nasty, chemical-filled dryer sheets. I love it when a plan comes together!
