How to Make Wet-Felted Dryer Balls

Wet-felted dryer balls are fun and easy to make! They are a great way to put yarn scraps, less desirable portions of a fleece, or leftover fiber from other projects to use. Instructions for making wet-felted dryer balls and using them in your laundry are provided in this tutorial.

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I am a cinch maker and when I complete a project, I am left with scraps of beautiful mohair yarn. If you spin, crochet, or craft with fiber, you probably find yourself in the same boat!

Throwing away fiber, no matter how small, bothered me, so I decided to come up with a new use for my scraps of yarn. I started wet-felting them into dryer balls over a core of my less-desirable portions of mohair fleece and now I have a new, useful product from what some might consider “waste”! For more ideas for using up waste wool, check out my other article!

Dryer balls are fun and easy to make, you can make them with any kind of 100% animal-sourced fiber. I raise Angora goats and primarily work with mohair, but wool or alpaca are great options too.

This tutorial will walk you through the steps that I use to wet felt dryer balls, but they can also be created with needle-felting techniques. For more information on needle felting dryer balls, click here to read my other article!

Benefits of Natural Fiber Dryer Balls

Dryer balls absorb some of the moisture from your load of wet laundry and reduce drying time. They are pretty heavy and as they roll around in the dryer, they help reduce wrinkles and static in your clothing. Not only that, but they can be infused with essential oils to provide a fresh scent to your clean laundry.

Ditch the chemically-laden fabric softeners and dryer sheets and go the non-toxic route with dryer balls! Natural fiber dryer balls are eco-friendly and sustainable. You can save on energy costs and reduce waste in your home by using dryer balls in your laundry. An added bonus is that when you are done with them, they are compostable and biodegrade.

Materials Needed for Making Wet-Felted Dryer Balls

• Wool or mohair for the core
• Wool yarn
• Yarn scraps or roving for the outer layer
• Kitchen scale
• Nylon stocking
• Water
• Dish soap
• Flexible fabric ruler
• Washing machine
• Dryer
• Essential oils (optional)

I use about two ounces of fiber to make one dryer ball. Depending on how many and how big you want your wet-felted dryer balls, you may use more or less fiber. You can use a kitchen scale to weigh your fiber to help make sure your balls turn out similar in size.

You will use hot and cold water from your sink to felt the dryer balls. Dish soap helps the fiber to felt. I use Dawn! A nylon stocking can help the fiber stay in place once for the initial stages of felting.

A flexible fabric ruler can be used to check the size of your dryer balls and help ensure uniformity. I felt my dryer balls until they are between 9 and 10 inches in circumference.

Once the dryer balls are pretty well felted by hand, I send them through the washing machine and dryer with a load of clothes.

If you want to add scent to your dryer balls, a couple drops of essential oil will do the trick. The wet-felted dryer balls can be “recharged” with essential oils periodically.

Wet-Felted Dryer Balls Video Tutorial

Watch as I make a set of three cosmic wet-felted dryer balls with a core of mohair and an outer layer of Corriedale wool roving!

Directions for Making Wet-Felted Dryer Balls

1. I use about an ounce and a half of scoured mohair for the core of my dryer balls. I use portions of the fleece that may have become matted in the scouring process, have a shorter staple length, or poor crimp and curl. For the very center of the ball, I use about an ounce of intact locks.
2. Then I open about a half ounce of locks by hand to make a fluffy mass that I use to surround the intact locks.
3. I make a ball shape with all of the mohair and then wrap it in wool yarn to keep it from coming apart.
4. Then I prepare my natural fiber scrap yarn for decorating the outside of the ball. If the yarn is plied, you will need to unravel it and separate the fibers before felting. You can also use dyed roving to make the ball colorful.

5. Now use your colorful fiber to cover the core, make sure that the fibers are going every which way so that they will felt readily.
6. When you like how the ball looks and it weighs about two ounces, you are ready to place it into the nylon stocking.
7. Place the ball in the toe of the stocking and secure it by tying a slip knot.
8. Run the ball under hot water to penetrate all the fibers, add some soap, and begin squishing it into a round shape. Continue working the ball into a round shape inside the stocking for about 5 minutes.
9. After 5 minutes have lapsed, you can remove the ball from the stocking and rinse it in cold water. Then continue felting it for another 5 minutes, this time with more pressure. Keep your hands over the sink so that you don’t get soap lather all over the place.
10. As felting progresses, you will feel the fibers begin to shrink and the ball begin to get firmer. After 5 minutes have lapsed, rinse the ball in hot water. Going back and forth from hot to cold water will help shock the fibers and accelerate felting and shrinkage.
11. Continue squishing the ball until it is solid and has little give when squeezed. It is usually pretty well felted after a total of 15 minutes of hand manipulation.

12. Now you are ready to run your dryer balls through the washing machine. The washing machine will agitate the balls and get them soapy again and cement the felting process.
13. When they are done with the wash cycle, run them through the clothes dryer with a load of clean laundry.
14. After being washed and dried, your dryer balls should be dense, round, and fully felted. If for some reason yours are not staying together, another trip through the washer and dryer should help.
15. If you want to scent your wet-felted dryer balls, put a drop of essential oil on the ball surface in a few spots. I use lavender essential oil on mine and they smell heavenly!
16. Use your wet-felted dryer balls in the next load of laundry that you do.

How to Use Felted Dryer Balls

Using your natural fiber wet-felted dryer balls couldn’t be easier! All you need to do is add three or more dryer balls to your clean, wet laundry and run your dryer as usual. Make sure to store your dryer balls in a well-ventilated area when not in use.