Let's talk about dryer balls.

What in the world is a dryer ball and what does one
do with them? 

Why does my dryer need balls?

Dryer balls are pretty much exactly what they sound like and the reason you need them is two fold:
1 - they help your clothes dry faster which helps you save energy - BOOM

2 - they remove the need for fabric softener (except in extreme static situations)

So why are these important?

When you lessen your energy consumption you save money, save the earth, and show the world you can make a difference!

What is wrong with fabric softener? Have you read the ingredients? Can you pronounce all of them? Any of them? So why in the world would you put all that mumbo jumbo on your skin...YOUR SKIN IS YOUR LARGEST ORGAN. Would you eat that crap? No? Well it still gets absorbed into you Through Your Skin!!! Think about that for a while.

Enter the lowly and humble dryer ball. 

You can find these in the As Seen On TV section of your local superstore or on TV during your bouts of insomnia. So you pick up the phone to order...BUT WAIT...there is more. These ugly, nubby, blue balls are made from plastic. YUCK! No bueno!!! Put it down. There is a better way.

Enter the felted wool dryer ball. Made from all natural materials that help suck extra moisture from your clothes and that while bouncing around helping to rid your clothes of static.

Sweet so these bad boys must be crazy complicated to make...right?

Nope. Crazy easy. I will share with you the secrets of the dryer balls.
What materials do you need:

Natural or Virgin Wool
Pantyhose

Yep that's it.

For this project I also used a Merino Wool sweater that I shrunk too small for even my cat - so I cut it up and wrapped it with the Natural Wool. This step is not necessary, but will save on the amount of yarn used.

I started with the sleeves. Buh Bye sleeves.

I rolled that sucker up and started wrapping the yarn around and around and around and around the bit of sweater...

This part reminds me of Dori in Finding Nemo...but instead of swimming I just keep wrapping. Wrapping. Wrapping. And wrapping.  

Annnnnd wrapping...switching direction and trying to keep it somewhat round. The felting process will shrink these suckers up so you want to wrap them to about the size of softballs. 

Once you get the size you want, snip the yarn and tuck it around some of your wrappings or grab a crochet hook and pull it into the center of the ball.

Next you put your balls into pantyhose. STOP. I know what you are thinking. 

Once you have stuffed them all in make sure to separate them because if you don't they will felt together and then you will have an adorable felted caterpillar thing - which might be kinda cute, but not for this project.

You can tie the pantyhose in between the balls or do like I do and use a scrap piece of yarn and tie off the pantyhose between the dryer balls.

Once you have them all in and tied off we are going to put them in the washer in HOT HOT HOT (said in my best Buster Poindexter voice). 

 

You can wash them with other stuff or alone. I sent mine through the washer three (3) times to make sure the felting was tight and wouldn't come undone.

After the washings.

Now all that is left to do is free the balls from their pantyhose prison. Grab your scissors and snip in between the balls and gently peel back the pantyhose. That's it. Now you can toss a few in your dryer and help save the planet.