Okay, the truth is…we love cleaning. We’re the type of people that look forward to spring cleaning! Yes, we only live in a one bedroom apartment, so it might be easier for us more than most…but we love any opportunity to start fresh!
Every spring we deep clean room by room and come up with new hacks to help get into the routine of keeping things clean and organized.
This year we’re super excited about our DIY wool yarn dryer balls! We don’t have laundry in our building and the washer and dryer costs can add up! The yarn balls are eco friendly and can help decrease drying time which helps us SAVE MONEY! Plus we also have a ton of yarn, so this project seemed ideal!
Start by making your balls! You must use 100% wool yarn. Begin wrapping your wool yarn around your first two fingers about 10 times. Pinch the bundle of yarn in the middle and pull off your fingers. Wrap yarn around the entire bundle until you have the beginnings of a ball. Continue wrapping tightly until your ball is the desired size. To tie off, use a yarn needle or crochet hook to tuck the end of the thread under several layers of yarn. Pull it through and cut the end. Repeat these steps with more yarn until you have 4-6 balls. Now that your balls are ready, it’s time to felt them. Cut the leg off an old pair of nylon stockings and put balls into the toe of the stocking, tying tightly in between each one with string, or cotton/acrylic yarn. This will keep your balls from unravelling.
Throw into the wash with towels and wash in a hot wash cycle with a cold water rinse cycle. Dry your yarn caterpillar with your laundry using the hottest dryer setting. Remove balls from nylons and check for felting. Some types of wool yarn will not felt well on the first try. You may need to repeat the washing and drying cycles up to 3 or 4 times.
We like to add a few drops of essential oils to each ball before use! Lately, our go-to is lavender!
We shared how to make these on our latest HGTV Handmade video, along with paper closet sachet and a quick cell phone cleaner!
More spring cleaning tips and hacks!
And some craft supply maintenance hacks…if you’re crazy like us!
Happy cleaning!
5 comments
Glad I found this will be making. Found you on Blogging Grandmothers link party.
Yay! let us know if you end up making them!!
What a great idea. I need to make some of these. Stop by Over The Moon Linky Party since you are being featured.
Hugs,
Bev
Oh my gosh, those dryer yarn balls!! I had to bite my tongue OFF… so many things I rolling around in my brain! LOL
I had no idea these would be so simple to make. I’ve seen a version you can buy online but I always like the idea of making your own if it’s possible.
I actually don’t use our dryer very much, we have a little garden and as soon as the weather is good I still hang the washing out on the line – so old school! In the winter it ends up on the radiators more often than not. The towels end up in the dryer though and anything that saves time and money is a good thing in my book.