The latest adventure is...

Wool dryer balls. Homemade.

Here's the scoop.

I recently came across information about using wool dryer balls which have a myriad of benefits which I will disclose to you shortly. When I learned of these benefits (see below), I immediately knew we NEEDED them. And not only needed them, but needed them NOW! So I started checking online stores, how much do these things cost? Some were $3 each, some were $15 for a set of 3, etc. One of the locations of my searching was Etsy. Then I realized, people make these. Then I googled how I could be one of these people to make my own dryer balls. It turned out it didn't seem hard. And I'm no part of craft-y.

Step 1- I needed wool yarn. I could obtain it in 2 ways- said these google produced articles- either buy it (100% wool and not the washable kind!) or I could repurpose a wool sweater into yarn. I knew what I needed to do.

Step 2- I texted myself a coupon, drove to the nearest craft store with said coupon and my precious cash to buy myself some 100% wool yarn! Alas, wool yarn is expensive!

Step 3- Scour multiple Goodwill stores over a period of about a week and low and behold- I stumble upon 2 gems in 1 trip, a "new" to me dress that was compatible with nursing AND the greatest Goodwill sweater ever to set foot into a Goodwill donation pile. 100% pure wool- size adult large. SCORE! Oh yea, and it cost $3.

And so my friends, I have started making my own homemade dryer balls...one measly strand of 100% wool yarn at a time. It is glorious. It is currently getting close to being the size of a tennis ball but it's not there yet.


And now, you've waited this long to know the benefits of wool dryer balls...here they are-

1. chemical-free fabric softener: they bounce around in and among the clothes while they're drying and act as a softener.
2. chemical- free wrinkle reducer: they absorb water from the clothes while they're drying then "steam" as the drying process continues leaving no wrinkles
3. improve drying efficiency aka reduce drying time: because the dryer balls bounce around with the clothes as the dryer runs, they reduce the inevitable "big wadded lump of clothes" and allow more hot-dry air to circulate through all parts of the clothes



Ok...I know there are more but now I can't think of them all. These 3 are reason enough for me to keep deconstructing my sweater one measly strand at a time. I will update you all on the progress and the finished products, if I still have this blog when I finish the products. And also, if the internet still exists then. This could take years. Years.