How to use grubby fleece to make dryer balls, indoor soft play toys, cat toys, imitation pebbles or air freshener balls.
Please note
The items will shrink in the process, different fleece or roving will shrink at different rates. So allow for shrinkage when deciding on the size you would like your item to come out. I was using Valais Blacknose fleece. I made an inner ball first with the washed but grubby fleece and then covered that with some fleece that had come out clean.
Ingredients
Dirty fleece, clean fleece, (or roving) felting needle, pop socks are old tights, bowl / bucket with hand hot water, access to a washing machine and hot wash.
Instructions
1 – Inner fleece. Wind some of your grubby fleece up tightly to make a ball, needle felt around the ball to hold it together.
2 – Cover the grubby inner fleece with clean fleece. Needle felt it in place. (If you are making imitation pebbles or stones, add some thin lengths of a contrasting colour at this point)
3 – Wet the balls through by holding them under water and squeezing all the air out.
4 – (optional) You can add washing up liquid and work it through the ball, I did it with some of my balls and not others. By the time they were all washed, there was no noticeable difference.
5 – Put the first ball inside the tights / pop sock, push it all the way down to the toe end, tie a knot in the tights / pop sock, continue adding more and more balls, tying a knot in between, until all balls have been tied into tights or pop socks.
6 – Put all the balls in the tights/ pop socks into a washing machine with some towels on a hot wash, add your normal washing detergent. Switch it on.
7 – When the washer has finished take the balls out, cut the tights / pop socks as the knots, pull the tight /pop sock material off the balls.
8 – you can either leave your balls to dry naturally or put them in the dryer.
9 – You can add designs by needle felting coloured fleece, roving, or knitting wool, onto the balls. You can add hanging loops this way if you are making scented balls to hang up. Add enough drops of your fragrant essence for the strength of smell you like.
