This is a photo-tutorial for how to make wet-felted balls, which are actually Maxy’s favorite toys. He loves to bat them around and play fetch with them. They are the perfect density for him to pick up in his mouth and run around. And again, if you know the sources of the wool roving, it’s a much safer toy than the Chinese-products you find at the store. They are easy to make, too.

You’ll need wool roving, water and a little liquid dishsoap. I used the Dimensions wool roving pack in pastels from Amazon.com:

photo courtesy of amazon.com

The total weight is two ounces. For each ball, I used one of the solid color portions…they are rolled up together but are actually separate pieces. The Dimensions roving isn’t as soft/fine as the Wisteria roving, and I find that it works better for wet felting than the Wisteria.

First, unroll the wool  completely, spread it out, and get it wet.

Next, you’ll be massaging in some liquid dish soap (I did all of these balls in one setting, but this is a pink photo slid in among the purple…sorry about that).

The dish soap makes it slippery. You’ll then fold it up, all in the same direction, kind of like how you’d fold a flag. It will be a loose blob at this point.

Now you’ll want to start forming it into more of a ball shape with your hands cupped, like making a snow ball. You can rinse a little of the soap out as you go here and there, and the ball will tighten down.

Ultimately, you want the ball to be solid, without any cracks or lines, and free of soap. As you continue to roll it, continue to rinse it.

After it is in its final, small compacted shape and all the soap has been washed, you can leave it to dry. The drying normally takes about 24 hours.

We have quite a few of these around the house, as Maxy seems to shuttle them under the furniture and loses them. They roll well on carpet, too. At around sixty cents each, and knowing they don’t contain who knows what from China, it’s well worth the effort. The whole process takes maybe 15 minutes per ball.

Like this? Check out more animal projects here:

Needle Felted Cat Toys

Dog Bait/Dog Treat Bags