SOS -- felt ball help, it's not working -- Is it joy or dawn

[sarasprings]

that I should buy for making felt balls? My ecover doesn't work and I thought there was one regular brand that will do the trick. TY!

[ari's mama]

My friend and I just made them at her house we used a little Murphys Oil Soap. Also as a way to strech the roving we had we wraped the roving around balls of scrap yarn, and then needle felted to get it to stick before putting it in the hot soapy water, it worked great and we were able to make some big felt balls for our babies.

[sarasprings]

Oh that's a great idea -- I'd love a big one. Do you off hand know where I can get felting needles?

[rere]

Originally Posted by sarasprings

Oh that's a great idea -- I'd love a big one. Do you off hand know where I can get felting needles?

You can get them from Joanns on line but I can't seem to find them at "walk into stores".

[thebarkingbird]

i was surprised to find out that hobby lobby has a selection of needle felting things. haven't been in to see them yet but i called today and they say they have a whole section.

[Kari_mom]

Hobby Lobby has a nice little section for needlefelting including wool roving in multicolor packs as well as needles in various sizes. I like the larger needles for tacking down wool for balls. They often have a coupon for 40% off anything in the store on their website, www.hobbylobby.com, so it is worth checking before you go. They have a coupon right now, in fact.

The cheapest place I've found needles is www.peacefleece.com, they sell 36 gauge needles for 25 cents a piece, $2.50 for shipping up to 50 needles. Great if you want to share.

I like liquid hand soap for felting, I don't like how Dawn or Joy strips out the natural lanolin.

[sarasprings]

What kind of liquid soap do you use, then? I've used dr. bronners and ecover and neither seem to work.

[sarasprings]

Originally Posted by ari's mama

My friend and I just made them at her house we used a little Murphys Oil Soap. Also as a way to strech the roving we had we wraped the roving around balls of scrap yarn, and then needle felted to get it to stick before putting it in the hot soapy water, it worked great and we were able to make some big felt balls for our babies.

Do I have to use wool for the center or can I use cotton yarn?

[eepster]

Originally Posted by sarasprings

What kind of liquid soap do you use, then? I've used dr. bronners and ecover and neither seem to work.

I've used Dr Bronners and it worked. As well as soap you need hot and cold water (the sudden change of temp is important) and lots of agitation. Felting can be hard work and it takes time.

Originally Posted by sarasprings

Do I have to use wool for the center or can I use cotton yarn?

Cotton won't felt. You can use a core of cotton well wrapped in a feltable wool, so you have a felt shell around an unfelted ball of cotton yarn.


A possible problem is that not all wool felts, Some breeds of sheep resist felting naturally, others have been treated specifically to resist felting and some times wool becomes felt resistant as a side effect of the bleaching/dying process.

[ari's mama]

I used a core of yucky ugly acrylic yarn, well wrapped in wool roving. It felt really heavy at first and took about a week or two to dry all the way but now is light and feels a little firmer ( like it will hold it's shape better) than my other balls made of ALL wool. I think I've heard you can put the wet balls in a panty hose leg tied up tight and dry it in the dryer but I've never tried it.

[eepster]

Originally Posted by ari's mama

I think I've heard you can put the wet balls in a panty hose leg tied up tight and dry it in the dryer but I've never tried it.

I just throw all my felted items (balls, gnomes, cars, etc) into the dryer loose, and don't bother with pantyhose. Back in my college days I once spent an entire afternoon shaving melted on pantyhose off a felt ball (I happened to need the stove in the fiber studio to cook somefibers for paper and they were making a bunch of balls to pay to send an art exhibit to europe, so since I was stuck there minding my pot for hours, they figured they might as well put me to work.)

[sarasprings]

I'm trying really hard and this isn't working. I used cotton yarn as an interior and then natural colored batting over that. I used hot water, soap, cold water, repeating this for 25 minutes. It felted, but never came through the stocking. Then, I took my colored batting and made a beach ball pattern with four colors and the natural showing inbetween. I worked on that for about 15 minutes. It looks like the colors are felting, but not to the ball. Can I salvage this? It's so much wool that the thought of wasting it makes me a little teary.

[eepster]

Originally Posted by sarasprings

I'm trying really hard and this isn't working. I used cotton yarn as an interior and then natural colored batting over that. I used hot water, soap, cold water, repeating this for 25 minutes. It felted, but never came through the stocking. Then, I took my colored batting and made a beach ball pattern with four colors and the natural showing inbetween. I worked on that for about 15 minutes. It looks like the colors are felting, but not to the ball. Can I salvage this? It's so much wool that the thought of wasting it makes me a little teary.

Once you felt the first bit well it's hard to get any more incorperated. It's kind of like trting to get wet clay to stick onto dry clay. The best way to add more wool to an already felted piece is to use a felting needle. Just be careful that you don't jab it too hard into the cotton core b/c the needle might break.

[sarasprings]

Thanks -- I'll try some needles. I was following the directions, but next time I'll add the color before I felt it. I just hate wasting the wool.

Also, is it typical to get wrinkles on the ball or am I squishing too much at first?