So, your wool dryer balls have reached the end of their life and it’s time to say goodbye. But, since you’re the eco-conscious person you are, you don’t want anything to go to waste. So you want to know, can you recycle wool dryer balls?
Wool dryer balls can be recycled anywhere that also recycles textiles. Wool dryer balls can also be composted, recycled into pet toys, made into felted Christmas ornaments, used as muscle rollers, and used as air fresheners.
As you can see, even once they’ve outlived their lives as dryer balls, dryer balls can still be incredibly useful. Let’s jump in and explore all the possibilities.
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Can You Recycle Wool Dryer Balls?
Wool dryer balls are just wool. So, you can recycle them anywhere that recycles textiles as long as they take wool.
A quick Google search will be able to tell you if there are any textile recyclers in your area.
But, if you want a more creative way to recycle your dryer balls, I’ve got 5 ideas for you to consider. Let’s get crafting!
1. Compost
This one is pretty simple and easy. Since wool dryer balls are made out of organic animal-based material, they can be composted along with plant and food scraps.
If you compost, you can throw your wool dyer balls right into your compost heap with everything else. You might want to cut them up first to help with the composting process.
If you don’t compost but know someone who does, just reach out and see if they would be interested in using the dryer balls in their compost.
That one was pretty simple and easy, let’s move on to another option.
2. Pet Toys
This one is also pretty easy. All you gotta do is give It to a dog or pet, they’ll do the rest.
Wool is a completely pet and animal-safe material. That means that a dog or cat (or other animals) can chew on it all day and won’t have a problem even if they swallow some.
Because of their squishy and bouncy characteristics, wool dryer balls are pretty good replacements for tennis balls.
See? You save money using wool dryer balls, and your pet gets a new toy. It’s a win-win!
3. Felted Christmas Ornaments
This recycling idea requires the most time and effort but is the most adorable.
If you’ve ever heard of wool felting then you probably already know where I’m heading. But, for those who have no idea what I’m talking about, I’ll start from the beginning.
Wool felting is the act of felting wool into specific shapes to create images or animals. If you just search felted wool animals, you’ll get some adorable examples of wool felting.
Now, what does that have to do with wool dryer balls?
Well, since wool dryer balls are a felted ball of wool, you already have the perfect base to create something felted on it.
Wool felting is often called painting with wool because of the similar effects you can get.
To paint with wool, you’ll need a felting needle and some wool roving in the desired colors, make sure it’s 100% wool or it won’t work.
Then you just have to pick your holiday theme or object and go for it.
Here’s a great video on how to make a Christmas ornament with a mitten on it. Since you already have a ball of felted wool, you can skip to about 3:04 in this video to get right to the ornament-making process. If you want to know how she makes her felted wool balls, watch the whole thing.
As you can see, using your wool dryer balls as a base for felted ornaments is a great craft idea! The only limit is your imagination.
We’ve still got a couple more ways you can use your dryer balls so let’s keep chugging.
4. Muscle Rollers
I’m gonna set up the scene for this one. You did a hard workout yesterday and you have this one knot in the middle of your back that your can’t seem to stretch out… Or you just slept in an awkward position.
You need something to dig in there and loosen it up. You go to a sporting goods store or take a peak online for a massage ball.
But, alas, they’re 15 dollars or more! Totally not worth it for this one knot.
Now, don’t go giving yourself more tight muscles by stressing out about the price, I have a solution.
Use your old dryer balls!
Wool dryer balls have just the right balance of spring and stiffness that’s perfect for a muscle roller.
Use them at the end of your workout as a replacement for a foam roller or the next day for those sore muscles.
I’m on my feet a lot for work so I like to use muscle rollers to roll on the bottom of my foot at the end of a long day. It’s like a mini foot massage.
Put them on the ground or against a wall and roll back and forth with the ball right on top of that sore muscle. It’ll work out all your muscle kinks and get you ready for your next adventure.
Only one more way to reuse your dryer balls, stay tuned!
5. Air Fresheners
Last but not least, you can use your old wool dryer balls as air fresheners.
This is super easy to do and they can be very refreshing!
Just put a couple drops or your preferred essential oils on them, then place them wherever you want them.
You can put them in drawers, closets, gym bags, and even inside your stinky shoes.
If you wanted to get really crazy, you could put a string on a couple of them and hang them from your rear view mirror in your car like a pair of refreshing fuzzy dice.
The possibilities are endless!
Wrap-Up
Whew, we covered a lot of ground and alot of different possibilities for your old wool dryer balls. Let’s look at them again real quick just to make sure you didn’t miss anything.
Let’s start with the easiest ones. Wool dryer balls can be recycled at textile recyclers and they can be used in compost.
If those aren’t options for you or you want to do something a little more creative, you can give them to your furry friends as a toy or use them as muscle rollers.
You can also put your favorite essential oils on them and use them as air fresheners.
Last but not least, you can go even more crazy and use them to create adorable Christmas ornaments by felting more wool on them.
And there you have it. Bet you didn’t know that wool dryer balls were so versatile even after they’ve outlived their life as dryer balls.
Well what’re you waiting for? Go make something awesome!
