New felting tip - It WORKS!

#1

So, when felting, I usually throw a few pairs of jeans into the washing machine with my knitted item in a pillowcase (rubber banded shut). Yesterday, while felting an aran sweater (see related thread - Not knitting a purse - Knitting Related), it took so long to felt the off white yarn and I was worried about the amount of energy I was using for just one project.

During the last cycle, it suddenly occured to me - instead of using blue jeans to “beat up” my felting item, I could use…da da dum!..bouncy balls.

See, my dd asks for a bouncy ball every time I take her into Old Navy. They are only 25 cents and they are the BIG bouncy balls…hard rubber, about the size of a small plumb. And although we give them away occasionally, we still always seem to have at least 30 in the house (she also gets them from nana).

So I threw a few of those in with the pillow case, and voila! :woot: Much better agitation. I couldn’t believe how well it worked!

#2

:thumbsup:

#3

I use plastic Rx bottles-works great in my front loader.

#4

Thanks for the tip. My jeans thank you as well. :teehee:

#5

I’ve always used large tennis balls that I bought for my dogs… they have no interest in the balls and it saves my jeans and towels from having felting poo all over them. :slight_smile:

#6

i haven’t tried felting inside a pillow case, but my latest trick is to throw in an old pair of shoes to mash things about. i like the idea of capturing all the fuzz in the pillowcase, though.

#7

…felting poo… I had to laugh, but so accurate!!

#8

I was concerned because I heard on Knitty Gritty yesterday that you should only felt in a top-loader. And since I don’t have access to one, I was bummed. I’m glad to hear I can make it work. Thanks for the great info! The bouncy ball idea sounds great!

#9

I am getting so mad about people on tv perpetuating the myth that you can’t felt in a front loader. It’s just not true!!! I never had a problem and I never added anything special to the washer. I just used old jeans.

#10

On some front-loaders, you can’t stop the wash partway through. Because the water doesn’t drain, so if you opened it then, litres of water would spill out. In fact, on front-loaders where you can’t pause and drain out the water, the door is usually held fast so you CAN’T open the door.
For felting, you want to be able to stop and check every ten minutes. So if you can’t stop the wash in the middle, and open the door, you shouldn’t try to felt.
But if you can pause it and drain the water, no problem.

#11

i’ve used flip flops to help felt too :wink: i’ll now keep an eye out for balls, as dd loves them any how, now i’ll have a dual purpose!

#12

Seems like a great idea, thanks!