WFMW: Felted Llama Balls

(Works for Me Wednesday. The part of the story where I, Aunt LoLo, share something with you, whoever is reading this, that...works for me. Catchy, yes?) 

Set up: 

• I have a front loading washer
• All of my bed sheets get changed on the same day, every other week.
• Bed sheets + tumble dryer = Bed Sheet Burrito

Am I right? After months of experimenting, I finally figured out an elaborate system where my sheets (usually) got dry and (usually) didn't roll themselves up into a cigar. First, I would wash all the sheets together - one set of King, one set of Full and one set of Twin. Then I would take the Full and Twin sets and load them into the dryer, as fluffed out as they would go, and run it for 30 minutes. That was usually enough to get them dry without giving them a chance to roll up. Then I would fold those, and run the King set through on the same settings. It worked about 80% of the time. The other 20% of the time would find my still slightly damp sheets hung over the second story banister for the night, while they finished drying. 

No longer! While on a recent family vacation to Lake Chelan, WA, we were perusing the local Manson Farmers Market. (Best little farmers market, ever! Think of  your friend, the one with the garden just exploding with tomatoes, basil, zucchini or cucumbers right now. Now, picture that friend selling their produce at $1/lb to the tourists who just want to cook a healthy dinner while they are on vacation. Brilliant. Nothing pretentious, nothing expensive. Just backyard produce, at backyard prices.) 

Anyhow, perusing the farmers market, walking with Lo Gung, my three kids, my in-laws, my sister, her three kids, her husband, and my father. Suddenly, I hear Dad say, "Hey! Felted Llama Dryer Balls! LoLo, come here! Felted Llama Dryer Balls! That's just fun to say." Next thing I knew, he had plunked a $20 down on the table. "There. That's your down payment. Just make sure you pick up those Felted Llama Dryer Balls." The bemused woman behind the table explained - there were balls of felted llama wool, gathered from her pet llamas she keeps in the backyard. The balls were wrapped in sheer nylon socks, so they wouldn't shed wool all over my clean clothes, and the sock would shrink with my shrinking wool balls. She wasn't sure how long the balls would last - hers had been going strong for over a year, but "the internet said they would last for 2-3 years." They would fluff up my clothes, cut my drying time down, and keep them from balling up. My ears perked up. "Wait...will they stop my sheets from rolling together??!" Her eyes sparkled - she knew she had me. "Oh, yup! They'll do that!" 

Sold. 

I grabbed a bar of soap, wrapped in more felted wool ("it will gently exfoliate, and the wool will keep shrinking down around the melting soap!", to make the purchase an even $20. I showed my Dad, who amused himself for a few minutes getting everyone to say it with him. "Felted Llama Dryer Balls!" (My Chinese-speaking mother in law was the most entertaining of the lot. "Felted....Lamb...Die...Ball!" Fantastic. She is such a good sport.) I tucked them into my luggage when we got back to our rental house, and kind of forgot about them. 

Until yesterday! It was cleaning day, which meant a huge load of sheets staring me down. I put the whole batch into the washer, like normal. When they were done, I paused. I thought for a moment. I went whole hog. Three full sets of sheets, loaded together into the dryer, with three little balls of wool throw on top. "Here goes nothing!" (We live on the edge here, yo. Right on the edge.) 

Now, this wouldn't be much of a story if the balls didn't work, so I'll keep this short and sweet. The balls worked. Not only worked, but much better than I expected. The sheets were still separate! They were all dry! The balls were still holding together! 

I'd call that a success, y'all. Now, I'm sure just about any dryer ball on the market would give similar results...but, come on. Felted Llama Dryer Balls is just too much fun to say! 

(If you would like your own Felted Llama Dryer Balls, check out this selection on etsy!)