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    Home » HEALTH » Natural Living

    How to Make Dryer Balls with Socks Without Partners!

    Published: Jul 14, 2009 / Modified: Jun 4, 2020 by: Dr. Karen Lee / This post may contain affiliate links. As Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. /

    white and blue dryer sock balls on pile of flax seed and lavenderIf you are the one who does the laundry in your house, you've encountered the age old mystery, disappearing socks. And I'm sure you've wondered, "What happened to the 'other' sock?" countless times.

    You know you put both socks in the washer and dryer but when you start to fold the laundry, you have at least one missing sock. You store the orphaned sock away, hoping that the partner will turn up in the next wash but undoubtedly, it doesn't.

    So, if you are like me, you have a drawer full of single socks, waiting for their partners. What do you do with them all?

    I have a solution.

    Make dryer balls!

    Here is a tutorial on how to use up those orphaned socks or holey socks.

    How to Make Dryer Balls with Socks Without Partner

    1. Cut the long cuff part of the sock.

    Flax seeds Lavender and cut up socks next to scissors

    2. Turn the cuff inside out (the right side in) and sew the cut end. Then,turn it right side out again. And now you are ready to fill them!

    white sock overfilled with flaxseed lavender

    3. Fill the cuff-pouch with 50/50 mixture of lavender and flax seed (for weight), leaving about ½" seam at the end for sewing. Sew the ends to close. I would double stitch it to make sure none of the content spills out when in use. Be careful not to spill the filling when sewing.

    sewn sock edge closed over flax seed lavender

    4. The size of the ball can be small or large - whatever sock size you have.

    open blue sock filled flax seed lavender over flaxseed lavender pile
    5. And here they are....perfect dryer balls to fluff up your laundry while leaving them smelling like fresh lavender garden.

    white sock blue sock filled flaxseed lavender dryer balls over flaxseed lavender pile

    You can substitute lavender with other fragrant dried flowers if you'd like. You can leave out flax seeds if you want more fragrance but they will weigh less. These dryer balls are very eco-friendly since you are using natural ingredients to make your laundry smell nice and soft - not like the commercial dryer sheets infused with chemicals or fabric softeners. Remember my blog about washer/dryer maintenance and how dryer sheets and fabric softeners are bad for your washers and dryers?

    So make these natural fabric softeners that smell nicer and they are made with socks that you would have had to throw away!

    Oh, one other thing....if you want them to be unscented, fill them with small beans and leave out the flax seeds and dried flowers. They will make great fabric softeners without the scent.

    If by chance, you don't use the sewing machine, you can hand stitch them. But you should learn to use the sewing machine...it's really not that hard.

    A useful tip from a busy bachelor that I know - buy same socks - same color and same design! This way, you don't spend extra time pairing up the right socks and when one sock is missing, you have plenty of partners to pair it with. Clever, eh?

    Comments are closed for this post....but if you want to let me know what you think of this tutorial, stop by my Facebook Page and let me know what you thoughts are.

    More Natural Living

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    About Dr. Karen Lee

    I am a food writer, recipe developer, and a cookbook author sharing my family’s favorite simple & easy, allergy-friendly recipes with you! Let's connect on Instagram || Facebook || Pinterest || YouTube Learn more about me on the ABOUT page.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Kayla says

      June 08, 2014 at 12:33 am

      Could you fill the socks with rice instead of beans or flax seeds?

      • Dr. Karen Lee says

        June 09, 2014 at 4:37 pm

        Sure. Rice will work too. Anything that'a 'weighty' will work.

    2. Dr. Karen says

      August 09, 2009 at 1:54 pm

      Hi Lorraine,

      I bought my organic dried lavender from Etsy and organic flax seeds from Ebay. The sachets I made with about a cup of lavender and 1/2 cup of flax seeds lasted about ten loads. But I still use them with fresh new ones for 'softening' purpose.

      Dried red beans work well too if you don't have flax seeds.

      Thanks for stopping by.

    3. Lorraine says

      August 09, 2009 at 11:02 am

      Karen, this is absolutely brilliant--the perfect substitute for chemical-laden dryer sheets.

      I confess I occasionally use those sheets--and feel terribly guilty afterward. I wracked my brain for alternatives--I even thought of cutting stalks of lavender from my garden and throwing them into the drier, but hesitated as I considered how the fragrant oils might stain the drying clothes.

      The sock-drier sachet idea is great. A few questions: Where do you buy the lavender seeds? How long do the sachets last before they need to be replaced?

    4. piccoladonna2006 says

      July 18, 2009 at 11:45 pm

      wonderful idea! I couldn't help, I had to spread the word about this tutorial, hope you don't mind!
      Also, while reading it I was thinking, those cuff could also be stuffer with poly fill or, even better, with fabric scraps, and make pincushions out of it...what do you think??

    5. erin, maker of chimes says

      July 17, 2009 at 10:49 am

      yet another great idea!

    6. Dr. Karen says

      July 16, 2009 at 10:19 am

      Ha! You too?
      My husband did the same thing. When I complained about the toxic sheets he was buying, he brought home Seventh Generation Eucalyptus ones and we all hated the smell. Eucalyptus might be good for clearing up sinuses for colds but not on my clothes! My family definitely prefers these to those nasty smelling dryer sheets.

    7. janssendesigns says

      July 16, 2009 at 10:14 am

      This is a great idea! Now maybe I can get my husband to stop buying those nasty dryer sheets.

    8. Jenn says

      July 14, 2009 at 4:16 pm

      I am intending to pull out the old machine in the next couple weeks and whip up a couple things for the house, I have tons of socks that have lost their other half, this is a fantastic tip! Thanks so much!

    9. Dr. Karen says

      July 14, 2009 at 10:40 am

      odd_artist,

      lol....my dog does the same thing! She loves to get a sock out of my sock drawer and run around with it and teases me to catch her. She also grabs a sock out of the hamper, turns it inside out.....no matter how long the sock is! It's hilarious. I do give her the orphaned socks for her to play with...but not these dryer balls.

      Bululu and Artist,
      Thanks for stopping by.

      Karen

    10. odd_artist says

      July 14, 2009 at 10:36 am

      I'll have to try this - if I can keep my puppy from running off with the pairless socks. She has a bit of a foot fetish!

    11. BululuStudio says

      July 14, 2009 at 9:21 am

      This tutorial is awesome, I read it on the team's blog...thanks for posting it here also.

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