Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Felted Soap {Wool Lovers Blog Hop}


Hello everyone! Today I am participating in the Wool Lovers Blog Hop hosted over at Pieced Brain. Be sure to visit her post and follow the links to all the other bloggers participating.


For my contribution to all things wool, I am going to show you how I make felted soap.  Felted soap is exactly what it sounds like: a bar of soap encased in a wrapping of wool felt.  The soap has its own built in wash cloth which shrinks along with the soap as you use it. When all the soap is gone you are left with a useful scrubbie!

The best thing about felted soap is how much longer your soap lasts.  Because the felt contains the soap you eliminate the problem of sloughing off huge chunks of softened soap.  Bars that I know from experience would normally last me no longer than 2 weeks last months when felted.


Step 1 to felting soap is to gather your supplies (and probably some curious cats).  You will need some wool roving (I found mine at Hobby Lobby), a bar of soap, an old stocking or panty hose, and a bowl of hot water (alternatively, you could just do this over the sink.)


Step 2 is to stretch and thin your wool roving to prepare it for wrapping around the soap.  Stretch it so you can just see through it.  You'll need at least 2 layers of thinned roving. Also, you can add strips of contrasting colors to make a more interesting design.


Step 3 is wrapping the roving around the soap. Wrap the layers, alternating the direction of the fibers, and tuck in the ends.  At this point it's not going to stay put very well, just wrap it and sort of hold it in place.  This is also a great time to add some final decoration to the outside of the bar with another color of roving.


Step 4: holding everything in place dunk the bar of soap in hot water and let it get soaked so the wool sticks to itself and the bar. Then, carefully stick the bar of soap down into the end of the stocking and tie a slip knot. The stocking will hold all the layers and colors in place while you felt.


Step 5 is to wash your hands! No really.  Scrub the bar as if your are washing your hands. The friction will help the soap to felt.  Dunk it back in the hot water every couple minutes to rinse and re-wet it.  As the roving felts it will become more firm and shrink down onto the soap. It usually takes me less than 10 minutes. When it is ready you will feel the roving become more taut and stop moving around.  Go for a couple more minutes after that, then rinse and remove the soap from the stocking.



Step 6 is to set the soap in the sun for a couple hours and let it dry.  Once it dries it is ready to use.  Each time you finish using the soap rinse it and set in a well draining place.


Enjoy!  And be sure to check out the rest of the bloggers in the Wool Lovers Blog Hop today:

A Quilt and a Prayer

Rosebuds Cottage

By the Bay Needleart

Sugarlane Designs

Sheila's Quilt World

Pieced Brain

25 comments:

  1. Making felted soap is fun, I've done it a couple of times. Thanks for sharing the technique with us!

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  2. Hello Kat, Happy to meet you through the Wool Lover BH.. Thanks for the lovely felted soap tutorial.. Felted soap is awesome to use. I just made some myself too.. I enjoyed looking at your beautiful quilt.. you are a very talented lady. Hugs Judy

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  3. Thanks for the great tutorial on how to make the felted soap , I have always wondered how that happens and maybe now I can give this a try . Thanks for sharing !

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  4. What fun! Thanks for the tutorial. I have a lot of roving. Hmmmm.....

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  5. I have never heard of this - very interesting!

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  6. I've made wool felted soap bars as part of our local Arboretum Auxiliary. They are so much fun! And the wool makes a great exfoliator for your hands.

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  7. OMG! That is so cool! Thank you for a detailed tutorial... I have got to try this out. We could even decorate it with wool flowers!

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  8. I was gifted with some felted soap and it is awesome--now I can make my own--thanks!

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  9. That is really cool! Never saw this before! Thanks so much for sharing!

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  10. Kat -- thanks sew much for the great tutorial! I saw some felted soap at a nearby Fiber Fest last weekend but didn't ask about how to make it ! This is a perfect little gift and/or stocking stuffer for Christmas. You are sweet -- thanks for sharing !!

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  11. Nice! I have made felted soaps before too and they last soooo long! The felt eventually starts coming off and the colors really fade with use too, but they are fun.

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  12. What an interesting concept. Thanks for taking the time to do up the tutorial and participate in the hop.

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  13. Wow! I've never heard of felted soap before and this was very interesting! Thanks for the tutorial.

    Tanya

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  14. I have seen these bars of felted soap in boutiques for a lot of money. Thank you for sharing your how-to. These are Woolunderful gifts to make and give. Thanks for hopping. Creative Bliss...

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  15. that is so cool. I might have to give that a try.

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  16. Fascinating. Thanks for sharing with lots of pictures. I may have to try this one day.
    valspiers@gmail.com

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  17. That looks much easier than I thought it would; will have to give it a go, especially if it makes the soap last longer.

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  18. Wow, thank you! That is so interesting. I think I'm going to have to try it. There's a Hobby Lobby about 4 miles away.

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  19. Wow - what an ingenious idea! I bet your skin feels extra smooth after a bath :*)

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  20. I have never seen this...a great idea. Thanks for sharing with us.

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  21. Thanks for sharing your felted soap. I was gifted a felted soap at Christmas and I don't want to use it! I guess I need to actually use it instead of thinking it is another object to decorate with--LOL.

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  22. I've never seen this before but it is a great idea.

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