I have been wanting to make some felted soap and I mentioned it to a friend - She gave me her soap from when she made them as Christmas gifts. Win for both of us. (Storing less random stuff for her, free things for me!) Wanna make some? Here we go...
1. Find some bar soap!
2. Plan out your design. It'll move around a little bit, so don't be too precise. We used some carders to mix some colors together.
3. Make a cross type design so that the edges get covered well.
4. Wrap it in a nylon - Put your hand in the nylon and grab it instead of dropping it in and risking it falling apart. You can also use pieces of tulle.
5. At this point I heated up some water in our tea kettle and placed an aluminum lasagna pan in the sink. This next step takes 10 minutes, so get settled in. I prefer to set the timer because this part is boring and I may cheat and quit early if I don't have the actual timer telling me the truth.
6. Wash your soap (in the nylon) for 10 minutes in water as hot as you can stand. Because I used really hot water, I wore gloves and it stayed warm the whole time, so I didn't need to turn on the faucet a ton. Start by placing your bar of soap in the water and letting the wool soak up the water. Gently squeeze out the air and start rubbing the soap as if you are washing your hands. At some point, the wool will start shrinking and adhering to itself.
7. After 5 minutes or so, the nylon or netting may be superfluous and you can remove it.
8. Rinse with cold water to shock the wool. This is a good way to check it and see if it is ready to be removed.
9. Place on a towel to dry overnight.
As you use the soap, the wool will get smaller and smaller and surround the soap. It makes a great washcloth.
The more wool you use, the longer your soap will last.
The less wool you use, the more your soap will lather.
Make sure your soap has a place to dry out after use.
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