Soap in Sheep's clothing - Making Felted Soaps

Finished Felted Soaps

There is nothing more amazing or spectacular than using a bar of homemade soap. So how do we make the experience of using handmade soap all that much more fun? We put it in sheep’s clothing of course! Today I will be sharing with you how to make felted soaps.

Fanning out the roving

To begin we will need some bars of soap, wool roving and a bucket of hot water. This is a great place to use bars that may be a test batch or are even cosmetically challenged. If you need a place to find roving, check at your local yarn store.

Take about 2 feet of roving and fan it out so it appears lacy. Wrap your soap firmly until

Wrapping the soap in roving

you can no longer see the bar. Dunk the bar into your bucket of hot water and agitate the roving. Use small motions so the roving stays in place. Continue to agitate until the roving is a firm dense mass around the soap. The roving should not be able to move freely. If you are having a hard time, replace your water for something hotter and just keep agitating. Also the cooler your water, the longer it will take to felt. Keep it as hot as you can stand and it will work beautifully.

Wrapping the soap in roving

Once your roving has felted around your soap, pat them dry with a paper towel then set them out to dry. I really like to put them on a cookie rack or a wire shelf where they can dry out more completely. Repeat with your remaining soaps.

This project is a lot of fun because there is so much you can do. You can use colored

Wrapping my soap

roving, you can hide cosmetically challenged bars and simplify using soap because it has a built in foam builder that shrinks with your bar! This is even a great project for those who will be traveling but don’t want to carry around a wash cloth with them!

What other great reasons can you think of for using and making felted soaps? I want to hear!

Ready to dunk my soap

Felting the wool

Felting the wool

Bubbles!

Finished felted soap