Craft Time! Let's make the cutest scrubby soap bars!
Version: 1
Skill Level- Easy
Age Group-5-105yrs
Cost-under $1.00 for one bar of soap
Time to complete- under 1 hour
Wow factor- Five stars!
Version: 2
Skill Level- Easy and a half (good hand eye coordination)
Age Group: 16 ish-65 (because we use sharp needles) *adult supervision needed
Cost: under $8.00 for one bar of soap (i'm including the start up tool here)
Time to complete: 70 minutes. Depending on the design. The design below took an extra 5-10min.
Wow factor- Six stars!
Lets get started!
For both versions you'll need:
Wool Roving - that's the stuff below that looks like a big puff of cloud and colorful cotton candy. (Resources provided at the end of this tutorial)
Any bar(s) of - soap
Old stocking - cut off the foot *optional
Bubble wrap or a bamboo place mat would work really well or i used some drying rack type thingy I picked up at the dollar store. (I will explain why in a later step)
Towel -any towel will do.
Step 1) Take some of your wool roving and create a 'blanket' that fits around the entire bar of soap including the top and sides. Trying not to have excess wool roving overlap too much.
It might start out something like this.
....then this...
Here is the other side
Step 2) Now carefully put the wrapped soap into the nylon, trying not to expose the soap or let the wool roving move around too much. This is how I did it:
I first wrapped my hand with the stocking and then placed the wrapped soap in my hand and carefully pull the stocking over the soap, then tie a knot in the stocking as close to the bar of soap as possible.
Step 3) Then immerse the whole thing in hot water.
Guess what? Now you are felting wool! (ok, I have got some explaining to do. In the picture below - there is no nylon, and no orange & blue wool wrap! That is because I started on the second bar of soap with white wool roving and ditched using the nylon and it worked!) Just remember not to let the wool wrap to slip and expose your soap. You want every inch covered!
Keep rubbing and rubbing and rubbing. You'll want the wool to become matted. It will start to shrink (like a wool sweater you put in the washer and shrank a few sizes!)
Step 4) Now you'll want to begin the drying process. Even though it's probably wet and sudsy. That's ok, just press firmly in a towel. Do not rub! Just press! Allowing the towel to wick some of the water out. And let it dry.
Done! But if you want to take it a step further by adding a simple design. Read on..
You will need a felting needle. There are two types available. The single needle and the multi-needle. These are made specifically for wool felting. The single needle works just fine for this project.
Did it again and held them together at the bottom...like this.
place it on your soap,
And started a poking motion to secure it to the bar of soap. Keep poking until most all of the loose threads are anchored down. Be extra careful not to poke yourself! Make sure your soap is dried fully so as not to slip from your workspace.
And ta-dah!! Cute, right?
Wool Roving & Felting Needle: Michaels.com
These make wonderful gifts for any occasion or make it for yourself! Make Version 1 with young ones, using bright colors! They will be so proud with the finished look and might be more willing to wash their hands :)
Think of them like a shower puffy loofah sponge with a built in soap. So it gently exfoliates your skin. Cute to place on a counter top in a kitchen or bathroom.
Note: Don't let it sit in stagnant water cause then it will be prone to mildew/mold.
PS. Some of this is challenging to explain using just pictures and words. Want me to post videos in the future? You got to let me know. Love to hear from you! Go ahead comment..I dare you :)
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