Felted Soap
Above: wet felted soap, not quite dry! :)
This is an easy project for beginner wool felters. It works up quickly and the results are lovely. I admit this project is more of my guilty pleasure – the girls aren’t so interested with felting soap as they are for other objects like balls or play food. :)
I acquired some beautiful bars of handmade goat’s milk soap at the New Hampshire Wool Show, and couldn’t wait to felt them. All you need is a little wool roving, some warm water & bubble wrap.
Pull the wool roving apart & cover the soap as even as you can. Once it is completely covered, I find applying some warm water (as hot as you can get it from the tap) with a spray bottle works well. I don’t bother making the water soapy since the bar being felted produces enough suds to felt the wool. Then rub the bubble wrap gently all over the soap until the wool sticks together forming a felted layer. Rinse gently and squeeze the excess water out, and leave to dry. The soap in the top picture is still wet, it looks less mottled when dry.
Felted soap feels lovely on the hands, and also acts as a gentle exfoliant. The beauty is that with use the wool continues to felt so it continues to look better and better every time you wash your hands. :) A wonderful treat for your family or a great handmade gift that takes no time at all to make.
