I'll try anything once

Yaaaaayyyyy I finally did it!

I watched a bunch of videos and read a slew of tutorials before making this, but in the end it comes down to one principle: rub it, rub it, rub it.

All you need to make felted soap is: wool roving, hot water, and soap. There are a couple things that might make the process easier, but don’t let anyone tell you you need them. Craft stores will sell “felting boards” for about $30, but you can use any rough or bumpy surface: a washboard, a dish draining mat, or even a sheet of bubble wrap. (I used a piece of corrugated cardboard, which I put in a trashbag so it wouldn’t lose its shape if it got wet.)

But honestly, you don’t even need a board; if you’re willing, you could just use your fingers.

I used one other tool to help me: the foot of a clean nylon stocking. Because it was my first time, I put the soap in the stocking before I started felting because it kept all the pieces in place.

Ultimately, here’s all you need to do:

1. Take a bar of soap and wrap it tightly with wool roving, one way and then the other. If you want, make a design with another color of roving.
2. Pour hot water over it (the hotter the water, the faster it felts) and start rubbing. You’ll work up a good froth from the soap on the inside.
3. Rub every side for a long, long time (you’re probably going to need about 15 minutes of ruthless friction), pouring more hot water as needed, until you can’t pinch any strands of wool off.
4. Dunk it in the hot water, gently towel off the excess moisture and soap lather, and let it dry.

Voila! A fabulous little gift. For those of you who don’t know about felted soap: you can use this in the shower as is; get it wet and the felt acts like a washcloth, working up a lather using soap from the inside. Use it over and over until the soap is gone; then you can slit it open and slip a new bar of soap inside.

I found a tutorial for making a little felted rope which you attach to one side of the bar so you can hang it up in the shower to dry; pretty excited to try that one out!