How to Make Felted Soap
I have the itch to felt and since it’s still too cold (grrr) in my felting studio to do big felted pieces, I thought I’d felt some soap today.
Why put fiber on soap, you ask? Because it makes a great scrubby! You can exfoliate and wash your skin at the same time. Felted soaps also make wonderful gifts.
Bar soap – any plain soap will do but you can make it fancy with scented or olive oil soap
Roving or Batting s.a. sheep or alpaca
Nylon hose – knee highs work well
Water
Thin out the Roving
Take your wool roving and spread it out just enough so you start to see the table underneath. Not too thin though, you don’t want gaps in your fiber or the soap will show. Lay the soap in the center and wrap the fiber around it, tucking in the ends. Check for any holes in the fiber and add more as needed.
Wet the Soap
Next, sprinkle the fiber with hot water and gently start rubbing it. Do this all over the soap until the entire surface is thoroughly wet. Check for spots where the soap is showing and add more fiber, if needed.
Now is the time to add any decorations such as stripes of a different color fiber. Wet these and gently work with your hands.
Felting
Carefully put the soap in the nylon hose. Sprinkle again with hot water and gently rub the soap all over. Alternate sprinkling with hot and cold water and continue working the fiber. You will feel the fiber begin to firm up. Continue working the soap for about 10 minutes. When you can’t feel any loose fibers on the soap, gently remove the hose. Your fiber should be well felted. If it is not, continue working it as above.
Rinse the soap and set it out to dry. Add a pretty bow and your felted soap becomes a great gift!
Check out my other Tutorials on FiberArtsy.com