What is Felt Fabric?
Felt is a nonwoven fabric made by matting, condensing, and pressing fibers together most often wool, polyester, or a blend. Unlike woven cloth, felt does not have threads or holes. It’s dense, soft, and easy to cut without fraying, which makes it popular for crafts, fashion, and industry.
True felt is a mat or web of wool, or mostly wool, fibers held together by the interlocking of the wool scales. No yarns are present in felt. It is made directly from fibers and is one of the earliest types of fabric. Felt can be made by washing wool fleece, spreading out the wet fleece, and beating or handling it until it mats and shrinks together in a fl at or three-dimensional shape. Commercial felt is made in factories by layering wool fibers or blends of wool and other fibers until the desired thickness is attained, using heat, detergent, and vibration to mat the fibers together, and finishing the fabric. Felt finishing resembles the processes used for woven fabrics. Some fabrics labelled ‘felt’ are not true felt because they do not include wool.
Instead, these imitation felts are wet- or dry-laid nonwoven fiber webs. Felts do not have grain and do not ravel. They are stiff, less pliable, and weaker compared with other wool fabrics because they lack yarn structure, which contributes to fabric pliability and strength. The quality of felt depends on the quality of the fibers used. Felt is used in hand-made wall hangings, other types of ornamentation, and party and holiday decorations.
Properties of Felt Fabric
- Felt is a nonwoven fabric created by matting and bonding fibers together.
- Will not fray or unravel when cut
- Durable and resistant to wear and tearing
- Soft texture yet strong and sturdy
- Excellent thermal insulation (retains heat)
- Good sound insulation and vibration damping
- Absorbs moisture but dries quickly
- Flexible but maintains its shape well
- Cuts cleanly into any size or shape
- Easy to sew by hand or machine
- Naturally flame-resistant (wool felt)
- Resistant to certain chemicals and solvents
- Breathable and moisture-regulating (wool felt)
- More durable and colorfast when synthetic
- Can be made thick and dense or thin and lightweight
- Resistant to wrinkles, stretching, and shrinking
- Can be treated to be water-repellent and mildew-resistant
- It is often eco-friendly and biodegradable, especially wool felt.
- Retains its properties even after repeated compression
Types and Production of Felt Fabric
Felt is one of the oldest fabrics with evidence of it dating back to 700 BC. In the past, it was made from 100% wool, but today it can be made from wool blended with polyester, acrylic, acetate, polyamide, cotton, kapok and viscose. However, if there is no wool present, it is not truly a felt.
Wool Felt:
This method uses carded, short staple noils in a cross-laid web. The process depends upon the structure of scales on the outer edge of the fiber to snag or cling together when the fibers are agitated and then compact through shrink to add strength to the fabric. The thickness of the felt depends upon the number of fibers that are intermeshing together. The web of fibers (also called batts) are sprinkled with warm, soapy water and passed over a steam box that causes the fibers to shrink and draw closer together. The web of fibers passes between oscillating rollers that remove the excess water and cause the fibers to entangle more and hold firm. To ensure some rigidity and firmness to the fabric, it is allowed to cool for twenty-four hours before being dampened with soap and soda and subjected to a pounding with hammers (called the fulling process). Finally, the fabric is washed, stiffened, ironed and brushed to raise the surface, which provides it with a nap or it is sheared to provide it with a smooth surface. Felt can be made waterproof, nonflammable and mothproof.
Blended Wool Felt:
It is made up of at least 30% wool fibers that are blended and carded with man-made fibers to produce a cross-laid web. The batts pass through a steam table to heat and dampen the fibers. They are placed on a plate-hardener that oscillates to entangle the fibers, which causes shrinkage in the width of the fabric and compresses it. The batt moves onto the fuller machine and passes between two rollers that are covered with hard rubber or plastic treads. The treads oscillate while the fabric is continually dampened with hot water and sulphuric acid. The combination of the rollers and acid solution causes shrinkage in the length, which produces a denser fabric; 34.7 metres of batt at the beginning of the process will shrink to 27.4 metres by the end of the process. The sulphuric acid must be neutralized by immersing the fabric into a solution of warm water and soda ash before being placed on a refulling machine with heavy rollers that remove excess liquid and smooth out any irregularities. The felt is then dried; this can be done in drying machines or in the open air. Once dried, the edges are trimmed and the waste is recycled for stuffing. Sometimes, however, the edges have absorbed oil and grease from machinery, so they are disposed in a landfill.
Knitted or Woven Felt:
These materials are made from fabrics that contain animal hair or wool that has become matted by moisture, mechanical agitation or heat. The fabric, called loden, has a smooth surface and is warm and windproof. Also knitted products, such as jumpers, can be washed at high temperatures to cause felting and then used to make another product e.g. cushions. These fabrics may then be textured due to the knitted pattern on the original product such as cabling.
Felt Standard
Felt undergoes a number of quality control checks throughout the production process, including timing the acid bath in accordance with the weight and length of the batt to prevent the fibers from being damaged. The government standard is as follows:
16lb density felt = 1’’ thick x 36’’ long
(7.3kg density felt = 2.5cm x 91.3cm long)
Uses of Felt Fabric
Felt has many uses. It is popular in crafts, like making toys and decorations. Felt is used in clothing, hats, and shoes because it is soft and warm. Blocking for hats, slippers, shoe padding, earmuffs and table protection. It can also be used in the industrial world due to its insulating and noise absorption properties. Industrial products include gaskets, seals and washers.
Conclusion
Felt is a simple, versatile fabric with big range—from kids’ crafts to precision industrial parts. It is one of the oldest yet most versatile textiles, valued for its unique nonwoven structure, durability, and ease of use.
