Material Analysis - Woolen Felt

Material: 100% Wool Felt

Other Types: blended, synthetic

Named Types:

Loden

Aesthetics description:

A non-woven cloth. While some types of felt are very soft, some are tough enough to form construction materials. Felt can be of any colour, and made into any shape or size

Source: Sheep

Production: A process called wet felting involving: matting, condensing and pressing woolen fibres. Explained below:

• wool fibre is stimulated by friction
• lubricated by moisture (usually soapy water)
• fibres move at a 90 degree angle towards the friction source and then away again, making little "tacking" stitches
• few fibres are active at any one moment therefore the process is continual; different 'sets' of fibres become activated and then deactivated in the continual process.
• Wool and animal hairs have scales on them which are directional and have kinks (similar to a pine cone) this reacts to the stimulation of friction and bond together to form a cloth.

Various other techniques include:

• Needle felting- art craft, no water, barbed felting needles are used as a sculpting tool. The barbs catch the scales on the fibre and push them through the layers of wool, tangling them and binding them together. Fine detail can be achieved.
• Carroting- Mid 17th - 20th centery process, now banned (Dec 1941), used to manufacture felt for mens hats. Beaver, rabbit or hare skins were treated with a dilute solution of the mercury compound mercuric nitrate. The skins dried in an oven, (thin fur at the sides go orange) Pelts were stretched over a bar in a cutting machine and the skin sliced off in thin shreds, the fleece removed entirely. The fur, blown onto a cone-shaped colander, treated with hot water to consolidate it, the cone peeled off and passed through wet rollers to cause the fur to felt. These 'hoods' were then dyed and blocked to make hats. This toxic solution and the vapours it produced resulted in widespread cases of mercury poisoning among hatters, giving rise to the expression "mad as a hatter."
• Fulling- Fulling is done to fabric whereas felting is done to fibres. Fibres bond together when combined with the movement of a washing machine, the heat of the water, and the addition of soap, e.g. Knitted woollen garments which shrink in the machine achieveing a felt quality
• Steam rolling- A steam roller goes over the unwoven fabrics in a shallow pool of water with the cloths rotate. A method widely used in small towns in India where mass manufacturing of clothing is done.

Common uses:

bearing seals

polishing pads

wiper Lubricators

Advantages:

• highly resilient,
• retains its strength
• chemical resistant
• flame retardant and self-extinguishing
• wear resistant
• cuts with a clean edge
• does not ravel or fray
• easily cut (any size, shape or thickness)
• can be hard enough to turn on a lathe or soft enough to be sewn
• can be exposed to the elements
• maintains its physical properties as it wears, making it an excellent choice for polishing
• Felt is incredibly resilient, able to be compressed and released thousands of times without deformity
• sound insulator
• vibration damping qualities
• thermal insulator
• wicking capabilities delivering consistent fluid flow without deterioration
• highly absorbent
• can retain many times its weight in fluids
• Felt can be made water repellent
• arguable renewable and a environmentally friendly resource