That's felt!

Felt, what is that actually? I receive that question regularly these days. To be honest, I only knew about it since I made it myself. I knew the felt pieces from the dolls I made as a child, but I had never really thought about what kind of material it was.

Felt from loose wool fibers

Unexpectedly, we started making felt during the first lesson of the Textile Processing course that I took a few years ago. It took some effort, but after a few hours and quite a bit of muscle power I had a sturdy cloth in my hands, in blue and green colors. I remember how surprised I was that this could be created from a mountain of loose wool fibers.

Wool felt

Felt is a dense, non-woven fabric made from wool or another material, such as polyester. At Felt & Meer we mainly sell soft felt made from merino wool. I make some of the felt products myself, others are made in Nepalese felt workshops. We also sell products made from manufacturing felt.

Felting process

One way to make it is by placing strands of wicker wool in different layers, perpendicular to each other. The scales of the wool fibers interlock. Wetting the wool with warm soapy water and then rubbing it shrinks the fibers and creates a thick, sturdy fabric. The ingredients of felt are: wool, water, soap, heat and friction.

Hobby equipment

Would you like to try making felt yourself? In the Vilt & Meer store at Strijp-S in Eindhoven we sell all the materials needed for this, including good olive soap and bags of wicking wool. We are also happy to explain to you how to do it.