
[Middle English, from Old English.]
felty felt'y adj.
Background
Most fabrics are woven, meaning they are constructed on a loom and have interlocking warp (the thread or fiber that is strung lengthwise on the loom) and weft (the thread that cuts across the warp fiber and interlocks with it) fibers that create a flat piece of fabric. Felt is a dense, non-woven fabric and without any warp or weft. Instead, felted fabric is made from matted and compressed fibers or fur with no apparent system of threads. Felt is produced as these fibers and/or fur are pressed together using heat, moisture, and pressure. Felt is generally composed of wool that is mixed with a synthetic in order to create sturdy, resilient felt for craft or industrial use. However, some felt is made wholly from synthetic fibers.
Felt may vary in width, length, color, or thickness depending on its intended application. This matted material is particularly useful for padding and lining as it is dense and can be very thick. Furthermore, since the fabric is not woven the edges may be cut without fear of threads becoming loose and the fiber unraveling. Felted fibers generally take dye well and craft felt is available in a multitude of colors while industrial-grade felt is generally left in its natural state. In fact, felt is used in a wide variety of applications both within the residential and industrial contexts. Felt is used in air fresheners, children's bulletin boards, craft kits, holiday costumes and decorations, stamp pads, within appliances, gaskets, as a clothing stiffener or liner, and it can be used as a cushion, to provide pads for polishing apparatus, or as a sealant in industrial machinery.
History
Felt may be the oldest fabric known to man, and there are many references to felt in ancient writings. Since felt is not woven and does not require a loom for its production, ancient man made it rather easily. Some of the earliest felt remains were found in the frozen tombs of nomadic horsemen in the Siberian Tlai mountains and date to around 700 B.C. These tribes made clothing, saddles, and tents from felt because it was strong and resistant to wet and snowy weather. Legend has it that during the Middle Ages St. Clement, who was to become the fourth bishop of Rome, was a wandering monk who happened upon the process of making felt by accident. It is said he stuffed his sandals with tow (short flax or linen fibers) in order to make them more comfortable. St. Clement discovered that the combination of moisture from perspiration and ground dampness coupled with pressure from his feet matted these tow fibers together and produced a cloth. After becoming bishop he set up groups of workers to develop felting operations. St. Clement became the patron saint for hatmakers, who extensively utilize felt to this day.
Today, hats are associated with felt, but it is generally presumed that all felt is made of wool. Originally, early hat-making felt was produced using animal fur (generally beaver fur). The fur was matted with other fibers—including wool—using heat, pressure, and moisture. The finest hats were of beaver, and men's fine hats were often referred to as beavers. Beaver felt hats were made in the late Middle Ages and were much coveted. However, by the end of the fourteenth century many hatmakers produced them in the Low Countries thus driving down the price.
The North American continent was home to many of the beaver skins used in European hatmakers' creations in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. North American Indians' second-hand skins, replete with perspiration, felted most successfully and were in extraordinary demand for hatmaking in both the New and Old Worlds. The beaver hat was surpassed in popularity in the second half of the nineteenth century by the black silk hat, sometimes finished to resemble beaver and referred to as beaver-finished silk.
The steps included in making felt have changed little over time. Felted fabric is produced using heat, moisture, and pressure to mat and interlock the fibers. In the Middle Ages the hatmaker separated the fur from the hide by hand and applied pressure and warm water to the fabric to shrink it manually. While machinery is used today to accomplish many of these tasks, the processing requirements remain unchanged. One exception is that until the late nineteenth century mercury was used in the processing of felt for hatmaking. Mercury was discovered to have debilitating effects on the hatter causing a type of poisoning that led to tremors, hallucinations, and other psychotic symptoms. The term mad hatter is associated with the hatmaker because of the psychosis that stemmed from the mercury poisoning. Hats of wool felt remain quite popular and are primarily worn in the winter months.
The use of felt has enlarged over the past century. Crafts enthusiasts use it for all types of projects. Many teachers find it to be an easy fabric for children to handle because once it is cut the edges do not unravel as do woven fabrics. Industrial applications for felt have burgeoned, and felt is found in cars as well as production machinery.
Raw Materials
Felt is produced from wool, which grips and mats easily, and a synthetic fiber that gives the felt some resilience and longevity. Typical fiber combinations for felt include wool and polyester or wool and nylon. Synthetics cannot be turned into felt by themselves but can be felted if they combine with wool.
Other raw materials used in the production of wool include steam, utilized during the stage in which the material is reduced in width and length and made thicker. Also, a weak sulfuric acid mixture is used in the thickening process. Soda ash (sodium chloride) is utilized to neutralize the sulfuric acid.
The Manufacturing
Process
Quality Control
Quality control begins with the arrival of the materials. Materials are checked for quality and weight. Some companies purchase wool that has been scoured and baled; the purity of the bales is examined upon entry. Other important quality control checks include continuous monitoring of the carded webs, since the web sizes are important first steps in producing the desired length and width of the felt. Once the batts are shrunk in width and length, the company checks the weight, density, width, length, and evenness of the batts. When production is complete, visual checks may reveal that the surface of a batt is slightly uneven and additional pressing may occur to even out the surface. The acid baths are also very carefully monitored. The amount of time the fabric is in the acid bath is precisely calculated by weight and length of yard good, lest the piece is ruined. Finally, the company producing industrial felt has to check its goods against a governmental standard for the product. The government has determined that 16 lb (7.3 kg) density felt must be 1 in (2.5 cm) thick, 36 in (91.4 cm) wide, 36 in (91.4 cm) long, and weigh 16 lb (7.3 kg). If the felt weighs less than this, the fabric is not dense enough and does not meet government expectations for that grade of felt.
Byproducts/Waste
There is some waste generated in felt production. When the edges are trimmed, small pieces are cut off. These small pieces are often impregnated with oil and grease from the machinery and are unusable for other purposes. These materials are then sent to a landfill.
The Future
Due to its extreme versatility, the demand for felt is consistent. It is used in military applications for helmets, boots, small ammunitions, and rockets. The civilian uses of felt are too numerous to count. A unique use has been found for the excess white felt ground that is relatively clean and clear of oil and grease. It is ground up, colored, and put into an aerosol can. It is then sold as a spray to cover bald spots and has been somewhat successful in recent years.
Where to Learn More
Books
Gioello, Debbie Ann. Profiling Fabrics. New York: Fairchild Publications, 1981.
McDowell, Colin. Hats: Status, Style and Glamour. New York: Rizzoli, 1993.
Other
Design Arcade Web Page. November 2001. <http://www.designarcade.com/history/historyfelt.htm>.
Interview with Dick Pursell. Director of Sales, U. S. Felt. Sanford, ME. August 2001.
Sutherland Felt Company. Manufacturing of Wool Felts Wet Process. Troy, MI.
[Article by: Nancy EV Bryk]
An unwoven fabric, composed of fibers which are matted together, usually with the aid of moisture and heat, by rolling or by pressure; usually manufactured from cellulose fibers from wood, paper, or rags, or from asbestos or glass fibers.
He felt the stove to see if was still hot.
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| For The Record... |
| Members include Gary Ainge (group member c. 1981-89), drums; Maurcie Dcebank(group member 1980-85), lead guitar; Nick Gilbert (group member 1980-82), bass guitar, drums; Lawrence Hayward (group member 1979-89), guitar, keyboards, vocals; Mick Lloyd (group member 1982-83), bass guitar; John Mohan (group member 1989), lead guitar; Tony Race (group member c. 1981), drums. Hayward released “Index” under Felt name, 1979; formed group Felt near Birmingham, England, 1980; signed with Cherry Red Records, c. 1981; released first single on Cherry Red, “Something Sends Me to Sleep,” 1981; released debut full-length album, Crumbling the Antiseptic Beauty, 1982; signed with Creation Records, 1985; released Let the Snakes Crinkle Their Heads to Death, 1986; band broke up with the issue of Me and the Monkey on the Moon, 1989. |

For the British alternative rock band, see Felt (band).
| This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2011) |
Felt is a non-woven cloth that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing woollen fibres. 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.
Many cultures have legends as to the origins of feltmaking. Sumerian legend claims that the secret of feltmaking was discovered by Urnamman of Lagash. The story of Saint Clement and Saint Christopher relates that while fleeing from persecution, the men packed their sandals with wool to prevent blisters. At the end of their journey, the movement and sweat had turned the wool into felt socks.
Feltmaking is still practised by nomadic peoples (Altaic people) in Central Asia and northern parts of East Asia (Mongols), where rugs, tents and clothing are regularly made. Some of these are traditional items, such as the classic yurt (Gers), while others are designed for the tourist market, such as decorated slippers. In the Western world, felt is widely used as a medium for expression in textile art as well as design, where it has significance as an ecological textile.
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Felt is made by a process called wet felting where the natural wool fibres, stimulated by friction and lubricated by moisture (usually soapy water), move at a 90 degree angle towards the friction source and then away again, in effect making little "tacking" stitches. While at any given moment only 5% of the fibres are active, the process is continual, so different 'sets' of fibres become activated and then deactivated, thereby building up the cloth.
This "wet" process takes advantage of the inherent nature of wool and other animal hairs. The hairs are made up of unidirectional scales, and they are also naturally kinked. It is this combination which reacts to the friction of the felting process, forcing the scales on the hairs to lock together and thus causing the phenomenon of felting. It tends to work well with wool fibres because their scales, when aggravated, readily bond together.
It is also possible to produce artificial felts. If made using the wet method, an artificial felt will contain a minimum of 30% wool fibres with the rest being artificial fibres. This is the minimum composition necessary to hold a fabric together with the fibres alone; it would be difficult to form a stable fabric by hand below this ratio. Wholly artificial felts are actually needle-felts (see below).
An alternative felting process involves a steam roller rolling over the unwoven fibres in a shallow pool of water with the cloth rotating as the steam roller passes over it. This method is widely used in small towns in India where mass manufacturing of clothing is performed.
Needle felting is a popular fibre arts craft conducted without the use of water. Special barbed felting needles that are used in industrial felting machines are used by the artist as a sculpting tool. Using a single needle or a small group of needles (2-5) in a hand-held tool, these needles are used to sculpt the wool fibre. The barbs catch the scales on the fibre and push them through the layers of wool, tangling them and binding them together, much like the wet felting process. Fine details can be achieved using this technique, and it is popular for 2D and 3D felted work.
From the mid-17th to the mid-20th centuries, a process called "carroting" was used in the manufacture of good quality felt for making men's hats. Beaver, rabbit or hare skins were treated with a dilute solution of the mercury compound mercuric nitrate. The skins were dried in an oven where the thin fur at the sides turned orange --- the color of carrots. Pelts were stretched over a bar in a cutting machine and the skin sliced off in thin shreds, the fleece coming away entirely. The fur was 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, possibly giving rise to the expression "Mad as a hatter".
Felt is used everywhere from the automotive industry, to musical instruments and home construction. It is often used as a damper. In the automotive industry, for example, it damps the vibrations between interior panels and also stops dirt entering into some ball/cup joints. Felt is used on the underside of a car bra to protect the body.
Many musical instruments use felt. On drum cymbal stands, it protects the cymbal from cracking and ensures a clean sound. It is used to wrap bass drum and timpani mallets. Felt is used extensively in pianos; for example, piano hammers are made of wool felt around a wooden core. The density and springiness of the felt is a major part of what creates a piano's tone. As the felt becomes grooved and "packed" with use and age, the tone suffers. Felt is placed under the piano keys on accordions to control touch and key noise; it is also used on the pallets to silence notes not sounded by preventing air flow. Though the ukulele is most commonly plucked, the pick, or plectrum, is made of felt.
A felt-covered board can be used in storytelling to small children. Small felt cutouts or figures of animals, people, or other objects will adhere to a felt board, and in the process of telling the story, the storyteller also acts it out on the board with the animals or people. Puppets can also be made with felt.
German artist Josef Beuys used felt in a number of works.
In the early part of the 20th century, felt hats, such as fedoras, trilbies and homburgs, were worn by many men in the western world.
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Dansk (Danish)
n. - filt
v. tr. - filte, tilvirke filt af, dække med filt
v. intr. - filte sig
adj. - filt-
idioms:
Nederlands (Dutch)
vilt, soort bouwmateriaal, iets van vilt (m.n. hoed), vilten, vervilten, van vilt maken/met vilt bedekken, laten plakken/ samendrukken
Français (French)
n. - feutre, feutrine
v. tr. - (Tex) se feutrer, (Constr) couvrir de
v. intr. - se feutrer
adj. - en feutre, en feutrine
idioms:
Deutsch (German)
n. - Filz, Isoliermaterial
adj. - Filz-
v. - Filz herstellen, verfilzen
idioms:
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - πίλημα, κετσές, τσόχα
adj. - αισθητός
idioms:
Italiano (Italian)
feltro, di feltro
idioms:
Português (Portuguese)
n. - feltro (m)
adj. - feltrado
idioms:
Русский (Russian)
войлок, фетр
idioms:
Español (Spanish)
n. - fieltro
v. tr. - enfieltrar, enredar, apelmasar
v. intr. - apelmasarse, enredarse
adj. - de fieltro
idioms:
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - filt (tyg), filthatt
adj. - filt-
中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
毛毯, 毡, 毯制的, 制毡, 使粘结, 粘结
idioms:
中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 毛毯, 氈
adj. - 毯製的
v. tr. - 製氈, 使粘結
v. intr. - 粘結
idioms:
한국어 (Korean)
n. - 펠트(천)
v. tr. - ~을 펠트로 하다, ~을 펠트로 덮다
v. intr. - 펠트가 되다, 펠트처럼 엉크러지다
adj. - 절실히 느껴지는
日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 思う, 感じる
n. - フェルト
adj. - フェルト製の
idioms:
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) لباد (صفه) مصنوع من اللباد
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - לבד
adj. - עשוי לבד, של לבד
v. tr. - עשה ללבד, כיסה בלבד
v. intr. - נעשה ללבד
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