Felted Fabrics

Felted Fabrics Types & Uses

Group Members

•Qurat-ul-ain Arif • Angelina Haroon

FELTS • Felt is a non-woven cloth that is

produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibers. • While some types of felt are very soft, some are tough enough to form construction materials. • Felt can be of any color, and made into any shape or size.

History of felting • Felt is the oldest form of fabric

known to humankind. It predates weaving and knitting • In Turkey, the remains of felt have been found dating back at least to 6,500 BC.

Manufacturing • Felting was originally based upon the physical characteristics of the crimp and scaly surface of wool fibers that cause them to cling and intermesh and allow them to be pressed into a compact fabric • Today, felt is made with or without the admixture of another animal fiber, vegetable fiber, or manmade fiber

Types of manufacturing processes Felt is made by two processes • Wet felting or Pressure felting • Punched needle felting

Wet felting • The natural wool fiber is stimulated by

friction and lubricated by moisture (usually soapy water), and the fibers move at a 90 degree angle towards the friction source and then away again, in effect making little "tacking" stitches. • This "wet" process utilizes the inherent nature of wool and other animal hairs, because the hairs have scales on them which are directional.

Types of wet felting • Artificial felts • Valenki • Nuno felts

Artificial felts • It has a minimum of 30% of wool

fibers combined with other artificial fibers . This is the minimum required to hold a fabric together with the fibers alone.

Nuno felts • Nuno felting is a Japanese fabric felting

technique • It melds loose fibre, usually wool, into a sheer fabric such as silk gauze. This creates a lightweight felt that can totally cover the background fabric or be used as a single decorative design. • Other fabrics or open weaves can be used as the felting background, resulting in a wide range of textural effects and colours

Needle punched felts • Felting is also done with special felting

needles, which grab individual fibers and drag them against their neighbors, thereby binding them. The barbs catch the scales on the fiber 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 3D felted work.

Felting needles

Types of needle punched felts • Jacquard felt • Synthetic felts • Coir felts

Jacquard felts • Technique of production

By combing,overlapping,needling,the felt is formed, and by using puncture function of needle to achieve thickness to enter the main thorn machine,then cut automatically to form a roll.

Jacquard felt

Coir felts • Pads of curled brown coir fibre, made by needle-felting are shaped and cut to fill mattresses and for use in erosion control on river banks and hillsides.

Synthetic felts • Wholly artificial felts are actually needle-felts.

Uses of felts Felt is used everywhere • It is often used as a damper. • Felt is used on professional or tournament billiards table to cover the slate surface. • Many musical instruments use felt • Fuzzy Felt is a simple fabric toy for very young children • Roofing felt • Hats • Carpets

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