About Felt

 How wonderful is wool felt! Beautiful, comforting to touch and wear, biodegradable, breathable and natural.

Felting happens when wool fibres are manipulated by hand or machine, causing shrinkage and matting when subjected to heat humidity, friction and a change of alkalinity. The wool is then shaped and hardened; a process known as fulling.  

The History of Felt

Handmade Felt is an ancient process which is thought to predate woven or spun fabric. 

“For several thousand years felt, a textile made from sheep’s fleece, played a central role in the lives of inhabitants in Central Asia, Mongolia and parts of the Middle East. Indeed, until about 150 years ago, for nomadic peoples in this region felt was virtually indispensable. Wool, the raw material, was readily available, the technology was portable and the fabric itself provided the highest level of insulation for clothing, floor coverings and even for tent walls. From around 2500 years ago early nomadic peoples lined their tombs with felt, laid their dead on it, made decorations from it, wore felt clothes and dressed their horses in masks made from it.

Across the centuries, felt has been used for shoes, flooring, hats, sieves, armour, coats, tent covers, bas and bedding, not only by nomadic people but also by numerous sedentary populations in this region. Indeed, few societies in the past were entirely without felt: even in Europe and America, felt hats were widely worn from the fifteenth to the twentieth century. Yet while a great deal has been written about many forms of cloth and their uses, felt has been little studied by contemporary scholar and, perhaps reflecting this, examples tend to be found in ethnographic rather than fine art museums.”

– Extract of Stephanie Bunn, “Nomadic Felt” (The British Museum 2010)

Caring for Your Felt

Your hand-felted item requires simple but careful handling to maintain its longevity.

  • Hand wash separately in warm water with a small amount of dissolved, gentle pure soap, shampoo or wool wash.

  • When washing gently massage the item – do not wash vigorously or it will felt more, and may shrink in size. Ensure rinsing and washing water is the same temperature.

  • A dash of vinegar in the final rinse water is helpful.

  • Very gently wring out the water or use an old dry towel to blot excess moisture being aware that some dye run may occur.

  • Reshape exactly how you would like it to be and dry flat or over a railing in a shady area. Steam iron on appropriate setting for the fibres/fabrics used in your piece.

In addition to wool fibre your felted item may contain the following:

  • Fabrics: Wool, silk, optim, cotton, linen, rayon, nylon, synthetic, recycled.

  • Fibres: Silk, bamboo, rayon, tencel, optim, camel, ramie, flax, milk, corn, soy, recycled.

  • Yarns: Silk, wool/acrylic blend, rayon, cotton, recycled.

  • Hand-dyed: Natural, synthetic dyes.

Your felt item will have a care label attached – please read it carefully.

Before storing your felt away, freeze it for a week or two to make sure that it has no moth eggs. This will ensure longevity of your felt. Then, the nicest way to store your felt is in a calico bag with a rubber band on the top to keep moths out. A zip lock plastic bag can also be used. This is essential if storing in a dark cupboard or drawer as moths love wool as much as you do! 

If you are placing your wool felt out as a decorative item be sure to keep an eye on the base for moths. They love the dark spaces under and inside pieces. An occasional wipe with clove essential oil on the bench surface may help.