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Felt is a type of matted fabric that consists of textile fibers condensed and pressed together. Traditionally made with wool or another type of animal fur, it’s now possible to make felt with acrylic and other forms of synthetic fibers.
Wool felt is highly flame retardant, and it extinguishes itself. This textile also has sound-dampening properties, and it is highly moisture-wicking and absorbent. Felt holds the distinction of being one of the only fabrics made without weaving or knitting.
Using heat, water, and pressure, felt manufacturers permanently interlock natural or synthetic fibers to create matted felt fabric. It’s then possible to cut or shape felt to produce apparel items as varied as hats and boot liners.
Felt is believed to be the world’s oldest fabric. The earliest archaeological evidence of felt dates back to BC, making this fabric older than any knitted or woven textile.
Various cultures have competing myths regarding the origins of felt. In the Western tradition, for instance, the invention of felt is attributed to either Saint Clement or Saint James, both of whom are said to have placed natural fibers in their sandals to prevent blisters only to have these fibers turn into felt due to heat, pressure, and sweat.
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According to Sumerian legend, felt was discovered by the warrior hero Urnamman. The felt origin stories of other cultures might not be as colorful, but felt-making has played an integral role in the societies of the Eurasian continent for millennia.
The mountain people of Tibet, for instance, ancestrally used felt due to its insulative properties. Even today, the holy men of Tibet, including the Dalai Lama, wear traditional felt hats.
Early cultures in India used felt for blankets and saddles, and the people of ancient Iran and Turkey commonly made felt floor mats. One of the most important uses of felt in the ancient world, however, was in the construction of circular Mongol houses called yurts, which remain the primary forms of dwellings on the Eurasian Steppe to this day.
While the oldest preserved samples of felt were found in Turkey, historical evidence seemingly identifies the Altai Mountains as the region where felt was first made into sophisticated products. Inhabitants of this region continue to make felt for yurts and tourist items as part of an unbroken tradition that stretches back thousands of years.
Starting in the 16th century, the economy of the area that now comprises southern Canada and the Great Lakes region in the United States was largely supported by the beaver felt hat trade. Between and , hats made with beaver fur felt were among the most popular exports from the New World, and the beaver pelt trade alone made it possible for the British and French to establish rudimentary colonies throughout what is now the inland American-Canadian border region.
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Commonly called beaverkins, hatmakers produced beaver fur felt hats in a variety of distinct shapes including the immediately recognizable tophat. The beaver felt industry nearly drove North American beavers to extinction, and it was only a sudden change in style preferences that allowed their survival.
While some hatmakers still make beaver felt hats to this day, most accessory manufacturers have switched to more ethical fibers like wool. Felt is still a popular hat material, but this fabric’s uses have expanded into other types of accessories as well as homewares and crafting materials.
With the invention of acrylic fabric in the early 20th century, the international felt industry believed that it had found a cheaper alternative to natural fibers. While natural felt is renowned for its flame retardant qualities, however, acrylic is highly combustible, and other synthetic fibers used to make felt, such as rayon, aren’t much better.
As a result, high-quality felt remains made with natural fibers like wool, and consumers generally associate acrylic or rayon felt with lower-tier products. Felt never truly regained the popularity it lost in the West when beaver hats went out of style, but plenty of cultures around the world continue to use felt for ancestral purposes entirely unfazed by the aftereffects of this ultimately temporary style craze.
The felt production process varies slightly depending on whether it contains wool, acrylic, or another textile fiber. In the case of wool, raw fibers are derived from the coats of wool-bearing animals, and in the case of acrylic, fibers are made by dissolving a polymer in various artificial chemicals and spinning the resulting substance.
Once textile manufacturers have acquired the desired fibers, they combine them into a mass using a cylindrical device studded with steel nails. Next, a carding machine cards these fibers into a loose web with standardized spaces between fibers.
A machine known as a cross-lapper or a vlamir then combines multiple webs together to make a roll, and four of these rolls are layered on top of each other to make a batt. To harden these batts of felted material, felt manufacturers expose the batts to heat and moisture, and then the final shrinking process is accomplished with a combination of heat, pressure, and moisture.
Most felt manufacturers use sulfuric acid during the final stages of the felt production process, and they neutralize this acid with soda ash and warm water once the matt has reached its ideal size. Finally, an industrial machine uses rollers to smooth out any irregularities in the finished felt fabric.
Felt manufacturers are now free to dye, cut, or form the felt to complete consumer products. They may also choose to sell unaltered felt in bulk sheets.
Today, textile manufacturers primarily use felt to produce hats and other insulative substances such as boot linings. Thicker and harder than woven or knitted wool, felt provides an excellent barrier against cold temperatures, and this woolen material is not scratchy against the skin.
Outside the realm of apparel, felt manufacturers sometimes use this substance to make decorative pillows, handbags, and other homewares or accessories that benefit from felt’s softness and additional useful properties without needing to be significantly flexible. As most children and parents know, felt is also a popular crafting material, and you can use your imagination to make practically anything with felt. Most felt designed for crafting, however, is acrylic, which is less comfortable against the skin and more harmful to the environment than woolen felt.
Despite a recent depletion of sheep livestock levels across the continent, Australia remains the world’s largest exporter of wool products, followed closely by China. Therefore, the majority of woolen felt was manufactured in Australia, though in some cases, Australian sheep farmers ship their raw wool to China for finishing. The world’s largest producer of synthetic textile products, on the other hand, is China, so the majority of acrylic and rayon felt is Chinese.
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Genuine wool felt is reasonably expensive, but it is usually around the same price as other wool textiles. Felt made with acrylic or other synthetic fibers is less expensive, but it does not have the same beneficial attributes as wool felt.
Over the centuries, textile artisans have developed quite a few different types of woolen or fur felt. More recently, fabric manufacturers have deviated from the norm and started making felt with materials other than natural animal fibers. Make sure you’re familiar with all the different types of felt available on the market:
Still one of the most common types of felt, textile artisans made felt using wool from sheep or other wool-bearing animals for the majority of this fabric’s history. In addition to being aesthetically pleasing, wool felt shares the beneficial attributes of its base fiber, including absorbency, fire resistance, and impressive insulative properties.
To this day, some textile manufacturers use beaver pelts to make felt hats and other accessories. While not as in vogue in the era of animal rights, fur felt is useful due to its impressive durability and high malleability. It’s also possible to make fur felt with types of fur other than beaver, but in every case, fur felt production involves the killing of fur-bearing animals.
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Acrylic felt has become increasingly popular over the last century. Cheaper to produce than wool, acrylic felt offers some of the same benefits as conventional felt. Unlike wool or fur felt, however, acrylic felt is highly flammable, and it is uncomfortable when worn against the skin.
Commonly used in industrial and medical applications, rayon felt shares the hydrophilic properties of wool felt. One of the major benefits of rayon felt is the ability to shape this textile into various insulative products, but like all synthetic textile fibers, rayon is a non-biodegradable pollutant.
Pressed felt is the most common type of felt, and it is also the oldest. Produced by combining textile fibers into a mat using water, heat, and pressure, this type of felt is usually sold in sheets and shaped into various consumer, industrial, and medical items.
Artisans use specialized needles to make needled felt figurines and other three-dimensional products. This type of felt is not insulative or used for industrial purposes, and instead, most needled felt products are decorative in nature.
Woven felt is a type of felt fabric that textile manufacturers produce by applying heat, water, and pressure to pre-woven fabrics. The result is a matted, highly insulative fabric that can be much thinner than pressed felt.
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Wool and fur felt are among the world’s most biodegradable substances. The only potential environmental issues associated with these types of felt regard land use and proper animal stewardship. In the modern era, harvesting animals for fur is considered to be cruel and barbaric, and in some cases, wool production can involve animal cruelty and cause pollution or soil erosion.
Natural fibers are, however, invariably better for the environment than synthetic textiles. Both acrylic and rayon production involve the use of toxic, caustic chemicals that can harm textile workers. Only rarely do textile manufacturers dispose of these chemicals properly, and in most cases, they pollute surrounding ecosystems.
Acrylic and rayon felt are not washed as commonly as other synthetic textiles, but these synthetic felt fabrics can still contribute to microfiber pollution while in use. As non-biodegradable fabrics, acrylic and rayon felt fill up landfills or contribute to plastic pollution when discarded.
Wool felt fabrics may be eligible for Woolmark certification, which is a certifying agency that ensures wool products were produced using safe, sustainable, and cruelty-free processes. Certain fur felt fabrics produced in the European Union may be eligible for WelFur certification, which ensures that fur products were produced responsibly.
Wool, a fiber that has been utilized by humans for thousands of years, possesses a remarkable natural ability that sets it apart from many other materials—its hygroscopic nature. This inherent characteristic of wool allows it to effectively wick moisture away from the body, making it an ideal material for a wide range of applications, from clothing to bedding.
Wool fibers are composed of a complex protein structure known as keratin. The unique structure of these fibers is key to their hygroscopic properties. The outer layer of the wool fiber, called the cuticle, is made up of overlapping scales. These scales create a slightly rough surface that helps to trap air and moisture. Inside the cuticle is the cortex, which is composed of long, twisted protein chains. These protein chains have the ability to bond with water molecules, allowing the fiber to absorb moisture.
When wool comes into contact with moisture, such as sweat on the skin, the water molecules are drawn into the fiber through a process called adsorption. The hydrophilic (water-attracting) nature of the keratin proteins enables the wool to absorb a significant amount of moisture relative to its weight. In fact, wool can absorb up to 30% of its weight in moisture without feeling wet to the touch. This is in stark contrast to synthetic fibers, which often retain moisture and can leave the wearer feeling damp and uncomfortable.
One of the most immediate and noticeable benefits of wool’s hygroscopic nature is the enhanced comfort it provides to the wearer. When the body sweats, the moisture is quickly absorbed by the wool fibers and then gradually released into the surrounding environment. This helps to keep the skin dry and reduces the clammy feeling that can occur when wearing moisture-retaining materials. Whether you are engaging in physical activity or simply going about your daily routine, wool’s ability to wick moisture away from the body ensures that you stay comfortable and dry.
Wool’s moisture-wicking properties also play a crucial role in temperature regulation. When the body is active and generating heat, sweat is produced as a means of cooling down. By efficiently wicking this moisture away from the skin, wool helps to maintain a more stable body temperature. In cold weather, the trapped moisture within the wool fibers can actually help to insulate the body, providing an additional layer of warmth. Conversely, in warmer conditions, the moisture-wicking action helps to keep the body cool and prevents overheating. This makes wool a versatile material that can be worn in a variety of climates and weather conditions.
Another advantage of wool’s hygroscopic nature is its ability to reduce odor. When moisture is allowed to linger on the skin, it creates a breeding ground for bacteria, which can produce unpleasant odors. Wool’s moisture-wicking properties help to minimize the amount of moisture that stays in contact with the skin, thereby reducing the growth of odor-causing bacteria. Additionally, the natural lanolin present in wool has antimicrobial properties, further enhancing its ability to keep odors at bay. This means that wool garments can be worn for longer periods without needing to be washed as frequently, making them a practical and convenient choice for many people.
Wool’s moisture-wicking and temperature-regulating properties make it an excellent choice for clothing. Woolen base layers, such as thermal underwear, are particularly effective at keeping the body warm and dry during outdoor activities like hiking, skiing, and camping. The moisture-wicking action helps to prevent the build-up of sweat, which can be especially important in cold and wet conditions. Wool sweaters and socks are also popular choices for their comfort and ability to keep the wearer warm and dry. In addition to these functional benefits, wool is also known for its durability and longevity, making it a worthwhile investment for clothing items.
The hygroscopic nature of wool also makes it a valuable material for bedding. Wool blankets and comforters can help to regulate body temperature throughout the night, providing warmth in the colder months and keeping the sleeper cool during the warmer months. The moisture-wicking properties of wool help to create a more comfortable sleeping environment by reducing the amount of moisture that accumulates on the skin. This can be especially beneficial for individuals who tend to sweat excessively during the night. Wool pillows are another popular option, as they can help to wick away moisture from the head and neck, providing a more comfortable and restful sleep.
Wool is increasingly being used in the production of footwear due to its moisture-wicking and odor-reducing properties. Woolen socks are a popular choice for hikers and outdoor enthusiasts, as they help to keep the feet dry and reduce the risk of blisters and other foot problems caused by moisture. Some shoe manufacturers are also incorporating wool into their designs, either as a lining material or as part of the upper construction. This helps to create a more comfortable and breathable shoe that can keep the feet dry and odor-free throughout the day.
The natural moisture-wicking abilities of wool, stemming from its hygroscopic nature, offer a multitude of benefits that make it a highly desirable material. From enhanced comfort and temperature regulation to reduced odor and a wide range of practical applications, wool’s unique properties set it apart from other fibers. As consumers continue to seek out natural and sustainable materials that provide both functionality and comfort, wool’s hygroscopic nature ensures that it will remain a popular choice for many years to come.
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