Dec. 02, 2024
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Have you ever wondered what the difference is between 100% wool felt, wool blend felt and craft, other than price?! On first glance, you might not thing there's much of a difference but there is! Here&#;s the low down &#; find out the characteristics of these fabrics and which type is best for your crafts.
What is felt?
Felt is a non-woven material made by pressing and rolling fibres together. It&#;s thought to be one of the first fabrics made by man, with the earliest pieces dating back to 700 BC. Because it&#;s made without a loom it could be produced easily from wool. It&#;s strong and water repellant so was used to make clothing, saddles and tents. It&#;s still a very important fabric today, with many industrial uses in manufacturing and architecture, and it&#;s also hugely popular in crafting because it&#;s such a versatile, easy-to-use fabric.
Felt can be made by hand (using wet felting and needle felting) but on a commercial scale it&#;s usually done with machinery. If you like the TV programme &#;Inside the Factory&#; you might enjoy a read of this!
The fibres used to make felt can be natural like wool or bamboo, or synthetic like petroleum-based acrylic or wood-pulp based rayon. All of these fibres produce a felted fabric which won&#;t fray at the edges, so no hemming is required. However, the different fibres also give the felt fabric different properties and uses. Let&#;s look at these:
100% wool felt is made of pure wool only. Confusingly, wool blend felts are often called &#;wool felt&#; but they usually have less than 40% wool in them (more on that below!). 100% wool felt usually contains merino wool, which is super soft and durable. Because it comes from a renewable source, wool is a sustainable product and will biodegrade. It&#;s important to check when buying this type felt that the wool is museling-free (a cruel practice sometimes used by sheep farmers). Ours is!
100% wool felt is evenly thick and smooth with a matt appearance. It cuts without leaving fuzzies and it doesn&#;t tend to pill (bobble) when rubbed so it&#;s hard wearing.
This felt is dense so holds stitches well without being stretched out of shape, unlike a wool blend or acrylic felts, which tend to be thinner and less dense.
100% wool felt is washable. Just like your favourite woolly jumper, it&#;s best to do this delicately with a cool hand wash. There can be around 5% shrinkage on washing so if you are making anything that will be washed it&#;s a good idea to pre-shrink the felt before crafting with it. 100% wool felt holds dyes really well but some colours are not fast so it&#;s best to wash them separately if you need to. 100% wool felt can be ironed on a wool setting.
Because of the natural oils present in 100% wool felt it is water repellant so seems to stay clean for longer. It&#;s also naturally fire-resistant (the best test for wool felt to set fire to it &#; if it only smolders and doesn&#;t catch fire it&#;s wool!). The natural oils in wool also give this felt antibacterial properties.
Because it&#;s lovely to cut, stitch and stays smooth over time, 100% wool felt is a favourite amongst stitchers and toy makers because it has an heirloom quality. It is however the most expensive option and not widely available.
This is often called wool felt but it usually has no more than 25-40% wool in it, with the rest of the fabric made up of man-made fibres such as rayon (viscose) or acrylic. This felt is thinner and less dense than 100% wool felt but is usually more durable than a craft felt. It has a tendency to go bobbly and stretch out of shape with use and, because of the synthetic fibres, some have a shine to them. This felt is smooth and holds stitches nicely. They do come in a huge range of colours and are less expensive than a 100% wool felt so are great when you are producing a large scale project, for making things that won&#;t get much wear or for children&#;s crafting. As it stretches easily, wool blend felt can be useful for felt flower making, if you want a leaf or petal to have a curled shape.
This is the cheapest felt, often found in craft shops and schools. It&#;s made of 100% man-made fibres &#; acrylic, polyester, rayon or viscose. There are some more environmentally conscious choices now too &#; you can get felt made from a fibre produced from recycled plastic bottles or bamboo (bamboo is fast growing an doesn&#;t need chemical fertilizers so it&#;s a more sustainable choice).
The one thing these felts have in common is that they are inexpensive however they tend to vary a lot depending on what type of fibre they are made from. It can be quite thin (sometimes you can see light coming through it) or very stiff. It usually has a plasticy shine to it and it&#;s easy to stretch out of shape. If you stitch onto it, the threads don&#;t &#;sink&#; into the fabric so they look loose.
This type of felt is great for getting young kids into crafting &#; just expect their creations to stand the test of time! It can also be handy if you want to test out a design before upgrading to a better quality felt. If you do use this felt, choose carefully &#; don&#;t pick the stiff type of craft felt if you are planning to make a stuffed toy. However, if you need a fabric with a bit of structure, the stiffer felts can be a great option. It&#;s also perfect for vegans.
This image shows how seams look with different types of felt. You can see that because 100% wool felt is more dense than the other types of felt, the stiches don't pucker the seam. You can also see when you look closely that the wool blend felt and craft felt have a slight sheen to them.
100% wool felt
Wool blend
Craft Felt
Composition
100% wool
20-40% wool
60-80% acrylic or rayon
0% (bamboo, plastic bottles, acrylic, rayon)
Fraying
No
No
No
Stretching
Dense so doesn&#;t stretch out of shape.
Seams hold up well.
Not as dense, can be stretched a bit.
Seams hold up relatively well.
Thin and very prone to stretching out of shape
Seams may stretch and tear.
Water repellant
Yes
A little
No
Safety
Flame retardant
Will catch fire but then go out
Flammable
Environmental impact
Sustainable
Sustainable (depending on composition)
Non-biodegradable, depending on composition
Washable
Yes (but expect some shrinkage)
Yes (but expect some shrinkage)
Yes and won&#;t shrink
Texture and appearance
Smooth and soft.
Matt appearance
Smooth, soft, feels slightly &#;squeaky&#;.
Slight sheen
Often fuzzy or hard, depending on type.
Sheen
Colours
For more information, please visit Coloured Polyester Felt.
Lots (but no very bright white as the heavy bleaching would damage the wool)
Huge selection, including bright white
Not so many, but includes a bright white
Sustainable
Yes, wool is a renewable source
If it&#;s made of rayon
Not always
Hold stitches
Really well
Ok
Not so well
Pills (bobbles)
Unlikely
Somewhat likely
Very likely
Price
£££
££
£
There are so many types of felt to choose from these days - each works well depending on your aims and your budget. It's worth spending a little time when you start your next project to be sure that you are using the right type to give you the finished result you're looking for.
Felt is a non woven cloth, made by matting fibres together. This matting process is done through a variety of techniques including needling, compressing, rubbing, rolling and beating. The aim is to entangle the fibres so they form a solid piece of cloth.
Felt making is very old and was practiced in Asia and Europe. Felt was essential to the nomadic populations throughout Asia. It was used for clothing, warmth, housing, etc. Back then, the wool from sheep was spread out on a rug until the desired thickness was obtained and then beaten. Then, using their feet, the wool was rolled backwards and forwards on the rug until the matting process was complete.
Today felt is made by machines which complete the matting process and it is made from a variety of materials including wool and man made fibres like polyester and acrylic threads.
Most of the felt used in the craft industry today is made by needling fibres together through heat and agitation. This process is called needle punching. The felt needles have barbs on them which push into the fabric and entangle the fibres. This action, when combined with rolling and heat, quickly creates felt. The felt is then dyed to the desired colour.
Let's take a look at the different types of felt.
This felt is very soft and durable and is ideal for making soft toys for children. The felt should be hand washed in luke warm water and is subject to shrinking. Here are some more features of 100% wool felt:
The main disadvantage of this felt is that it is more expensive than the alternatives and it comes in a limited range of colours.
View our range of 100% wool felt here.
Acrylic felt is ideal for making decorations, pendants, scrapbooking and small projects which will not be repeatedly handled. As the name suggests, acrylic felt is made from acrylic threads.
The attributes of acrylic felt are:
The down side of acrylic felt is that it is not as soft as wool felt, it can ball/pill and it will melt when exposed to heat, it is thin and does not cut as cleanly as wool felt.
View our range of acrylic felt here.
Felt made from polyester is suitable for printing on using the sublimation printing process. This is where heat is used to transfer the dye onto the felt. Acrylic felt is not suitable for this application.
View our range of polyester felt here.
Wool blend felt is made from 35% wool and 65% viscose. Viscose is a man made fibre which is very soft. The combination of wool and viscose results in a tight cloth with a soft handle that is cheaper than 100% wool felt. It is a very versatile fabric and ideal for both craft and dress projects.
Wool blend felt comes in a wide range of colours.
Felt can be cut into any shape with sharp scissors. It is very versatile it can be sewn, stuck, cupped, embroidered and embellished with wool. It is also a good stiffener in garment making - you can add fabric stiffener to some water and wash the felt using this solution for a stiffer felt.
Often when sewing felt with a sewing machine, the material moves around and bunches up. The bobbin can get clogged up and the material can jam up. To avoid these issues, check the tension on the machine and the needle size. A size 10 or 11 needle is usually sufficient and ensure you use a good quality thread. you could also try placing a layer of paper over the felt and another layer under the felt. This will help stop the felt from slipping.
The main types of hand stitches used to join felt are the overcast stitch (this is a strong, flat stitch), running stitch (used to connect pieces which need to remain firm and rigid which can easily be removed) and the blanket stitch (use this stitch when you want a decorative edge).
View our range of felting needles here.
When gluing felt, use a PVA glue which dries clear. The felt will absorb some of the glue so be generous. For a temporary hold, a glue stick is fine.
View our range of craft glues here.
We import felt from Italy, France and China in a wide range of materials (wool, polyester and waste fibres) for different purposes which come in various thicknesses, patterns and colours. We are the largest importer of felt in Australia.
Chenille needles work best as they have a large eye and a sharp point.
Felt should be dry cleaned. Hand washing without excessive rubbing may work but the fibres can be easily stretched and will "matt". If the item is a soft toy we suggest lightly sponging with cool water and natural laundry soap.
Wonder Felt is an economical and multipurpose fabric suitable for many projects. Some common uses are sound proofing, wadding underlay, protecting furniture when moving, backing for fabric art wall hangings, home decorating, wadding in quilts, backing in chair pads and it also makes a perfect storage box liner to protect delicate items.
Take a look at our huge range of felt here.
Happy Crafting,
Arbee
Contact us to discuss your requirements of polyester fiber felt supplier. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.
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