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'''Felt''' is a [[non-woven]] cloth that is produced by  matting, condensing and pressing [[wool]]len 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.
[[Image:Felt cloth.jpg|thumb|250px|right|A selection of 4 different felt cloths.]]

Many cultures have legends as to the origins of feltmaking. [[Sumer]]ian legend claims that the secret of feltmaking was discovered by [[Urnamman]] of [[Lagash]].  The story of [[Clement of Metz|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. 
[[Image:Kazah jurta.jpg|thumb|250px|right| [[Kazakhs|Kazakh]] felt [[yurt]] ]]
[[File:Filc2008 r. 002.jpg|thumb| 250px]]
Feltmaking is still practised by [[nomadic people]]s in [[Central Asia]] and northern parts of [[East Asia]], where [[carpet|rug]]s, [[tent]]s and [[clothing]] are regularly made.  Some of these are traditional items, such as the classic [[yurt]], 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.
==Construction==
Felt is made by a process called ''wet felting'', where the natural [[wool]] fibre is stimulated by friction and lubricated by moisture (usually soapy water), and the fibres move at a 90 degree angle towards the friction source and then away again, in effect making little "tacking" stitches. Only 5% of the fibres are active at any one moment, but the process is continual, and so different 'sets' of fibres become activated and then deactivated in the continual process.

This "wet" process uses the inherent nature of wool and other animal hairs, because the hairs have scales on them which are directional. The hairs also have kinks in them, and this combination of scales (like the structure of a [[pine cone]]) is what reacts to the stimulation of friction and causes the phenomenon of felting.  It tends to work well with woollen fibres, as their scales, when aggravated, bond together to form a cloth.

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 (element)|mercury]] compound [[mercuric nitrate]]. The skins were dried in an oven where the thin fur at the sides went orange - carrot color. 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 [[blocking (textile arts)|blocked]] to make hats. This toxic solution and the vapours it produced resulted in widespread cases of [[mercury poisoning]] among [[hatter]]s, giving rise to the expression "mad as a hatter." The [[United States Public Health Service]] banned the use of mercury in the felt industry in December 1941.

Knitted woollen garments which shrink in a hot machine wash can be said to have felted but, more accurately, they have been "fulled". Felting differs from [[fulling]] in the sense that fulling is done to fabric whereas felting is done to fibres that are not in fabric form. Modern fulling is an example of how the fibres bond together when combined with the movement of the washing machine, the heat of the water, and the addition of soap. 

Cheaper felt is usually artificial. Artificial felt, if made using the wet method, has a minimum of 30% of wool fibres combined with other artificial fibres. This is the minimum required to hold a fabric together with the fibres alone. It would be difficult to achieve a stable fabric by hand at this ratio. All other wholly artificial felts are actually needle-felts.  

[[Loden]] is a type of felt originally worn in the [[Alps|Alpine]] regions, which has gained worldwide acceptance as a [[textile]] for fine and durable [[clothing]].

An alternative way of creating felt is to have a [[steam roller]] go over the unwoven fabrics in a shallow pool of water with the cloths [[rotating]] as the [[steam roller]] goes over it.
This method is widely used in small towns in [[India]] where mass manufacturing of [[clothing]] is done.

==Uses==
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.

[[File:Steinway-Flügel.jpg|thumb|right|A model of a [[Steinway & Sons|Steinway]] grand piano key]]
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#Sticks and mallets|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 [[accordion]]s 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 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. [[Puppet]]s can also be made with felt.

While a woven (not felted) fabric is less expensive and more commonly used, felt is used on professional or tournament [[billiards table]] to cover the slate surface. German artist [[Josef Beuys]] used felt in a number of works. In the early part of the [[20th century]], felt hats like [[fedora]]s, [[trilby|trilbies]], and [[Homburg (hat)|homburg]]s were worn by many men in the western world.

<!-- [[Image:Spring Tree 3.jpg|thumb|right|alt=alt text|Example of a Needle-Felted Wall Hanging.]] -->
Art and crafts. 3-D needle-felted sculptures (such as animals and humans) and 2-D needle-felted wall-hangings.

The use of the term felt can also refer to a material that does not have a rubberised/synthetic feel. This use is most common in Ireland.

Human hair has been used in the production of felt for blankets and mattresses, specifically during the [[Holocaust]], when hair was harvested from victims of the concentration camps.

==See also==
*[[Fuzzy felt]]
*[[Roofing felt]]
*[[Valenki]]
*[[Nuno felting]]
*[[Bowler hat]]

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{{Commonscat-N|Felt}}
{{fabric}}
{{Decorative arts}}

[[Category:Nonwoven fabrics]]
[[Category:Building materials]]
[[Category:Animal hair products]]

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