What is Wet Felting?

Posted by ANNETTE BROWNING on January 29th, 2020

What is Wet Felting??

Before I can answer that question, I first have to explain to you what FELTING is.

In a nutshell, Felting or Wool Felting is a process of tangling, connecting or blending wool fibers together to make fabric. Only protein fibers (aka animal) can be felted. This is due to the fact that animal fiber has tiny notches along the hair shaft. Conversely, plant or artificial fibers are smooth. Felted wool creates a sturdy fabric that can be cut and sewn without fear of raveling. 

There are two ways of creating wool felt: Wet Felting and Needle Felting. (Learn more about Needle Felting here)

With the Wet Felting method, a combination of water, water temperature and agitation or manipulation of the fibers creates the felt. 

Have you ever accidentally run a 100% Wool sweater through the washing machine? If you did, it probably came out half the size as it went in. That is wet felting! Well, believe it or not, people actually do that on purpose. 

How to Wet Felt Wool:

The actual felting process is pretty simple. All you have to do is lay out your wool fibers in thin layers, perpendicular to each other.

Each layer is then sprinkled with hot, soapy water. This is worked into the wool with your hands. The more you work the wool, the more it will felt. The heat from the water forces the notches along the hairs to open up which then bind to the other fibers. Basically, you are matting the wool.

Alternating the direction of the layers allows the individual fibers to tangle and create a stronger fabric. Think of a brick wall where the individual bricks are offset to make stronger joints.

The number of layers of wool you use depends on how thick you want your fabric to be. But, you're not limited to creating a flat piece of fabric. It is also possible to make three dimensional objects out of felt such as bowls, slippers and hats. 

Here is a step by step tutorial which shows you how to make a piece of wet felted wool.

Enjoy,
Annette
FiberArtsy.com