2023-12-14
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.
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.
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