Modern insulation felt made from natural fibres

The oldest textile fabric known to man is wool felt.  Well over 3000 years ago wool felt was used as footwear and as other items of apparel.  Centuries before man invented machines to spin fibres like cotton, wool and linen into yarns and then weave or knit them into fabrics, he discovered how to make wool felt.  Wool has the unique characteristic of consolidating or “felting” itself into a fabric simply as a consequence of mechanical agitation in water.  This consolidation process can be accelerated by heat and by detergents or fats.  This characteristic is the consequence of wool fibres being covered by uni-directional scales, which cause the fibres to interlock under the influence of mechanical agitation.  No other fibre has this characteristic so other fibres like cotton and linen could not be converted into fabrics until man learned how to spin yarns and weave or knit them into fabrics.

The Feltmakers moto “Decus et Tutamen” is generally translated as “Use and Ornament” but recognising the early uses of wool felt, a better translation might be “Ornament and Armament”.  Ornament for footwear and headgear and Armament for tunics worn by warriors to protect themselves from arrows and other penetrative weapons.  Wool felt has various characteristics that make it suitable for apparel and technical uses.  Wool felt is soft to handle and drapes well.  It also insulates from heat, noise and vibration.  It absorbs liquids and is resilient.  Unfortunately, wool does not resist chemicals or high temperatures and relatively speaking is quite weak.

The 1930s saw a revolution in the Textile Industry when synthetic fibres like nylon and polyester were invented.  These fibres had much higher strengths than wool and resisted chemicals and high temperatures, but the processes used to make felt from wool did not work with synthetic fibres, so wool remained supreme as felt.

An industrial needlefelt machine today

Unfortunately for wool, a machine called a needleloom was invented during the Industrial Revolution and this machine could mechanically interlock synthetic fibres to produce felt without the need for mechanical agitation in water.  The needleloom effectively tolled the death knell for wool felt, but felts made by this machine from synthetic fibres actually opened up more opportunities for felts because of their enhanced performance characteristics, so that there is more felt made in the world today than ever before.  Feltmakers have much to be proud of in history but we have even more to be proud of today.

I am proud to be both a Feltmaker and a feltmaker.  My family company, founded in 1894, manufactures felt in various countries around the world including Europe, America and China, where felt was discovered.  This year we will produce over 20 million square metres of felt and world production is well over 100 million square metres.

The first time I was introduced to our Past Master, the late Sir Hugh Wontner, he enquired what I did for a living.  When I told him I was a feltmaker he turned rather pale, looked into my eyes and moved on.  I think he thought we were all dead.  If you are a purist and believe felt is not felt unless it is made from wool then surely the industry is nearly dead.  But if you accept that felt can also be made from synthetic fibres, then the industry is in good shape, already large and growing.

Felt-based dust filters

Felts made from high temperature resistant fibres like Teflon and Nomex are used to filter out dust particles in power generating plants, incinerators, aluminium refineries, steel mills, cement factories and a host of other industries to ensure clean air meeting modern pollution control standards.  Nearly every business machine like laser and inkjet printers contain felt to clean toner particles and absorb ink.  Felt’s capillarity and volumetric liquid retention characteristics are unequalled.

Underneath the ceramic tiles of the underbelly of space shuttles are felts to absorb the high temperatures and impact forces of re-entry.  Military combat jackets contain ballistic felts made from Kevlar fibres and firefighters wear protective clothing in which there are felts made from Nomex fibres which are flame and heat resistant.  Aeroplanes and nearly all other forms of public transport contain fire blockers made from non-flammable felts.

Felts are used to wrap around ironing machines in laundries and the whole papermaking industry world-wide relies upon very sophisticated felts up to 15 metres wide and fabricated into endless belt form to produce paper from pulp.

Man-made fibre insulation felt

The uses of felt made from synthetic fibre are myriad.  However there are still a few uses of felt for which wool is still preferred over synthetic fibres, such as felts used in pianos, but they remain few and far between.

Wide needle loom used to make felt for the papermaking industry

The discovery of synthetic fibres and the invention of the needleloom, together, gave felt a new life.  From near extinction it is now a thriving industry.  No doubt the Feltmakers’ Company will go on forever.  It would be good if the feltmaking industry continued to be around to support it and I believe it will.

Ted Andrew