Search:

What are the basic raw materials to produce a felt fabric?

Felt is a fabric which is produced by "Matting" or "Felting" together fibrous materials like wool, hair, fur etc. Most fibres used for the manufacture of textile fabrics has got matting quality to some extent, but wool, fur and some hairs are the fibres that have satisfactory felting property. Probably, it is because of waviness and scaly structure of these fibres. Whenever non-felting fibres have to be integrated into felt cloths, wool must be used to carry these non-felting fibres.
There are two distinct types of felt. One is called woven or "thread structure" felt and other is called true or "fibre" felt.
In the manufacture of thread structure felt, wools of high felting quality are selected. They are then scoured carefully so that its felting property is not reduced much. It is then spun into woolen yarn with necessary fibre arrangement and twist and then woven into cloth with such character that shrinking or felting is possible to do thereafter. Finally, it is scoured, milled in the stocks of machine, dyed and finished like any other woven fabric. Lighter style woven felts may be made out of single cloth. But, for heavier styles, two or more clothes are woven, each one above the other one, at the same time. At the time of weaving the clothes are stitched together.
Fibre felts are again of three types: ordinary felt, hat felt and impregnated felt. But, all these felts are ultimately made using ordinary felt. Wool fibres used to manufacture felt are obtained from East Indian, German or mid-European, New Zeeland crossbreeds, and Australian, Cape and Buenos Aires merinos. Vegetable fibres and silk can also be used but good felting wool is to be used to carry these fibres so that it can carry the weight of vegetable fibres like cotton and hemp. Hairs and furs are generally used to make hat felts. Generally, the loss of wool from the raw state to finished felt is about forty to fifty per cent.
The manufacturing process follows the order of mixing, willowing, teasing, scribbling and carding. It is not a practice to scour the felting wool. Even if wool is not very clean, scouring is not done because it affects the felting property of wool. From the cards, wool is delivered as flimsy film fifty to sixty inches wide on to an endless sheet 30 to 60 yards long on which film upon film up to the desired thickness of the felt. To provide proper strength to this fabric, it is ironed by passing through steam heated rollers which are given both rotatory and vibratory motion. This process could also be done using huge vibrating flat iron to which the cloth is automatically fed then held in position under the iron, then wound up after the process is over to draw the next length of the fabric. Thereafter, finishing operation is carried including dying and printing if required producing a strong firm fabric. However, the strength of the fabric is greater lengthwise rather than along its breadth because of the production process involved. Finally, the fabric is felted by perpetually hammering with fulling agents like soap, fuller's earth etc.
Therefore, basic raw material of felt fabric is wool, vegetable fibres and silk.

By: Jessica Thomson

For more insights and further information about felt fabric visit our site www.calicolaine.co.uk

Article Directory: http://www.articlewisdom.com

Please Rate this Article

Not yet Rated