Properties and maintenance

General information

100% wool felt

Wool felt is an age-old and sustainable material that is used in many ways. For our wool felt we use fine Merino wool mainly from South America, Southern Europe and Australia. The wool is washed, carded, felted and dyed in Western Europe and then stored in our warehouse in Delft.

Technical data

• Pure new wool in accordance with “international wool secretariat”
• Non-toxic according to Öko-Tex Test no. 2402035
• EEC product
• Fire classification in accordance with UNE 23735 Class M1, NEN-EN-13501 Class B1
• Sound absorption according to UNE-EN ISO 354:2004 up to: 1.03α with 10mm thick felt, 0.82α with 5mm thick felt, 0.56α with 3mm and 0.52α with 2mm thick felt.
• Martindale test 15000 in accordance with UNE-EN-ISO 12947/14465
• Pilling Class 3 in accordance with UNE-EN-ISO 12945-2-2001
• Tensile strength according to UNE-EN-ISO 13936-2 in longitudinal direction 2.3 in width direction 1.8
• Dimensional change during dry cleaning in length -1.0% in width 0.0%
• Size change when hand washed (1st time) in length max. -8.0% in width max. -9.5%
• 100% recyclable

Our wool felt is made with wool fibers from the Merino sheep. Natural soap, hot water and friction and felting are used. Under a microscope it can be seen that wool fibers have scales. These open under the influence of natural soap and heat and the friction causes them to interlock. This is how wool felt is ultimately created.

From fiber to wool felt

A journey through the machinery in our production facility

When our merino wool arrives at the felt factory, it has already made quite a journey. The wool mainly comes from South America and Southern Europe. Before the wool becomes wool felt, it is washed in the laundry and then sent to the felting mill. Here the wool undergoes the metamorphosis into industrial wool felt. All steps in the production process take place in Western Europe. The machines are connected together, so that the process is continuous. In total, the machine park is almost 100 meters long.

1. Mixing: the fibers are mixed together to get a certain color or quality.
2. Wolfing: the fibers are loosened.
3. Carding: the fibers are further loosened by means of large rollers with small needles and laid in one direction.
4. Cross-laying: the carded fibers are laid at right angles to each other.
5. Dry prefelting: the carded fibers are lightly prefelted on cotton wool frames. After this step you have carded fleece.
6. Adjusting the thickness: by pushing or pulling the carding fleece, the correct thickness is achieved.
7. Felting: The carding fleece is felted into a dense mass using steam, natural soap and friction.
8. Washing: The felt is washed and rinsed to remove the soap residue from the felting.
9. Dyeing: the felt is dyed the right color and rinsed to remove the paint residue.
10. Drying: the felt is stretched to the correct length and width after which it is dried so that the size becomes permanent.
11. Shearing: Spiral blades here shear away the protruding fibers/hairs, creating the smooth surface of industrial felt.
12. Final inspection: the felt slowly runs over a light box and is checked by an employee for quality, holes and stains. This is the only step in the production process in which a person is directly involved.

For what purposes do you use wool felt?
Wool felt can be used for many different purposes. Think of making clothes or improving acoustics. The fire-safe wool felt is suitable for this because it protects against heat and cold and it is also a good insulating material. But it is also perfect for children to spend an afternoon doing crafts. Would you like to know what else you can use wool felt for or do you have other questions? Then call us on +31 (0)15 214 63 41.

Properties

Weight per thickness

100% recyclable

We first unravel or effiloch the felt, after which it can be fully implemented in our production process again.

If you have placed our wool felt on your wall, you can remove it and have us recycle it. We need to know which glue you used. If you have used our glue, we can remove it by heating: the glue dissolves in hot water. For other types of glue, please provide information from the supplier. You can deliver smaller pieces of wool felt to us. If it concerns larger quantities, we can collect it from you.

Ask us about the possibilities.

Maintenance

Wool felt is naturally dirt and moisture repellent. This is because wool fibers contain lanolin, a natural fat. This means that liquids do not penetrate directly into the wool felt. Our wool felt is made from Pure New Wool, which may cause shrinkage during washing. We therefore recommend dry cleaning instead of washing. We also recommend the following cleaning methods:

• dry dirt and dust → vacuum the wool felt
• wet stains → dab immediately with a dry cloth or kitchen paper. If necessary, rinse with cold water and dab again until the felt is completely dry again
• grease stains → clean with K2r