If you have an old sweater at your disposal, which perhaps has already partially felted due to a mistake in the washing, you can use it to make felt or boiled wool at home. You can get your felt at no cost starting from old ruined woolen garments or blankets.
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If you have a old sweater, which perhaps has already partially felted due to an error in the washing, you can use it to make the felt or the boiled wool. You can get your felt at no cost, starting from old ruined woolen garments or blankets.
È important thing be it wool fabrics, since the process of felting it is linked to the type of fibers in the wool itself, which allow the fabrics to change consistency in contact with soap and water at high temperatures. Once felted, you can cut your sweaters or blankets without fear that their weave will unravel, as the felting compacts the fibers.
Index
the felt
Il felt is obtained through thefelting of the fibers. The material that composes it is the carded wool of sheep. It is warm, light and waterproof. To get the felt, you wet the fibers with hot water. The fibers are then soaked in soap and rubbed by hand or mechanically. For home-made felt you can use awashing board for clothes or to washing machine. The best starting material for homemade felt and the carded wool. Look for it in hobby stores and haberdashery. However, you can start from the old sweaters to get a result similar to real felt.
How to make felt with carded wool
From the carded wool you will get some felt balls very useful for creating necklaces, belts, accessories and decorations for the home or for clothes, as well as toys for children. Follow the online tutorial to find out how to make felt balls starting from carded wool and using hot water e Marseille soap. THU you will find more information to create felt objects and decorations starting from carded wool.
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How to make felt with the washing machine
first method
To obtain the felt according to the first method, you will need an old unused sweater that contains at least 50% wool. You will need to cut the sleeves and divide them from the central part of the sweater. Then separate the front and back. Now you will have to move on to the machine wash. Place the parts of the sweater in the basket and add some liquid soap.
Choose a cycle of washing at temperature high and schedule a rinse with cold water. The sweater should shrink a lot after this treatment. But if you want to get even more resistant felt, you can use the drying cycle in the washing machine, or the dryer if you have one available. For this operation you can use sweaters of different colors and wool blankets.
Once your felt is ready, you can create gods rhombuses of different colors, to be sewn one to the other to obtain a blanket patchwork, or a pillow cover, or you can use them for creative jobs, cutting out the necessary shapes from the felt.
second method
Un second method to transform old wool sweaters into felt he suggests using del liquid dish detergent in place of liquid soap and starting from 100% wool sweaters for best results. For thinner felt, choose tightly woven sweaters, while opting for looser weave sweaters to create thicker felt.
It is suggested that you make notes on a pad regarding your results, so that you can remember the type of felt you will get from different sweaters. Put your sweaters in the washing machine drum and add two tablespoons of liquid detergent for the dishes. Set the wash at the highest temperature and with the highest spin level. With front loading washing machines, you can control the felting process at short intervals, so you can stop the wash at the right time, when the felt reaches the desired consistency. Different types of felt are obtained with different sweaters and times. We talk about felt when all the points of the yarn are no longer distinguishable.
photo source: makezine.com
How to make felt without a washing machine
To make felt without washing machine you will need a sink or a basin and the classic hand wash board. By felting the fabrics by hand, you can have greater control of the result. According to this method, you will have to immerse the fabrics in very hot water, adding a little liquid soap at a time. So you will have to rub your sweater on the hand wash board constantly for 60 seconds.
The hand rubbing between the fibers replaces the spin cycle of the washing machine. You will then have to rinse with warm water to remove the soap and immediately perform a new one rinse with cold water. The quick cold rinse will help the fibers harden. To check the result, you will need to let the felt dry. If necessary, you can repeat the operation.
photo source: makezine.com
Boiled wool
La boiled wool it is similar to felt, but differs from it in the type of material with which it is obtained. While only carded wool is used for the actual felt, boiled wool is obtained from carded and spun wool. The boiled wool fabric is made by knitting wool yarn and thanks to fulling, which causes it to shrink by up to 30%. As for the felt, the fulling takes place with the use of warm soapy water.
To make boiled wool at home, start from old sweaters in carded and spun wool.
photo source: blogspot.com
How to make boiled wool with the washing machine
Use old garments made from at least 60% wool. You have to execute two washes in the washing machine: A washing at 60 ° C and immediately after a cold wash, so that the fibers shrink. You can repeat the operation several times until you reach the desired result. Dry your boiled wool on a shelf. During washing, it is useful to put hard objects in the washing machine, such as a pair of shoes, to increase the rubbing effect of the fabric.
How to make boiled wool without a washing machine
To make boiled wool without washing machine, prepare two large pots and fill them with cold water. Bring one of the two pots to a boil and immerse your wool garment. Let it simmer, stirring occasionally and immediately move the garment into the pot of cold water when it is ready. This will allow the fibers to shrink. Then let it dry and repeat the process if necessary.
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